The Art of Appropriation
by AlphaDelta1001
Summary: The world of the shinobi is a wild and dangerous place, more than enough for our favourite troublemaking jinchuriki to handle. However, what would happen if the world beyond their borders suddenly started bleeding onto theirs? NaruTenTayu...?
1. Prologue

**NARUTO**

**The Art of Appropriation**

_Prologue_

**Early that morning…**

Naruto's eye twitched as he glared up towards the rows of students ogling him from the safety of their seats. Of course, he had nobody else to blame for his predicament but himself… and the _nosiness_ of his teacher Iruka Umino, who was at that very moment scolding him the best way he knew how; by having him tied up and, after dragging him halfway across the village, sat down in the middle of the classroom floor as an example to the rest of the class. The message he was establishing was clear; anybody who thinks of messing with the village's monuments and landmarks will be severely punished.

The most outstanding accusation the jinchuriki was being blamed for today was painting the faces of the _Hokage Monument_ in white, red and blue for the rest of the world to marvel.

As of right now, Naruto could still hear the waves of praises from his fans all around. People who were in sight of their beloved mountain were crying out in dismay and outrage, their resonance of obscene calls and questions echoing onto the school grounds and into the classroom itself.

Though this brought a tug of a smile to Naruto's lips, he still couldn't help but feel displeased at being caught by his teacher.

There was no arguing it, it had to be karma.

The sounds of impatient tapping filled the room and Naruto glanced to his left and up, where he found himself locked in an intense gaze from his teacher. The irate, brown haired, ponytailed Chunin had his hands balled into fists on his hips and the tightest of scowls in play, cluing Naruto into the amount of pain he was suspected to be put through in the foreseeable future.

The whisker-marked boy grinned sheepishly at the taller man shadowing him and slowly turned back towards the rest of the class. Some of the students were glowering at him, others were grinning in amusement, whereas those with mental disorders and/or brooding problems couldn't give a damn. However, most of these observations were based on the jinchuriki's own point of view, who merely chuckled away the various stares and the most prominent, aggravated glare he was receiving from Iruka.

"Okay… in my defense… I think Hokage-jiji looks way better with a nosebleed," Naruto exclaimed, earning a round of chuckles from the boys who had a sense of humor up in the stands.

"This is no time for jokes!" Iruka shouted suddenly, silencing the laughing offenders. All of his students jumped in their seats and the accused cringed at the sheer volume in the man's voice. "We _ALL_ know exactly what you did, you little smart-assed brat!"

"I gave the past Hokages a makeover, big deal. That's nothing to get angry about. It's not like I poured a whole bottle of laxatives into your coffee this morning, sensei" the boy groaned in response, shaking his head to clear himself of the ringing. He then grinned proudly when said ringing stopped. "Besides… it was fun! Heh, I sure gave the other Chunin a good chase around Konoha this morning… you should have seen their fac-"

"IRRELEVANT!" Iruka roared, his head growing several times in size and startling the teens seated in the front rows. Unfortunately, Naruto was sitting right next to the raging storm and his hair ended up being blown and kept to the side.

Huffing, the Chunin calmed somewhat, but his eyes maintained that enraged, animated expression. "This is the eighth time this year you've done this! You skipped the early morning lectures and practice tests to pull another one of your stupid pranks! That was valuable time you could have spent studying for the final exams coming up in a month or so, and you've failed it twice. What do these little escapades of yours teach you that the academy doesn't?"

"That the Chunin chasing after me are second-rate chumps?"

"NOTHING! THAT'S WHAT!" the man screamed out again, intent on shooting the boy down before he took it any further. However, Iruka quickly suppressed any harsh words he was planning on throwing to keep his voice from growing hoarse. Instead, he resigned to rubbing the bridge of his nose and silently glaring down at the still smug looking boy. "Why can't you appreciate the time I'm using to teach you the stuff you need to know to become a shinobi, Naruto? Isn't that your dream?"

"Yup!" the boy piped with a nod. "My dream is to be Hokage, dattebayo!"

"Well… you're not going to get anywhere near Genin at the rate you're progressing at, so I suggest that you straighten up and start flying right from now on, before it's too late. Otherwise you'll be left behind for the third year in a row," Iruka stated and stepped forward some. "And I'll be damned if I'm going to be teaching you again next year. So I'll make this clear and easy enough for you to understand; the first thing you have to do is stop these ridiculous practical jokes." He grabbed the rope binding Naruto and pulled him to his feet, but left him tied up where he stood.

"Aww…" Naruto groaned, giving the man a disappointed frown. "But they make every other day _fun_…"

"For you… _not_ for others," Iruka smirked, strolling passed the youngster and over to his desk. Getting behind it, the Chunin yanked open the drawer and started pulling out random items, lining them up on top of the workspace for everybody to see. Those students who couldn't see craned their heads around others to get a better look. "Exhibit A; the apple you crammed full of worms and gave to Mizuki… and several other unfortunate teachers. Exhibit B; the stink bombs you simultaneously detonated inside every single classroom. Exhibit C; slipping factory adhesive glue into everybody's sandals during dojo practice…"

"Oh yeah… _that_ one was great," Naruto laughed out. His good-natured outburst though had him on the receiving end of a wave of glares and killing intent thrown at him from the students seated up in the stands behind him.

"Exhibit D; rigging the dividers in the hot spring between the boy and girl sides to collapse randomly during the day… actually… props to that one Naruto, nice going. Oh… and Exhibit E; replacing all of the canned drinks in the academy cafeteria and Jonin lounge with urine samples swiped from the hospital." Iruka ended the last one with a groan and dropped the document in relation to that travesty on top of the desk. He then slammed the drawer shut. "That's not even the worst part…"

"How was that not the worst part?" A random student called out, sounding a little bit distraught, probably from memory of the previously mentioned prank.

"All of those so-called 'accomplishments' can be used to fill up _my_ file three times over," Iruka marched over to Naruto and crossed his arms. He returned to glaring at the boy, only to see that he was still looking curious and perplexed. "To summarize your academy record for you, in brief; you're a _terrible_ student."

The jinchuriki instantly dropped the clueless look and grinned. "Thanks…"

"That wasn't a compliment, idiot," Iruka replied and drew a kunai from his holster. With a clean slice, he cut the rope binding the boy who then stretched out in relief at being liberated from his chains. Upon watching the blonde flex feeling back into his limbs and midsection, the Chunin then held his hand out to him expectantly. "Don't think you're being let off so easily today, Naruto. You still need to face punishment for your actions. Empty your pockets…"

Considering his teacher's hand extended towards him for a few moments and seeing the impatience slowly growing in the man's eyes, Naruto eventually resigned to his fate. With a heavy sigh he reached into his jacket pockets and pulled out whatever items he had planned to do mischief with, and handed them over. However, while Iruka was expecting to be given packaged stink pellets or zapping paper, the Chunin held up one of three eggs the boy had on his person and had surrendered to him.

Iruka held the egg up to eye level and looked at it a little more closely with a raised eyebrow, wondering what the plan behind it was. Surely, the greatest prank-master in the village's history and modern-day class clown wouldn't be carrying around _ordinary_ eggs. That was too simple for him, not his style… waaa-y below Naruto Uzumaki material. Iruka knew this from experience, which prompted him to throw a questionable glance down at his student, who had his hands in his pockets and was looking up at him apprehensively.

The jinchuriki shrugged. "Back ups…"

"Back ups?" Iruka parroted and looked at the two eggs he held in his lower hand, then back up at the solitary egg he held in his dominant hand. He sniffed it, checking to see whether it was expired or not.

This security action he undertook meant that he barely missed Naruto lowering his goggles over his eyes.

"What do you mean _bac_-" _**SPLAT!**_

Naruto laughed when he saw the egg blow up, point blank, right in front of Iruka's face, along with the other two he held at his chest. Those that weren't placed in line with the 'intended' target ended up staining the man's pants and vest in yellow goop. Ultimately, the young teacher was left standing stock straight in bewilderment, confusion, and covered in chicken mix.

Though the jinchuriki ended up catching some of the splash back from his secret weapons going off, it was still worth it to see his teacher pasted. The boy was holding in his guts as he continued bellowing out laughter in a doubled-over position, with the rest of the class shortly joining in when they realized what had happened.

Iruka, seeing both yellow _and_ red, brushed his yoke stained hands over his trouser legs and wherever there wasn't any egg, before wiping the gunk off of his face in one fluid movement. Eyes narrowed, he then glared angrily down at the offender responsible.

The heat rising off of the teacher literally toasted whatever egg was still on his skin.

Calming himself down, Naruto grinned happily at the Chunin. "How'd yah like that, Iruka-sensei? Cool, huh?" He then pulled out another egg he had hidden in his jacket pocket and held it out in front of him, as if it were some flag won in a king of the hill match. He showed the Chunin the utter brilliance of his device. "The hard part was getting the ignition powder _into_ the egg, but it all worked out in the end…"

XXX

Approximately a few minutes later, the troublesome Naruto could be seen standing by the door inside of the classroom, with the one egg he had left placed precariously on top of his head and a bucket held in each hand. The metal pales that he suspended several feet off of the floor were filled to the brim with water, so that meant that if he had even a momentary loss of balance or a lapse in concentration he would spill some of the contents. In addition to balancing the egg on his head to prevent it from falling, he also had to content with the every growing weight of the buckets. The annoyed glint in his expression remained steadfast, as did his place in the room.

After seeing that Naruto was dealt with for the morning period and didn't look as though he would be causing anymore trouble for him, Iruka then carried on with his daily lectures and practices with his class, albeit a now foul smell wafting off of his clothes and a bit of egg still visible on his clothing. Since the overall tragedy would be difficult to wash out, he made a mental note to go shopping at the end of the day for a replacement uniform and set of clothing. However, he still had the first task of conveying the information he had on hand towards his students and the second punishment he had planned out for the resident troublemaker later in the afternoon.

The Chunin spent the next few of hours talking, reading off of preplanned notes and setting the students questions to answer at the end of every briefing. For Naruto, it was the study periods in which the students were engrossed in answering basic questions and materials that proved to be the most boring to stand through, as he struggled with the pales in his place of metaphorical isolation.

To pass the time, the jinchuriki positioned his punishment as an unconscious front while he focused on the blackboard and reluctantly read the information Iruka had written down. During the more longwinded study breaks, Naruto spent a few minutes reading the same paragraphs and theories over and over again, before eventually getting bored of that too and returning concentration to keeping the egg on his head straight.

Though it was apparent Iruka had placed him under this same timeout before, it was nonetheless a real drag. This particular sentence was normally administered to him during the first half of the subjects that he missed out on during his mischief runs in the morning, and ones in which Iruka was the tutor. On other days when he wasn't in trouble, Naruto would either nap at his desk or reluctantly do the work assigned to him to pass the time.

It was the normal routine. After lunch Iruka would be swapped out with Mizuki and time would tick by on course. And as usual, the young jinchuriki did the bare amount for both occupations undertaken within the academy; actual school work and standing at the side of the class facing the penalties for his actions.

When the bell for the lunch break mercifully rang some time after his punishment was dished out, Naruto remained resolute at the door as the students slowly filed passed him one after the other. Some of them tried not to look at him and his sorry state, others grinned mockingly when they passed, while the more brash ones had the nerve to actually throw nasty comments his way when they crossed.

"Nice going, dead last," Kiba exclaimed, with Akamaru yipping from his perch on top of his master's head. "Enjoy tidying up the place."

"Bite me, dog chow," Naruto shot back, the pair trading glares before the other vacated the vicinity.

Within minutes the classroom was empty, leaving only Naruto left waiting under his teacher's shadow and authority.

As part of the patterns of his normal punishment for offenses within and outside of the academy, Iruka assigned him to classroom cleanup first. Naruto swept the floors, emptied the bins, cleaned the chalkboard, and wiped down the windows and desks.

Afterwards, once Iruka had gathered his things together for his break he then dragged the boy up to the _Hokage Monument_ so that he could clear up the mess he made of it.

It was to be a long and grueling process…

XXX

**Early afternoon…**

Iruka, sitting atop of the Fourth Hokage's stone head, blinked in surprise when he heard the bell to the _Ninja Academy_ ring. In response, he looked down towards the village within the vicinity of the _Hokage Mansion_ where he saw students and teachers begin to pour out of the building. The sound of that bell and the sight of the sun approaching closer to the other side of the horizon line meant that the day was ending, and that made the Chunin sigh.

A part of him was relived that the day was over while the other half was still dismayed that he wasn't quite done.

Looking down, he stared at the boy who has yet to finish scrubbing the paint off of the last Hokage's face.

Since the start of second period Naruto had finished cleaning the other faces and in spite of his constant groaning and complaining, was hard pressed into completing his task by his teacher. Bit by bit, the paint peeled away, revealing to the world the real expressions of the village's past leaders.

It was a breath of fresh air for Konohagakure and at least the monument could smile again.

"I won't let you go home until everything is as it should be," Iruka said, folding his arms. "I expect this cliff side to be spotless."

Naruto scoffed and looked up, his expression conveying a deep sense of displeasure and annoyance. "Like I care, it's not like I have anyone to go home to," the boy replied harshly, before going back to work with his dulling rag. It was insanely difficult to scrub paint off of rock and even after trading hands several times his knuckles and fingers felt as though they had been sandpapered.

At least the platform gave him good traction. It had been a real brave effort for him when he had to scale the sheer cliff himself, armed with only a rope and a set of paints.

Iruka was taken aback at the response from his student and his gaze softened after a moment of thought.

In his blind annoyance, he had completely forgotten that Naruto didn't have any parents waiting for him back home and that he lived all on his own in a second story apartment downtown, with no neighbors, relatives or anyone to look out for him. Ever since the jinchuriki could live on his own he had to raise and teach himself.

This was information Iruka learned from Hiruzen back when he first took Naruto as a student in his class and needed to be briefed on his living conditions and upbringing, but he had completely forgotten about these facts when he had to focus on the whole body of students he was already tending to.

It was hard to concentrate when you had loud children and a troublemaking blonde under his wing to take care of.

Feeling abashed at his own austerity, the Chunin reconsidered the entire situation and the day earlier, before coming to the conclusion that he had probably been a bit too hard on the boy for just a few harmless pranks.

Well… most of his shenanigans have been harmless anyway. There was the one time when Naruto had brought a rogue, goliath wasp nest into class for show-and-tell that not even the Aburame could control, and then he threw it…

The man quickly shook the rather graphic memory out.

Trying not to get too far off track, Iruka surmised his thoughts; that he had been a little bit more unfair on Naruto then most others. With that thought in mind he decided to make it up to him.

"Naruto…"

The boy huffed and looked up from his work once again, hoping he wasn't going to get scolded for a second time. "What is it?"

Iruka rubbed his cheek and averted his gaze elsewhere, trying to make his next words as delicate as possible so to not deepen the boy's already emotional constipation.

It was quite clear that the youngster was beyond frustrated, but just didn't want to let it out in front of his teacher. He was pretty stubborn about such things.

"When you're done and everything is cleared up over here, I'll take you out for ramen tonight," the man exclaimed and smiled down at his student. "I'll buy…"

The man immediately saw a major improvement in his academy student's mood, in which the boy's face brightened up and a smile returned to his lips. Goggles flashing, Naruto ducked back down and began scrubbing away again, this time with more intensity and passion in his movements.

"Okay! I'll work a _lot_ harder!"

The scarred teacher chuckled.

"_Good to see there's always a spark inside of him infinitely burning…"_ Iruka shook his head in amusement and rubbed a palm over his eye. _"Even though that spark often leads to a raging fire of mischief and practical jokes… he's still a good kid…"_

XXX

**Late afternoon…**

"Why did you take me all the way out here, sensei?" Naruto asked, carrying a couple of packaged cups of ramen in his arms as he was led up the stairs of some building somewhere on the edge of the village, just west of the _Hokage Mansion_.

The Chunin he was referring to smiled and looked down at the boy from the top of the stairs he had already climbed, and waited for the youngster to march the rest of the way up.

"I want to show you something Naruto; something that might help you in your studies for the exams," Iruka exclaimed.

This earned a squint-eyed expression from the young blonde when he eventually reached his teacher's floor.

"Is this another boring lesson?" Naruto asked, getting the Chunin to sweat-drop and face-palm. "School's finished for the day. What's the deal?"

"Well, if you would just wait a few moments then maybe you'll find out," Iruka sighed and shook his head. The boy was _too_ impatient for his own good. He had to hammer that out of the way somehow before the testing periods.

After shrugging off the premature words spoken out of term by the youngster, Iruka continued leading the way forward. "Come on, it's just over here."

Naruto jogged down the walkway to catch up with the older man and while he did so, he became aware of some strange but familiar noises coming from ahead. He slowed his pace and perked an ear to get a better link to the information, and attempted to figure out what the cause was. The nearer he drew the more prominent the sounds became until the echoing of clanging metal started coming in accompanied by grunts and shouts.

The blonde then stepped off of the walkway onto a low balcony. Perched at the very edge directly beneath the railing Iruka sat waiting for him, back turned and facing a wide, open field. He waved pleasantly for the jinchuriki to approach and when the boy came to stand beside him, the blonde's eyes widened when his attention fell onto the field in question.

A couple stories below, just over a steel grated fence with razor wire lining the top, Naruto saw a wide, grassy pasture of some sorts littered with equipment, many of which he recognized from the academy. Training stumps, target dolls and regular targets, a kunai range and a weapons rack. What's more the field was at least three times bigger then the clearing the academy students used and despite the sun now starting to set over the horizon, it was still occupied.

Well, to be more precise, it was _**full**_.

Down on ground level within the clearing of the field, the boy saw shinobi of Konohagakure sparring it out. One pit had a couple of ninja clawing at each other with taijutsu with a square shaped ring of others kneeling on the sidelines and waiting for their turns. Another region saw lines of shinobi standing side-by-side with what looked to be a lead instructor, observing them as they went through the motions of some sort of style Naruto had never seen before. Furthermore, there were Chunin out on the side range away from the others throwing kunai, shuriken, and all sorts of other unique projectiles that had not been practiced at the academy, but reviewed previously in classes.

Naruto nearly collapsed at the sights.

"W-What is this place?"

"This is Training Field 2; _The Chunin Field_. This is where whole bodies of the Konoha Forces come to train in order to hone their skills as a collective group of many shinobi from different clans and backgrounds. It's big enough to support an entire platoon's practical needs and requirements," Iruka explained with a smile as he watched Naruto silently sit down beside him and lean forward for a better look. "This is just _one_ of the fields in the village where large groups of shinobi can train at once, and one of the only areas you are _allowed_ to observe. The fields where Jonin and ANBU train though are observation restricted to everyone."

"R-Really?" Naruto gulped, watching the sparring Chunin in the ring area strike out at each other with a variety of different attacks and grapples. It was beyond comprehension, they were moving at a speed he could barely keep up with. "M-Man… that's cool…"

"Oh yeah, it's cool," Iruka chuckled and turned back around to look down on the field. "This is a great spot where I can sit and watch my companions train. Sure… _I'd_ go down there and lash it out with them myself for a bit, but I'm always busy… what with the academy, my responsibilities as a shinobi, and my students. I've only been down there a couple of times."

"S-So… is it always like this?" Naruto asked, looking over at Iruka to see him nod his head affirmatively to his question.

"Our shinobi forces are always active. We stretch ourselves thin with the number of missions the village receives, but no matter how many shinobi are deployed we always have reserves like these guys ready to be called up in case of emergencies, like for example, an invasion," the Chunin stated and nudged the boy in the side, pointing down towards the sparring pit. There, they saw the previous dueling ninja tag out and a new pair step in. Immediately after greeting each other they began to brawl, exchanging heavy and swift blows with one another that Naruto was sure he would be pulverized by if he took a clean hit himself. "The standard teams for shinobi are teams of three, but those teams are then assigned to platoons. These platoons are then given specific roles; attackers, defenders, support, ambush, specialist… all sorts. However, just in case you are wondering, there's always a platoon of shinobi down there training day in and day out. They even train throughout the night until morning to better adjust themselves to the conditions of fighting while it is pitch black."

"Okay…" Naruto nodded and glanced up at his teacher who pulled out the instant ramen cup he had brought with him. "So… we have a standing body of armed forces, who are now active… and then these reserve forces assigned to other areas around the village?"

"Yes. Good," Iruka smiled and patted him on the back. "Remember _that_ one Naruto, it will be in your final written exam. You have to know these things in order to graduate…"

"And the jutsu as well?" Naruto asked enthusiastically, receiving yet another nod of confirmation.

"Yup. The most basic of ninjutsu you must be able to perform are the _Bunshin_, the _Kawarimi_ and the _Henge no Jutsu_. From there, you can learn to use these techniques in conjunction with any other jutsu and will allow you to develop them to the point where…" There was suddenly a flash of light and a loud, earthshaking bang which caused the balcony Iruka and Naruto were perched on to rattle loudly. Surprised, they looked up to see a plume of smoke rising several stories into the air, only to dissipate on the wind moments later. It was a spectacular blast, one that Iruka _had_ to point out to his student. "You can do something like _**that**_! A Fire Technique crossed with a Wind Technique, or a Fire Technique with a Replacement Technique. Until you've mastered two or more, you can then work on combining them."

Though the display was impressive, what his teacher said afterwards had Naruto's spirits plummet.

"Hmm…" The boy looked away with a discomforting expression crossing his face, as he deeply considered his own arsenal of skills he had acquired so far. His teacher didn't fail to notice the sudden change in his tone. "I know how to do the _Kawarimi_ and the _Henge_ well enough… b-but… but I haven't been able to create a descent _Bunshin_ yet." He lowered his head some more, his hands clenching and eyes becoming overshadowed with disappointment. "This sucks! If I can't do the _Bunshin_ I can't pass!"

Iruka's look softened and he placed a hand over the boy's shoulder, hugging him in encouragement. "Hey. It's alright, Naruto. Don't take it so hard. It's not the end of the world…"

"It will be for _me_ if I can't pass the stupid practical tests!" Naruto huffed and looked away sharply in frustration. "I _can't_ control my chakra well enough to produce a descent, working clone. They always end up either unconscious or they just _**die**_ on me the moment I create them!" His growing anger at his inability to perform the technique made his voice tremble with irritation. "Why do I suck so much? Why do I fail at everything I try to accomplish… why am I a dead-last…?"

The Chunin sighed, continuing to brace the boy's shoulder while he turned and glared off to the side. Their attention was no longer set on the fields or the other amazing spectacles around them.

Iruka had brought the boy here for a reason and he was darned if he wasn't going to get through to him tonight. He had to break him out of his current funk and get him back on track. If there was any _hope_ of the youngster succeeding in his career as a shinobi in the future, even if he's lost it in everyone and everywhere else, then _he_ was going to be that hope for him.

He knew he should have helped him out like this a long time ago.

"Naruto…" Iruka shook him and forced him to look back up at him. He then gestured out towards the training camp. "What do you see out there? Who do you see out there?"

The boy frowned and looked up. He examined one pit after another, eyes scanning the flat ground and its occupants before craning back up to his teacher. "Chunin training with each other…"

"Exactly. Every one of those ninja down there had a dream and an ambition. They probably still do, and they all worked incredibly hard to get where they are now. Many of them had failed the academy graduation exams in the past once or twice, but in the end after working even harder, they managed to pass… and _here_ they are. Those challenges that they faced as academy students and as Genin are years behind them. But today, they are combating new challenges and negotiating other obstacles, including their own limitations." Iruka balled his fist and then jabbed it out in front of him, showing Naruto a sign of absolute confidence and strength. "I remember what a wise shinobi once told me; that 'hard work and perseverance in the face of great adversity, and the will to never give up, will help you get to where you want to go.' You can accomplish anything if you put your mind to it."

"Who told you that, sensei?" Naruto asked, finding the statement a bit odd.

"A man named Jiraiya… it's been years since I last saw him though," Iruka looked down at the boy and smiled. "After my parents died when the Kyuubi attacked the village and I was having a hard time coping, he approached me. Apparently, he saw me wandering around the streets looking upset and wanted to cheer me up. He sat and spoke with me, just like how I'm speaking with you right now. He took me _here_ and showed me this place…"

He patted the wooden platform they were on, illustrating the scene before gesturing out over the horizon. Both their eyes scanned the trees and rooftops beyond the field's gates and fences, along with the sky now turning into night. "I wasn't a good student back in the academy and the other kids always made fun of me for having no parents. In order to try and fit in with everybody else, I always fooled about and made jokes to get attention, making me the class clown. But all those tricks I spent time pulling meant I sacrificed learning valuable lessons of a shinobi. However, what Jiraiya said to me that day set me straight and thanks to his encouragement I was able to work harder and become stronger then I ever was before, and now I'm here."

Iruka saw the look of awe written on Naruto's face and after seeing that immediate improvement gave him a light tap on his nose. Though the boy fussed over the friendly gesture, he quickly returned attention to the grinning Chunin.

"Do you hear me, kiddo?"

Naruto nodded his head furiously and grinned. "You were like me, Iruka-sensei?"

"Y-Yeah… I guess I was…" the Chunin chuckled and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. He then shook it off and returned to a casual expression with a beaming look still in play. "But you get what I'm saying to you?"

"To work and study hard, right?" the jinchuriki asked heartedly and in a very energetic manner. This earned another bop to the nose.

"Not just that," Iruka said and then poked him in the chest. "_**You**_ have to stop taking things so easily and start focusing on _your_ studying and _your_ training. I know you have a lot of potential bottled up in that thick head of yours, so start opening it up." He then pointed back down to the field to where the line up of Chunin was practicing their taijutsu in formation. "Remember, _they_ started off from the academy just like the rest of your class… and I want _you_ to be a part of that next, graduating group."

"Uh-huh."

Iruka saw the youngster quickly turn back to him with an intense gaze and attention firmly set on him. The man raised a finger and prodded in his direction, but withheld himself from making contact.

He gestured at him, making his points loud and clear so to make sure the slacker absorbed the information he was given and it didn't just go pouring out of his other ear. "You can make up for your past mistakes and lost time by concentrating on your lessons and work. From now on; I want you to _work_ hard, _study_ hard and _focus_. If you keep your mouth shut, and your eyes and ears focused on what's going on, you'll be surprised at what you can learn." For that last time he made emphasis of the Chunin locked in their exercises, from the ninjutsu training zone across to the taijutsu area. "Training to become a shinobi is all about watching, learning and adapting."

Naruto blinked and nodded.

Without issuing any form of response beyond that, the jinchuriki then silently turned back to the field at a labored pace, making Iruka wonder if maybe he had accidentally broken him with the brick solid words he had been throwing at the boy. The academy teacher waited and watched patiently while the jinchuriki fixed his attention onto the Chunin training all at once down on the field.

The youngster's eyes trailed from one area to another, moving quickly over the various activities going on, with the strain of concentration becoming a little bit too much for him in the end. Calming down some more, Naruto took in a deep breath and focused on just _one_ aspect of the camp. He watched the current one-on-one duel going on between the two Chunin within the sparring cube, both of them going at each other with a fury of attacks and counters. The blonde took genuine time and interest in observing the fight going on, to the point where he was able to slow it down enough to be able to watch their movements clearly and see how their taijutsu was executed first-hand.

Time seemed to slow down around him

He became so engrossed that his stare became unblinking and he completely forgot about the instant ramen he had brought up to the balcony with him.

When Iruka yanked on the ignition string at the base of his cup of noodles, which effectively flash-heated the contents, the man then noticed Naruto's continuous stare. Looking between the youngster and the occupied pasture, the Chunin reached out and shook him to see if he was still alive.

It would suck if he was having a stroke.

"Naruto? You okay?"

"Y-Yeah… I'm fine, sensei," Naruto replied a little bit lazily. His eyes and attention shifted rigidly between the field and his teacher a couple of times, before becoming fully locked with the practice sessions transpiring before him once again. Submitting himself to silence, the boy then waved a hand at Iruka. "I… I'll eat a little later…"

Iruka became both puzzled and astonished at his response.

Naruto never said 'no' to ramen. Fact of life. _Period_. It was the teacher's trump card to all of his breakdown problems and he needed to restart the eccentric boy. The blonde would easily give up a day of lessons to go eat at Ichiraku's. Heck, he'd even trade in his shoes for a bowl without a second thought. He would even neglect valuable hours of sleep to go sit at his dining room table and eat ramen.

The only thing that sat next to ramen on Naruto's hobbies and interests chart was pranks. Ramen was quite literally the boy's life blood.

The fact that he was purposefully ignoring the instant cups meant that something was definitely wrong, and that had Iruka worry.

"Umm… okay…" the scarred academy teacher slowly turned back to his fast food meal and pulled the cap off of the now steaming broth. "I'll just… leave you to it then…aye…"

While he ate, Iruka kept on sparing brief glances at the boy who just continued to sit and stare at the field with a deep expression of mixed curiosity and analytical edges visible, as the training between the groups of Chunin continued on throughout the night.

_**TO BE CONTINUED…**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Note:<strong> It just occured to me that Destiny Breaker was not progressing as much or as well as I had been expecting. So I've come up with a replacement. To refill my portfolio, I came up with THIS idea. I'm really busy in between different works, so you'll have to excuse me for not updating regularly. I'm having a pretty shitty month._

_Enjoy_


	2. Academy Arc:  First Steps

**NARUTO**

**The Art of Appropriation**

_First Steps_

**The next morning…**

Iruka expressed quite a bit concern about leaving Naruto on the balcony all on his own when it came time for them to hit the sack respectively, but the boy insisted on staying and watching the platoon of Chunin train for the night. After several failed attempts to tear the boy away from all the excitement the academy teacher eventually relented and went on his own way, while at the same time warning the youngster to behave. This left the jinchuriki all by himself and with whatever hours remained until daybreak to watch every individual shinobi workout down on the field.

From the point when the sun completely set over the mountain tops to when it once again started to rise over the hills on the other side of the country, Naruto was certain that he had watched and effectively covered every single bout of every individual shinobi from the platoon to have stepped out onto the sparring square. Though there were other shinobi watching from the sidelines, mostly fellow Chunin and senior instructors in charge of them, Naruto was the only outsider to have observed all of the sparring sessions that went on that entire night. Those hours of keen observation had been a real brain kicker, as the academy student felt as though he been able to pick up on a lot of the things that had been thrown around out there.

He had watched their techniques, watched how they moved and how they responded to each others' attacks. He saw how strong and fast the Chunin were, along with how nimble and agile they had to be in order to combat a shinobi of higher caliber. More significant areas of combat aside from the punching and kicking aspects were grappling, counters and excessive use of dodging and evasion. Instead of taking the hits and walking right through them like Naruto normally did during the spars with his fellow students at the school, they moved out of the way. Having seen this performed more than once during each of the engagements gave the boy an even better idea of controlled combat, where intellect, reflex and speed all came into play.

From analyzing the fights, the jinchuriki saw that it was better to avoid attacks that had a lot of power behind them and to react quickly to counter them.

It had been both an invigorating and enlightening experience so to speak. Naruto became so engrossed in the spars he even watched the entire platoon switch out with the next one. He oversaw the entire procedure of the next team brushing up on their morning exercises for the harder trials ahead of them.

Other areas of the mass formation of shinobi in training next to the taijutsu that had caught a great deal of his attention were, oddly enough, a couple of the training dummies used in the exercises.

Naruto had never seen the types of dummies the Chunin were using around the academy before. They were obviously different from the stuffed bags of hay that the students practiced in both physical exercises and out on the throwing range. They were wooden dummies with straight arms sticking out from different sides, including what looked to be a make-shift extended leg for a lower striking point. They were fixed to the floor and didn't budge an inch, and judging from their design looked as though if a person hit them hard it would hurt the user. The Chunin assigned to each post would get in close and attack it like it was an actual punching bag, only they were all able to maintain fluid form, technique, and strike out with an unbroken repertoire of attacks.

The blonde youngster had seen shinobi become frustrated at their efforts and restarted on the dummies consistently. Each individual that took the stage practiced different styles all around on each dummy designed just a little bit differently to the next.

He kept in mind to try out some of the stuff he had seen later on. All he needed were some targets to hit. Perhaps if he rummaged through the utility and weapons shed on the academy grounds he could find a wooden dummy to practice his taijutsu on.

About forty minutes after the sun had risen, Naruto then up and left to go get himself some breakfast. He had already finished the ramen Iruka had bought for him the other night and had carried up to the balcony, so he figured something healthy to start the weekend would be a welcome change.

All throughout the morning the young jinchuriki spent contemplating Iruka's words of wisdom and encouragement. The knowledge he was shared whizzing around inside of his head prompted him to look back on his own past performances on the ninja academy front, and after some careful, deep thought, he came to his own humble and reluctant opinion that it had _not_ been a good track record on his end. It was while he was having porridge and orange juice at a privately owned, road-side stand that he came to his senses that he had really been the absolute worst student imaginable.

Iruka's words echoed through his head.

He actually blanked out and looked ahead of him in a daze when he reviewed his lessons. It was all set in stone; he messed about during the stealth exercises, he was close to failure in theory, his arsenal of jutsu fell short of one (two to three if you counted the students of prominent clans who were trained in their family's basics), he was at best middle in shurikenjutsu, and he was ungracefully slow compared to taijutsu adepts like Sasuke-teme and the baka Kiba. What he thought he more then made up for in these failings was boundless energy, insane endurance in marathon events and brute force.

Prank master didn't count for grades within the schooling system at all. Nothing. Naught. Nevertheless, in the midst of his prolonged moments of epiphany, Naruto decided to place his mischief and tomfoolery as a side note for possibly future creativity referencing.

After what felt like an eternity, which turned out to be half an hour at the bar, Naruto eventually returned to earth with a declarative shout and an affirmative nod of his head. Sure it scared the shit out of everybody nearby, but he was eccentric as the saying goes… unpredictable.

It took quite a bit of time for him to work things out with himself, he admitted. Hell, he even gave himself a wide enough berth in between the porridge and the bran muffin to rethink his training regime. That was where all of his current problems with his ninja techniques and practice started, and where he realized he needed to restart. An hour or so was ample time enough for him to get his flaps and tail straightened out for take off. He finished his breakfast and thanked the stand's owner for his meal, before heading off to one of the only places in the village people thought would never see him at…

What had transpired the night before showed him a whole new world.

He seriously had to shape up and fast…

XXX

**Konoha's Local Library…**

"_At least it would give me something to do for the weekend."_

Naruto kept that thought firmly fixed inside of his head as he ventured down yet another isle of the vast catacombs of knowledge and learning he thrust himself into. He knew that the best way he could start improving himself was by mending himself in the areas in which he was lacking.

Ergo: the _library_!

Forget the physical exercises and increasing chakra capacity for the time being, he had an entire list of recommended areas needing development; starting with technique and chakra control, and then jutsu and standard knowledge reserved for the later weeks. Start from the foundations, up.

He knew what was required of him for the exams so he was going to prepare himself as best as he could for them. From that thought alone, he was able to construct a full proof, mental timetable to follow.

"_Iruka-sensei was right, I need to get my butt into gear and start taking my future as a shinobi seriously. No time for joking around!"_ Naruto thought, nodding his head affirmatively; _"Just one prank a month and more vegetables in my diet! I can consider that an accomplishment in itself!"_

Right now, Naruto was already carrying about three books with a stack of practice scrolls on top. They were all readings and articles depicting and describing proper taijutsu form, a list of chakra exercises and stuff on _Konoha Shinobi Basics_. He already had the _Kawarimi_ and _Henge_ down so there was no need to read up on those. What he needed to do was just pass his _Bunshin_ and he would be home free. But that didn't mean he could neglect other aspects of his learning. After all, his teacher expected him to improve himself everywhere else.

The boy crinkled his head in conflict as he looked upon the shelves left and right. He spared a glance down at the list in his hand over the stack of reading material he was still carrying, before again looking up at the uncountable amounts before him.

He signed in resignation, finding himself lost.

"Damn it, where the hell are the _Bunshin_ exercises?" the blonde grumbled and continued walking. He was certain he hadn't yet passed the section in question. He had to be in the right area.

There was a lot of stuff on ninjutsu in here, but not the stuff he was looking for. All of it was history and weapons, nothing really much practical like the articles he had already accumulated. The jinchuriki needed to have something he could work on, otherwise he was screwed. _"Why do I have to suck at the Bunshin no Jutsu to begin with? It's not like I'm getting the steps wrong. Or maybe I am… argh!"_

He mentally slapped himself and marched on.

However, the moment he restarted his journey and was about to become acquainted with yet another shelf of misleading articles, he was suddenly hit over the head by something square and heavy. The impact nearly had him black out. All the same, he was still knocked over by the force of whatever it was that hit him and fell flat forward, spilling everything he was carrying onto the floor.

The blonde groaned and sat up quickly, head spinning and seeing three of everything.

"What in the world…" he rubbed the back of his bruised noggin and picked up whatever it was that fell on top of him. Looking at it from back to front, it was a thick almanac on the art of making kunai and became even dizzier from just looking at the blurb. "_Kunai: Volume I_? How in…?"

Perplexed, he shook his head and looked up in annoyance.

In his vain attempts in finding anything of value on the _Bunshin no Jutsu_, he had become so distracted that he had failed to notice the library ladder he had passed right on by. It reached all the way to the top of the shelves and standing on its highest steps with a stack of books in hand was a girl. She was wearing casual clothes, mostly red, with a white coat, had the Konoha shinobi headband around her waist, and slightly unkempt, blonde hair tied back into a ponytail with swirl-patterned sunglasses.

The individual looked to be no older than Naruto and from the current look on her face, was incredibly alarmed and panicky. The boy furrowed his brow while rubbing away the newly forming lump and shook the heavy 'weapon' he had collected, up at her.

"What's the idea of chucking books at me?"

"I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm _so_ sorry!" the girl clumsily placed the books she was carrying onto the shelf level she was at and slid down the ladder in a heartbeat. She then hurriedly took the almanac out of Naruto's hands and pulled him to his feet, before bowing repeatedly. "The book slipped from my grip… I-I didn't know… I was just… I was very busy and… oh… … I'm so sorry!"

"T-That's okay," Naruto replied, quite taken aback from her incredibly rushed and energetic responses. Checking to see if there was any blood on his hands to confirm a rupture or not, he then swooped down and picked up the books he had dropped. "I guess it's my fault for not paying attention to where I was going. Heh. My head is up in the clouds as much as that idiot Shikamaru."

"No, no… the fault is mine," the girl replied. Desperate to make amends, she helped the jinchuriki out collecting his fallen goods. After piling up the scrolls, she handed them back to him. "Again… I'm terribly sorry…"

"It's fine… really! No need to apologize so much. It's… _just_ another lump on my _fat_ head to join the others," Naruto grinned back cheerfully, shrugging at the 'just' and stacking the scrolls back on top of his pile. "Maybe this is a sign that I should really start knuckling down even harder and stop getting distracted from my stuff, huh? Well… no more slacking off and no more pointless shenanigans!"

He saw the girl giggle at his choice of words, which earned a nervous chuckle from him as well.

He wasn't sure if he was growing a horn or not thanks to the book, but perhaps it was a good thing he got hit by accident. The girl wasn't hurrying him off or trying to scare him away or anything yet, really.

Tilting his head a little, he then looked around again, trying to figure out where he actually was in this maze of a building. "I got a little lost trying to find something in here. There are _SO_ many books!"

"Oh… are you looking for something in particular?" the young girl asked curiously, her expression of anxiousness vanishing. She stepped forward in a kind gesture of offering her assistance, but Naruto didn't catch that right away.

He simply shrugged back and looked up at the ladder the girl was previously on top of. "I'm looking for stuff on _Bunshin_ that I can learn and practice with. You know, training scrolls or instruction books. But it's really hard trying to find things when they aren't arranged in the right order."

The library helper giggled and beamed, assertively taking his hand. "That's because you're in the _Weapons_ category… you need to be back in _Ninjutsu_…"

"Oh," Naruto blinked before being pulled along by the girl and out of the isle. As she led him around towards the far end, he consulted the pillars of books flying passed him. "I thought it was alphabetical… like at the academy…"

"Well… this library _is_ bigger than the academy's… and I'm guessing a little more elaborate in terms of contents." Stopping for a moment, the girl pointed up at the sign hanging overhead at one isle's entrance. "See. This library records all forms of profession, occupation, and information, not just shinobi practices. I guess you found these other ones purely by accident." She turned back towards him and plucked one of the scrolls he already had as well as the book he was carrying under that. Looking at them, she smiled and held up the article, tapping the front. "_This_ one is _Advanced Chakra Control Volume I_… something you don't learn until your first year as a Genin. And _this_ scroll illustrates the fighting arts of karate. I think you got them mixed up. You need the _Beginners Volume of Shinobi Taijutsu_ or unarmed combat, and _Academy Basics in Chakra…_"

"I could use that to… the last one," Naruto gently took the books out of her hands and smiled. "I already have a _Basics in Taijutsu_ copyat home. I just thought I'd take a look at some of the other stuff that we don't learn at school, like other fighting styles." He shrugged at the material he was already carrying. "Most of these are based on techniques and form. Forget about the taijutsu! What I need is more practical material to help me control my chakra better, like instruction sheets, tutorials or something similar, because I'm really struggling in that area."

"Oh… I see, well," the girl straightened her glasses and grinned, hands being placed firmly on her hips. "I know exactly where to find your _Bunshin_ and _Chakra_ basics! Come with me!" She then grabbed him by his hand again and started pulling him along a lot quicker. Though Naruto nearly tripped and fell over at several stages, he obediently allowed himself to be led around.

She pulled him into the _Ninjutsu_ isle and yanked him over to the column he was looking for. There, she showed him _all_ documentation and articles based on the _Bunshin_ types that Konoha was allowed to lend to the public. Naruto felt as though he had stumbled onto the mother load and skimmed a finger over each item displayed, while his new companion helped pick out a suitable copy for him.

After a quick run over them she then pinched the book at the far side of the row and gave it to him.

It was a raggedy old hardback on _Bunshin_, with information designed for understanding the concept along with practical exercises to follow. Despite its age, she insisted he have it by cramming it into his already immense stack.

"People don't often borrow these books nowadays, they buy them. But donated, second hand copies usually have some interesting and surprisingly helpful notes left over in them from their previous owners," the library assistant explained after seeing Naruto's curious yet slightly questioning expression. "The last person who owned this book had a habit of writing in the pages, like corrections, helpful tips and other random stuff. I didn't get a thorough look at it yet, but he made quite a lot of sense of what was written."

"That's neat…" Naruto exclaimed, glancing down at the old book in thought. This encouraged an appreciative nod from the library assistant.

"The past and experiences of others can be a great teacher. At least… it's what I gathered from the amount of time I spend here," she stated, while rubbing her cheek sheepishly. "I hope that book helps you out, I really do."

"Thanks… thanks very much," Naruto smiled weakly and weighed the material in his arms. "I'll use these well."

"Oh yes and before you go!" The girl quickly rushed around him and disappeared down another isle. Before Naruto could even begin tracking her, she remerged with two more books in her hands and dropped them on his already immense pile. The boy winced when the weight increased and tightened his grip. She stepped back and admired her work. "Other material that you'll need: _Basic Chakra Control_ exercises and _Scroll Sealing Techniques_. These will get you started, no problem."

"Oh… t-thank you …" Naruto huffed and propped the stack up into a more comfortable position. "You've been a really big help."

"No problem. It's my job to help others find their way around this place. Although, heh… I'd still help others out even if I wasn't working in the library… being too nice and all. Force of habit." The girl then held out her hand to him with a warm smile. "I'm Shiho, by the way."

"Naruto Uzumaki," the jinchuriki replied, returning her extended hand with his and shaking firmly. "Future Hokage of Konohagakure… it's nice to meet you." This earned yet another giggle from the library assistant.

"My… how ambitious. Well, it's a good thing that you have such a big goal in life. The path to it can take you almost anywhere," the girl identified as Shiho replied, lacing her hands together and nodding towards him in admiration. "Hope you _do_ become Hokage some day, Naruto-kun."

"Gee… thanks. T-That means a lot," Naruto rubbed the back of his head, his grin becoming a grateful smile.

He had never been given such confidence from a complete stranger before in his life. All he received from people and many villagers he passed by on the streets and didn't know, were looks of content and displeasure. Even those kids he had come to know from his school laughed at the idea of him becoming Hokage. However, this girl, this girl he had just met, gave him the most confidence and heartwarming smiles he had ever received from another human being. She seemed quite alright with him being around and he felt really pleased about it. "Again, I really appreciate all of your help. I'm gonna take these books home now to study…"

"Good luck. If you need any help, just drop by and ask," Shiho exclaimed with a small bow. "It's really nice talking to somebody here… it gets pretty lonely on the job… just hanging around with books and all. Heh."

"Okay! It's a promise then," Naruto nodded affirmatively. "I'll drop by whenever possible. You have my word."

After bidding farewell to Shiho and saying that he will try and visit as often as possible, the blonde then headed off on his way. He put the books through for approval with the librarian and carried them home, with a noticeable spring in his step and a cheerful smile engraved on his face.

Of course, what reason was there to keep him from smiling? This morning has been filled with a whole lot of firsts for him that he could really take to heart and appreciate. His first real visit to the library for his own personal development, his first friendly chat with a girl close to his own age that didn't end with him being scolded or hit, and the first friend he had made in a long time.

XXX

**Later that day…**

**Apartment Complex Backyard…**

Naruto had to admit that there were quite a few perks with living alone on the far edge of the village. He used these said positive aspects to downplay the many negatives, and chalked up a list that helped him to accentuate the advantages even more.

First and foremost, he could be as loud and as troublesome as he wanted to be in his own time. Since the landlady didn't live in the same complex but in a small home a couple buildings down the street, he was free to mingle about the entire structure at his own leisure without fear of disturbing the other residents, due to complete lack of. Secondly, the zero occupants of the building meant that the shared backyard was completely open and available to him. It mostly consisted of a wide open lawn with a garden beside a bamboo fence that arched around the whole of the turf. In addition to this, there were also several oak and cherry trees planted within the overstretched patches, and a clothesline set up beside a patio, both of which could be used by all of the establishment's patrons.

The blonde was quite grateful that he had such a good, quiet place out back. In contrast to his apartment, which only had a small lounge room, a shared dining and kitchen space, a bathroom complete with toilet, and bedroom, the backyard area was quite spacious. It was also conveniently set up as all the rooms of the building had a stairway access to it.

To the jinchuriki, it gave him all the space he needed to train in private.

With his books laid out on the patio table and a taijutsu scroll already opened up on it, Naruto was out on the grass practicing technique. In the center of the lawn sat a large tree stump with rope wrapped around it, which he had used to transform the piece of wood into a temporary training post. He took advantage of the fact that the building was supplied with a firewood pile around the side and managed to get a rather large log for his own leisure.

He was currently dancing around the post practicing a series of techniques from his academy taijutsu scroll. The scroll illustrated all of the punching, kicking and blocking types, and it was the student's job to study the illustrations and perform them in combinations as well as through practice.

Going through the motions, Naruto was attempting to do just that; to perfectly mirror the forms displayed in the scroll. He wasn't applying power to them just yet, it was more around the area of getting the positions and executions correct.

With a relaxed stance he moved through one position after another and by the sweat already dripping down his face, he realized just how far off he had been in getting the form of the basic taijutsu style the academy students were expected to know, down. The teacher had gone through it with them many times in the past and everybody passed the tests he gave out quite well, save for him who just passed by the skin of his teeth.

Needless to say, Naruto's academy fighting style wasn't clean. It lacked finesse.

From this realization, it was now his main intention to get the forms and positions _right_. Since he didn't have a distinctive fighting style like the Uchiha, Yamanaka, Inuzuka or Akimichi, he had to start off from scratch just like the other students at the school who had absolutely no inherit clan backgrounds. They had to study what was provided by the academy to cover their taijutsu aspects of their training.

They had had years to practice technique and apply it, but the jinchuriki hadn't been taking the lessons as seriously as he had thought. All he wound up doing was plowing through training dummies and most partners, and though this meant he passed it didn't look too well from an observing teacher's point of view.

Naruto had several scrolls of different taijutsu styles to practice and an almanac complete with all known styles within and outside of the village throughout history; an encyclopedic tank of different forms from any place the compass could lead you, which he had found in the library.

He wanted to get them all down.

Naruto shouted with every punch and kick he threw, changing direction consistently and trying to keep the flow going. After a particular combination of attacks, he then finished with an extended fist and stopped himself. Panting from the effort, he pulled himself back into a normal standing position and wiped his brow.

Removing his jacket, he waltzed back over to the table and looked down at the scroll. Taking note of the arm movements and hand forms, he attempted to imitate them while standing where he was, extended fist, hooking one and open palm. The part of the scroll he was looking at emphasized striking with both the upper body and legs. He then rolled it out some more and looked at the blocking techniques.

"_Maintaining form is a lot harder then I thought." _Naruto thought and rubbed the back of his head, feeling how damp he was with sweat. "_But I have to keep practicing so that it can occur naturally to me in the future. After that, I can then put power into the hits and apply these techniques to actual fighting. I just need to keep training till I get it all right."_

He then set himself on the patio, in the same spot he had stopped and proceeded to follow-through with the movements. At the same time, he set his feet into a comfortable, shoulder width position and began mirroring the striking and blocking techniques displayed on the scroll.

For the rest of that day in between breaks, he continued practicing his taijutsu over both the patio and the lawn…

* * *

><p><strong>The next weekend…<strong>

**Sunday…**

Naruto furrowed his brow and looked about the backyard with a kunai in hand. Sliding into a firm stance he kept his ears and eyes open for any sign of his opponent, hoping against everything for the barest of indications. If his opponent made even the slightest noise he would be able to locate him and attack.

He had been practicing for hours now, so this _had_ to work.

Marching back some, the jinchuriki slowly turned around, his eyes scanning the bushes and trees surrounding the yard for movement. However, the only movement came from the leaves and branches being rustled on a light breeze, causing the blonde to gulp. He already looked like he had taken a few hits; bruised, dirt covered and pants ripped. However, in spite of his condition he was still fighting fit, not tired at all.

But that didn't mean he couldn't be nervous.

Sweat dripping down his face, he shifted positions, lowering his kunai with his hand bracing his dominant wrist, which held the knife tightly and at the defensive.

However, just as he was backing up yet again to get a better position on the ground, he heard a sharp, irregular rush of wind and a light thud on the soft grass behind him. This prompted the blonde to quickly turn around and face his attacker attempting to get the drop on him, only to receive a nasty surprise in the form of a face full of kunai.

They came from a second Naruto who had suddenly leapt down from a nearby tree.

Crouched low and hand extended, the exact duplicate frowned as he glared across at his stationary target standing bewildered in the center of the yard with his mug covered in five throwing knives buried deeply into the flesh.

Well, at least he thought it was flesh. Could have fooled him…

Moments afterwards, the Naruto-copy that had been standing in the middle of the lawn suddenly turned a dark, dry brown color and began to crumble. Seconds later, the entire embodiment of earth formed into the life size version of its user just fell back down to the grass, forming a pile of dirt, while the real Naruto rose back to his feet and dusted his pants down. Since he was fighting topless he didn't have to worry about the condition of his shirt or jacket, but the execution of his technique and his maneuver.

His ambush had been a success and his clone responded well. But there was a problem.

"At least I created a good, earth based clone. I can consider it as _some_ sort of 'success'," Naruto exclaimed sarcastically, but then frowned and placed his fists on his hips. He wasn't taking the accomplishment at face value, because he knew up to this point he has yet been able to accomplish his main objective. "But I still _can't_ create a regular clone! What's up with that! Dammit!" He kicked the ground and uprooted a clump of grass before storming over to the table on the patio, leaving the pile of earth behind with his kunai still buried in it.

He glared down at the dirty old book that had been left on the table and he wiped more sweat from his face. The effort of practicing so many different kinds of _Bunshin_ in a span of three to four days with little sleep was tiresome, but at least he was getting a good deal of practice out of it.

The slightly faded pages spoke stories to him. But in spite of his success and patting himself on the back for creating a working _Earth Clone_, he still looked and felt incredibly annoyed at himself as he turned over to the next page. The previous section had been scribbled with the steps of how to create element based clones, including the hand seals and the processes of performing the _Doton Bunshin no Jutsu_. He thanked the previous owner of the book for writing down so many notes and corrections, but he was still stumped, so to speak.

"Okay, I can create some sort of clone now, great. But not the clone I need to pass! The regular _Bunshin no Jutsu_!" Naruto slapped the pages of the book. "The guy didn't write anything in this about it! No tips… _NOTHING_! Is it that simple?"

Naruto knew he was being back-and-forth about the whole situation. First he was pleased at the idea of being able to create some sort of clone and then the next second, he was arguing with himself that he couldn't create a different clone. It was a stupid conflict in itself.

The blonde ran his hand through his hair and sighed. Shaking his head, he turned the page over again and looked down at the next elemental clone type the previous owner had written in it.

Damn, the pages were _really_ faded. It _had_ to be older then pretty old.

"_Still… I can't believe someone would just leave this lying around. It's a Bunshin gold mine,"_ Naruto grinned at himself. Well, he could take some solace from the fact that he was aided into finding this. Thank… You… Shiho-chan. Pause for emphasis on that particular person. _"At the rate I'm going at, I might just become the greatest Bunshin user ever!" _

…

…

"_NOT UNLESS I CAN FIGURE OUT HOW TO DO THE STUPID, NORMAL ONE!"_ He kept his yelling suppressed in his head, but the inner conflict still reflected greatly on his face by the way his eye and lip twitched.

If he wasn't careful he was going to snap.

Keeping his complaints to himself, Naruto just skimmed over the hand seals for the _Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu_ that the old keeper of the book had provided for him. It was just one seal required, a Tiger seal, but it was incredibly specific on the level of chakra control required to form it.

"_A body of water is constantly in motion… therefore it requires a portion of chakra to maintain the shape and a source to create it…"_ Naruto nodded his head and then moved over to the other book he had opened up next to the one he was reading, which was on advanced chakra control. The two articles seemed to come hand in hand with one another and it was helping him a lot in understanding his own chakra.

Apparently, after reading through and following the practices in the books he found that he had an incredibly high level of chakra for a novice. He discovered this from the control and output exercises, where the level he was able to reach and sustain being _phenomenal_. There was so much chakra coursing through his veins it actually became visible in the form of flaming, blue energy. He figured that it contributed somewhat to his physical performances, since people who practiced primarily with chakra looked on it as something of a lifeline in combat and when exhausted, shinobi had more or less used up _all_ of their chakra.

However, looking back again, Naruto realized he had always been physically strong, even before he was able to completely grasp the concept of chakra. With that thought in mind, he concluded that he had an appropriate balance between immense physical prowess and a huge well of chakra he could use to perform ninjutsu. But this was where the main problem stemmed from. Because he had such huge reserves of chakra, he also deduced that it was incredibly difficult for him to create the conventional _Bunshin no Jutsu_ and maintain it, due to it requiring a certain amount and control over his chakra. He needed to use the exact amount to produce a clone; otherwise it would become unstable and would either explode or end up dead the moment it was created.

For Naruto, it was mostly the latter. With so much chakra being subconsciously pumped through his body, the act of creating a regular clone for him was like trying to produce a drop of water from a fully open, running tap. It was near impossible.

However, he was determined to get it right no matter how long it took; even if it meant practicing using different types of _Bunshin_.

…

If he had only known he was pushing himself way beyond the prerequisites of the exercises leading up to the final exams. He could have stopped at _Doton Bunshin no Jutsu_, and that would have been fine. But, true to his character, it was in his nature to keep pushing himself further then the one.

A competitive spirit can be a great motivator, but it can also be a great hazard in one's life; something he was also just starting to understand.

"_Maybe I can make do with enough Bunshin techniques to pass the final exams. If I can do that… it might just impress Iruka-sensei,"_ Naruto shrugged in thought and hopped back into the middle of the lawn.

Taking a position away from the pile of compost he had used to create his _Earth Clone_, he then assumed a stance and formed a technique specific hand seal. Once he had done so, he began shaping and molding his chakra required to create his _Water Clone_.

The next thing he knew, the birdbath at the side of the garden suddenly emptied itself when the water in its basin sprang into the air and began pouring onto the ground directly beside the blonde. Naruto looked to his left, and watched on in surprise and curiosity as the small amount of water expanded, grew upwards, and formed into the shape of a person roughly his size. However, in that instance of focus redirection, he lost concentration and before any color or definition could be made to the mass of water, the bubble exploded right in his face.

He ended up soaking wet as a result.

Drenched and annoyed, he ran his hand over his face and wiped the residue off of his failure.

"Let's try that again!" Naruto formed the hand seal for a second time.

This time, upon full concentration, the water previously used in his attempted technique sprang off of him and the ground, formed into a bubble, and began to manifest itself again. Without breaking his focus, Naruto willed the water to take shape, before eventually completing itself. In the end, the blonde found himself looking at a perfect duplicate of him made completely out of water.

With the clone manifested, it turned towards its creator.

They looked each other up and down, with the original propping himself into a thoughtful stance while he gazed at his water copy.

"Not bad… not bad at all… but…" Naruto smirked and leapt back, taking a stance. "Let's see how well you do in a spar."

The Naruto water clone smirked as well and assumed a stance.

After staring each other down briefly, the original and the copy leapt at each other and locked fists. The user lashed out at his doppelganger using the style he had been practicing for the past few days to improve his taijutsu. The strenuous exercises worked wonders on his body and Naruto could see an immediate improvement in his attacks.

The water copy, looking slightly nervous and overstressed, backed away quickly as it blocked attacks from his opponent one after the other. It utilized blocking abilities picked up from the original's fighting style, before eventually countering with an assault of its own. However, when it switched to offense it quickly had to revert back to defensive when the original pressed on, which seemed much quicker and stronger than the clone's from an observer's point of view.

Eventually, the water clone ended up with a kick to its chest and it hit the ground hard. The moment it was felled in combat it exploded, reverting back to its original, watery form and forming a puddle on the patch of lawn. The original Naruto blinked and stood up, scratching his head in confusion.

"That's odd… I thought the clone had a lot more chakra in it then that. I used the amount I was supposed to." Puzzled, Naruto marched back to the patio and looked down at the bunshin book.

He carefully skimmed over the notes detailing the water technique and what the last owner of the book had written about it. When he looked over the properties the jinchuriki was then hit with the realization of what had actually happened and he straightened up. With a thoughtful expression and an affirmative nod, he turned around and looked down at the puddle quickly sinking into the soil.

"I get it… each water clone created possesses only one-tenth of the user's full power, which was why I was able to beat it so easily," Naruto nodded. Choosing to set aside the current problem he was faced with for now, he then began thinking up several other possibilities behind the ability. _"I can use the Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu with different liquids other then water. Maybe I can use it with tar, flammable oil, gum and stuff… hmm… it might come in handy to slow someone down in a fight…"_

He kept that as a side note. On a more positive end though, creating the other elemental clones after reading about the processes was coming a lot easier to him. For most of the days prior, in between juggling academy hours and breaks, he had spent exercising and training himself in feeling and manipulating his chakra through his body. He read about the methods from the book on _Academy Basics in Chakra_, which was what everybody was expected to learn through practice. This allowed him to gain a better understanding of the shape, consistency and form of chakra he was able to control through the use of hand seals and without hand seals.

This then allowed him to move onto the next step of practicing the _Bunshin no Jutsu_. Again, the later half of that week he spent trying to create the standard clone. It ended in disaster over and over again when his clones wound up either stone cold unconscious or unconscious, before puffing out of existence.

Naruto then grew frustrated over the task, and immediately following the fruitless practice of the regular clone technique, he then spent his time practicing and performing the other clone techniques listed in the book. So far, he had spent a couple of days learning how to perform the _Doton Bunshin no Jutsu_ to the point he was able to create up to four. This led to today's previous sparring session.

He had it out with one, solitary earth clone till he defeated it and willed it back into its former substance after he managed to ambush it. The next stages to the earth clone would enable him to gain control over its substance for a longer period of time even after it is hit, but those were complex exercises for another time. After that painstaking duel, he then practiced using the _Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu_, which came much quicker to him after he had learned how to create the rigid earth based clones.

For every exercise he did, the closer he came to his goal.

Naruto figured his progress was going well now.

"This is actually fun. What other clone types has the guy written in here," the jinchuriki moved back to his book and flipped through the pages.

He saw all sorts, from leaf clones to fire clones, and clones that could be made out of or around certain materials. The guy must have been a really detail oriented person, as well as well versed in the art of creating clones, that he actually felt compelled to document so many clone techniques he must have learnt into this book, which made Naruto even more excited at the prospects of what he could take from it.

He reminded himself to thank Shiho greatly the next time he popped into the library.

Eventually, Naruto flipped over to the end of the book to see if he could find the name of the person who previously owned the old almanac. When he arrived at the hard, back cover, he blinked in surprise.

The penmanship was hard to make out at first on the personal note of 'thanks' left behind, but looking down he was able to see the name clearly inscribed under a ink painting of a man and a woman standing together.

"_Hashirama Senju…"_ Naruto's face scrunched up in confusion. "He must have lived a long time ago. What a strange name… it sounds so familiar though…" The boy looked up in thought, his eyes slowly craning over in the direction of the Hokage Monument, which he could see over the rooftops in the distance. For some reason he felt compelled to focus his complete attention on the faces of the legendary Kages of old, but after some moments of deep meditation, he shrugged away his queries. "I'll figure it out later…"

When he picked up the book and allowed the pages to roll between both the front and back cover so he could find a new Bunshin type to learn at random, a slip of paper fell out. He looked down when he spotted the part of the book that let go and shut it quickly so that it wouldn't fall apart. Setting it down, he then knelt and picked up the sheet that had been pressed flat within the pages of the article. Brushing off some of the dust, he stood up and looked at the text written on it.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," Naruto read out-loud and raised an eyebrow. Pulling up a chair, he sat down on it and held the paper close so that he could review it properly. _"This technique allows the user to create solid clone(s) for the purpose of strategically outmaneuvering an opponent or overwhelming them in sheer numbers. Adaptive and although taxing on the body, the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu also allows the user to inherit information from every clone created upon dispelling."_ Reading that note at least twice over, the jinchuriki became both bewildered and infinitely more interested in the subject that had been so conveniently dropped in his lap.

"_Properties; these solid clones can bleed from injuries taken and perform techniques in place of the user, but will disperse upon sustaining significant damage e.g. a critical hit. However, depending on the user's will and control, their existence can be prolonged so long as the creator of the clones allows it. Therefore, the copies will be able to withstand more than a few direct hits before dispelling. Unlike the regular Bunshin no Jutsu, each clone requires an even portion of the user's chakra and can exhaust if the user doesn't have the energy capacity necessary to maintain and create the clones," _Naruto glanced down at himself, and after a quick account of his own chakra levels nodded and looked back up at the paper he held. _"If the user has a large chakra capacity they can use this technique successively and produce large numbers of clones without risk. Additionally, this is a recommendation to those reading this; to exercise chakra control in order to increase chakra capacity and the number of clones this technique allows the user to create."_

Naruto smirked and leaned back some as he re-read the note. "I've got chakra to burn, easy. Hell, I've been practicing using bunshin all day and I'm not even close to feeling tired," he thumped himself in the chest, almost as if he was having a genuine, direct conversation with the slip of paper.

He then read on.

"_Pros: Strategic potential, presenting overbearing odds against an opposing force, even distribution of chakra between each solid clone, accelerated learning, combination/collaboration techniques… _hmm_…"_ the blonde rubbed his chin when his thoughts trailed off, _"_Looks like he couldn't find more pros_. Cons: Requires a lot of chakra. Caution: If the user overexerts their energy executing the jutsu they can die of fatigue. _Well that sucks._"_ Naruto then looked at the bottom of the page and he spotted a section highlighted in light ink.

"_TECHNIQUE UNDER DEVELOPMENT: Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – a step up from the regular Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, this ability allows the user to create clones upwards of a hundred. Personal best…"_ There were several numbers recorded, each one being crossed out with a date marked till it came to the latest number with a side-warning. _"865… Reaching this number nearly killed me. Conclusion: I don't have enough chakra to perform the technique perfectly. Here's an important piece of advice to anyone reading this: '__**Do not**__ use this unless you are well versed in the parent jutsu.' Reminder to…"_ It just cut off from there.

Though there was the warning, Naruto thought of it otherwise and gave the subject even more careful thought. The original owner… this person named… _Hashirama Senju_… wouldn't have left this page in the book if he didn't have any intention of teaching the technique. He left it in there for the sake that somebody would eventually find it and learn it. _This_ book was a part of his village's history and a part of a past ninja's life that made so many amazing discoveries. A small part inside of the jinchuriki told him that somebody may have already learned this technique, but had yet to push it to the extent that the author must have stretched it. This gave him more confidence in his ability to put it to good use.

What harm was there through practice? If this was a technique he could effectively use in combat then he was going to learn it. He needed to increase his arsenal anyway, and if this was another step for him in learning the regular _Bunshin no Jutsu_ then he was going to do it. After all, what was bad about adding solid clones to his list of techniques?

After memorizing the hand seal and the procedure, he slipped the piece of paper back into the book and rose to his feet. He walked out into the middle of his lawn and taking a stance just as he had done when he performed the _Water Clone_ technique he formed the trademark hand seal for his next jutsu for practice. Index and Middle fingers extended, he crossed them at the center and shut his eyes, concentrating and molding his chakra in conjunction with the sign formed.

His chakra gathered at the center and whipped around him.

"_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"_

Puffs of smoke exploded around him and Naruto stumbled back a little, looking around wildly in surprise. When he did, he saw that he was surrounded by six exact copies of himself, all of them turned to face him and smirking triumphantly upon their conception. It took a bit of time for the revelation to sink in, but then soon enough the blonde was grinning and laughing heartedly as he went about checking each individual copy.

"Wow! This technique is awesome!" the blonde exclaimed, stopping in front of one of his duplicates and tapping it in the chest.

"Oye! Knock it off!" the copy snapped and knocked the original's hand away, much to his surprise. "I'm ticklish you dumbass."

"Ha! They _are_ solid clones!" Naruto exclaimed happily and fist pumped. "This is so cool; way better then the regular Bunshin. You're not made up of air, earth, water or anything. You guys are just bodies of chakra, right?"

The original looked at all of them, waiting patiently and eagerly for a response.

All he got in return were several blank expressions from his doppelgangers, all of whom glanced around at each other in confusion and began silently questioning themselves for the next several seconds. Scratching heads and shuffling a bit, they the turned back to their creator and gave him undignified shrugs.

"_**I guess so…**_ so"…_**"**_ They all said in unison, with one of them lagging behind in the joint reply for comical effect.

The one that spoke last had all heads surrounding him turn in his direction, with the original's excited look faltering.

"Hey man, that only works when there are more of us," one clone spoke up.

"Yeah. That was a little uncalled for."

"Come on! Can't you guys take a joke?" the offending copy exclaimed nervously, meeting the others' scowls. "I just couldn't help myself. Really."

"Yeah, well _help_ this!" A clone next to the offender raised a fist and punched him across the face. That challenge was immediately taken up by the other shadow clone and all at once, they jumped at each other and started to brawl. The half-a-dozen Narutos roared and shouted angrily while they clashed in a dust cloud made up of flying fists, kicks, grapples and biting.

The original stood outside of the cloud looking at them all with an annoyed mask, eyebrow twitching and posture slumped. The jinchuriki let out a sigh and face palmed when the entourage continued beating each other into bloody pulps. Though it said the clones would normally just dispel after taking critical damage, it didn't say anything about them being unable to dispel themselves when fighting themselves.

It was confusing.

"Step one of the _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_: establish yourself as the absolute, dominant force," Naruto muttered after some thinking.

With that in mind, the original backed up a little and, calculating his trajectory, let out a warrior's yell and jumped directly into the middle of the fray. He began scuffling with his doppelgangers…

XXX

**Several minutes later…**

Naruto was panting heavily in a bruised and battered state, with his group of shadow clones also sporting wounds of their own and huffing out their exhaustion. It was after that free-for-all brawl it became clearly apparent to them that the original had indeed split the chakra evenly between himself and his duplicates, and though it had been fun and games at first, the fight had the user knackered. Now he knew what it felt like dealing with himself…

He was bloody annoying.

"Alright," the original rose to his feet and, rubbing the various bite marks he had taken in the arms, pointed at the still fallen shadow clones on the lawn. He was the only one capable of standing. "If this technique is going to work, you guys are going to have to cooperate. So _no_ unnecessary brawling or arguing; we don't want to cause chaos on the battlefield when the time comes for a mission. That'll just get _me_ killed."

"_**Yes boss…"**_ The clones groaned back in unison, earning an affirmative nod from the original.

"Good so…" Naruto looked around at the state of his lawn, which was all disheveled from the fight that had carried across it. He pointed at the patches around him. "Start by cleaning up this mess, otherwise the landlady will be pissed at me. Meanwhile, I'll go over there and… while I'm recovering, read up on my books."

The now obedient clones nodded simultaneously and at the order of their creator, went about fixing up the garden and lawn with their bare hands. While they did that, the original staggered back over to the patio and sat himself down to take a break. When he did he pulled up the copy of _Advanced Chakra Control Volume I_ and opened it up to the first page. He was hoping to absorb as much information as he could before the end of the day.

Additionally, he also produced several clones to work on the chakra basics book practically, so he sent them off to their own little corner in the garden that wasn't damaged to perform the exercises.

The original sat there for a few minutes, trying to focus on the book while everything else went on around him. But after a while of skim reading, which was the best he could do at that point, he promptly shut his book and stood up. Collecting his jacket, shirt and goggles off of the chair, he then marched up the stairs to his apartment. "Screw this; I'm going to _Training Field 2_." He stopped at the back door to see his clones staring up at him. Noticing their confusion, he waved at them. "Don't stop! I expect everything to be done and covered!"

Seeing them get back to their tasks, he stepped into his apartment and shut the door.

XXX

**That night…**

Naruto found himself back up on the balcony again with a book in hand and his eyes fixed on the Chunin training in the field beyond the threshold of the wired fence. He also had a cup of instant hot ramen open beside him. He had made sure he was adequately equipped for the night ahead while he continued to watch the shinobi of Konohagakure work it out, going by their usual routine between the fighting pit, the taijutsu line up, the shuriken range and the jutsu arena some ways out from the physical combat area.

He stared unblinkingly at the two dueling shinobi in the ring and as they scuffled, he took accurate note of their fighting styles and their techniques. Every strike, every block, every counter, every grapple, he made sure to account for them all. In between each break off, Naruto would then consult the almanac of fighting styles he had brought with him. It was one he had managed to pinch from the library just before he left last week.

It consisted of every known fighting style in history. How could he pass that up?

Though it was brief in several aspects the illustrations were incredibly detailed, allowing Naruto to make accurate accounts of every shinobi's particular taijutsu style. So far, the lineup had been very simple, consisting of fighting styles slightly more advanced than the academy style, probably practiced over years of experience as a shinobi of Konohagakure. However, there were several unique ones.

Eyes switching between the book and the two shinobi Naruto locked onto the brown, spiky haired young male lashing out ferociously at his companion. With hands open palmed but clawed, he grappled, twisted and slashed out at the other man, who defended himself against it using a close to karate style form of taijutsu. The other individual using the clawed hand form seemed to have the advantage, as he was forcing the other individual to retreat consistently with every reengagement.

The jinchuriki watched them break off for the tenth time and quickly flipped through his book. Judging the list of illustrations detailing the striking and grappling, the blonde was able to distinguish that style easily.

He grinned and looked up, watching the man lunge in again with a series of quick swipes, one in particular ripping the edge of the other Chunin's sleeve and leaving four long gashes along the cloth.

"Inuzuka Style; Kyoken," Naruto exclaimed, watching as the man let out what sounded more like a bark or growl than a shout as he lunged in with a furious series of attacks. "There are different variants of this one focusing on aggressive movement, _Mad Dog Attack_, but this one was made for the Inuzuka. They use clawed strikes as opposed to enclosed fist… guess I can bring this back to Kiba."

The blonde smiled when he watched the opponent retaliate, grabbing the Inuzuka's arm, turning and shoulder tossing him to the floor. Naruto observed the thrown man quickly leap to his feet, only to get kicked across the face and sent back to the ground. He retaliated and attacked the Chunin that threw him, only to meet a more solid defense. Naruto flipped through the pages and looked at the fighting styles closely when he arrived at the next page.

"Wood Blocking Fist…" Naruto noted the extensive use of the arms and the infrequent use of kicks. He watched the man double-block with his arms high, avert a strike to the side then ram both fists into the Inuzuka's open chest, knocking him down. "Defensive; relies on focused melee attacks and grapples through the arms. It predates _Hard Fist_ style, which uses brute force and direct attacks, as opposed to _this_ style where the user attacks immediately after defending."

Naruto shrugged when he watched the Inuzuka get back up and lunge in again, only for his opponent to flip him again and then hammer him across the face with a hook.

"_Proper taijutsu technique and form… awesome," _The jinchuriki's brow furrowed. He focused more attention on the field below, where the two fighters stopped, bowed to each other and then broke off. They were switched in again by two other Chunin and once more, the sparring continued. _"Still, there is a big difference between watching and learning taijutsu first hand, and combating it when it comes to fighting out on the field. I'll need to learn all of these styles, implement, and combat them using my own style that responds to the techniques and allows me to counter them. But… what __**is**__ my style…?"_

Naruto was adaptive, he could think of a way. He was a kinesthetic learner after all.

It all came down to practice…

* * *

><p><strong>The next morning…<strong>

It was a start of a new week and since it was a Monday, students began their day by slowly trudging into the school grounds with their heads down and the signs of sleep deprivation on their faces. Well, for most of them. Others who took pride in a healthy night of sleep rocked up fresh and looking like their usual selves. Those who couldn't be distinguished between exhausted and energy bound were just left on the sidelines of outer judgment. People like Shino for example, who looked the same as they did the day before and the day before that… and the years prior, were one of those individual's who lacked distinction and emotion.

People like Kiba and Shikamaru on the other hand always looked awful on an early school morning. Like most others, they couldn't wait till they could get to sleep in again. Of course, the Nara was more prone to falling asleep at his desk so he couldn't really muster any form of complaint when he actually got around to the academy.

While said individuals started filing into Iruka's class, all expecting to receive another boring lesson for the day, some of the other students who had more sense than drowsiness noticed something peculiar about one of the classroom's occupants. Shikamaru was the first to notice this when he started up the stairs to the back row for a power nap.

He saw Naruto sitting at the entrance to his middle row with a focused look on his face and his nose buried in a book. This sight had the lazy youngster stop.

The Nara didn't really care much about what book his classmate was reading. He was more interested in the fact that Naruto was reading in the first place. He performed a double-take on the stairwell and stepped down some to better look at the blonde to see if it really was his nuisance of a friend.

Inspecting the teen from head to toe, the pineapple haired slouch nodded his head with every check he made of the aspects on his list. Yup; orange pants, orange jacket, goggles… it was all there, wrapped and packaged.

But he was _**still**_ reading!

Naruto felt a pair of eyes on him and looked up, where he saw Shikamaru staring at him oddly. The jinchuriki acknowledged his presence with a friendly nod.

"Hey, lazy-bones. What's up?" the walking, currently seated adrenaline pill asked.

Shikamaru shook himself out of his daze and glared suspiciously at the blonde. "Be honest with me… okay, Naruto. What's the deal and why in the world are you reading? You don't normally read. Actually… a lot of us are under the impression that you _can't_ read."

The blonde scowled at him, taking the question's added insult. "Oh, come on! Why do people think that I can't read? I _read_ all the time!"

"Sure, when your head is lying across the book and you're sound asleep. That's metaphorical reading… or sarcastic reading, I can't remember," Shikamaru replied, cocking his head some. "Ugh. Troublesome. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that, unlike all those other times, you're _genuinely_ reading right now. What is up with that?"

Naruto held up the book, but didn't show his friend the cover. However, a smile returned to his face once he turned back to the rather thick encyclopedia on known taijutsu.

He was reading up on the _Senju Style_. It was incredibly old but traditional academic and advanced shinobi styles of Konoha descended from that very style. It utilized excessive use of kicking and punching, and relied a lot on the power in the attacks through movement and the body. The user required equal strength in both the upper and lower parts of their body, but they also needed speed for it to be effective. It was recorded that all members of the Senju Clan and most likely their students knew the style well.

The jinchuriki made a note to ask the old Hokage about it later.

Back to the matter at hand, Naruto again smiled up at his patiently waiting classmate. "It's just something I'm reviewing, nothing big. It's all in preparation for the coming exams."

"I see," Shikamaru rubbed the back of his head. "Good luck with that then. Don't let my nosiness hold you up." He felt it best not to fuss over it too much. It was simply too much work for a Nara.

After seeing his friend off, Naruto resumed reviewing the style, his eyes carefully analyzing the main techniques in the arms and legs. It was like taking photographs, which he would later apply physically through his own taijutsu practice once he got back home and out onto the lawn. At least his clones did a good job on fixing the garden and grass. Not to mention he received all of that other feedback from the doppelgangers that had been assigned to reading and exercises. Yet another accomplishment from yesterday.

He was really starting to enjoy using the clone techniques.

No, not just enjoy them. He _wanted_ to use them as his primary form of jutsu. Despite them being supplementary and theoretically only good enough as distractions against enemies, Naruto figured that with learning enough clone techniques he can use them as an effective weapon on the field. After all, one could only handle so many opponents. How would an opponent fair if they had to deal with a hundred of him composed of completely different and random elements.

The prospects had Naruto grin from ear to ear.

"Hey loser, watcha reading?" a familiar voice came in, bringing another scowl to Naruto's face. Eye twitching, the jinchuriki glanced up to see Kiba grinning down at him with a content looking Akamaru sitting on top of his head.

The blonde didn't really feel like exchanging pleasantries with the Inuzuka this morning, but if it would get him off of his back…

"Hey, Kiba-baka," the teen replied, lowering his book and turning it face-down. "What do you want?"

"Nothing really. I'm just here to take a few jabs at my favorite, class clown." He tried to ruffle his hair, but Naruto just swiped his arm away getting the boy to waffle at his defensive action. "I didn't know that you could read, Naruto. Is this another one of your 'grand' plans that's most likely gonna end with you standing by the wall with a bucket of water in each hand again?"

"No… this is just a bit of a thing I picked up on recently," Naruto smirked back and patted his lowered book. "Light reading, yah know. I think I'll make it a new hobby."

"Oh, so you're deciding to grow some brains inside of that big, empty melon of yours, aye?" Kiba exclaimed, straightening up and placing his fists on his hips. "I wonder if it will all stick with you this time and not go down the crapper as it normally does."

"I'm cultivating already existing information. Don't think I'm gonna forget any of it, dog boy. I'm learning quite a bit of new stuff… even vocabulary," Naruto shook his head and gestured up the stairway. "Why don't you go sit down somewhere? I'd rather have some peace and quiet while I'm reading."

"Aww, come on. We just said _hello_ and now you're saying _goodbye_?" The feral teen tried to get Naruto to say more, but from the rather stoic expression he was getting in return it didn't look as though he was going to get anything else out of him without provocation. However, instead of wasting time jostling him around some more, the Inuzuka turned his attention to the book hard pressed under the boy's forearm. "At least tell me what you're trying to learn."

Kiba was just reaching out for the article in question when he heard a warning bark from Akamaru. However, he was unable to respond in time or react for anything really, when Naruto swiftly grabbed his hand and twisted it. The next thing Kiba knew was that he was lying painfully on his back, staring up at the ceiling, while sprawled across the stairs with his head directed towards the classroom floor at the bottom.

"Oww…" Kiba groaned and blinked away the stars circling above him.

The students who were already in the class and seated, were effectively silenced by the commotion and were staring down at the scene in surprise. Unfortunately, most of them had missed the spectacular flip Naruto performed on Kiba with just one arm, with the usually more responsive and resilient teen lying out across the jagged stairway. The only person to have caught the whole thing was Shino, who raised a curious eyebrow at the events transpiring.

Naruto smirked down at the Inuzuka, whose wrist he gripped tightly in his hand.

"I'm learning how to kick-ass, that's what I'm doing Kiba," the blonde exclaimed, seeing the teen blink in bewilderment. "Oh… and _**that**_ was for all those times you kicked me around on the training field. Karma, dattebayo!" He released his classmate's hand and went back to reading.

It took the Inuzuka a while, but he eventually managed to pull himself back to his feet. Rubbing his now sore back and head, the teen huffed and glared down at the blonde, who just grinned back.

"Lucky shot, dead-last," Kiba sneered, a smirk once again spreading across his lips. "Don't think it'll be easy when the final taijutsu trial comes along. As soon as Iruka calls up the contestants, the first person I'm challenging is _you_!"

"I'll be looking forward to it, dog boy," Naruto shot back.

After one more confrontational stare, Kiba marched off, still rubbing his spine from the fall. On the other hand, while he was muttering to himself about stupid, blonde kids, his mind pondered on how the well-known last in the class had been able to flip him so easily without him noticing. It was so fast. Or maybe it seemed fast and he had been unable to counter it. Akamaru barked his disapproval at being tossed about like he did, which his owner responded to with a snip of his own at the whimpering pup.

"Okay… alright, I hear you. There's no way I'm letting that chump do that to me again," Kiba growled. This only had Akamaru whimper back, the teen huffing in frustration. "Whatever… I totally saw that coming…"

Boy was that a big fat lie…

_**TO BE CONTINUED…**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Note:<strong>_

_So now I have established the building blocks for Naruto's development. A lot can happen in a week, which Naruto has shown time and time again in canon. I'm now using this idea of kinesthetic learning to help him along._

_While he was at the Chunin field, Naruto came up with somewhat of an observational skill that will become the foundations of everything he will learn and perform. He's already using it to improve his taijutsu technique and form, which he showed by the end of the week of training added with his body's natural strength, able him to flip Kiba over with a well timed, reflex action. Secondly, it allowed him to mirror and work on ninjutsu practically by following illustrations alone. He was also able to gain a better grasp of his chakra and perform more then a few clone techniques._

_If Naruto could learn how to do the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu in one day, what says he can't learn different clone techniques over a stretch of a few days? My plan here is to use the clones as his main ninjutsu on the battlefield, and combined with his creativity, can come up with more than a few uses for them. More on this later…_

_Shiho was also introduced as his first friend who will help him in his development. As shown when she unintentionally gave him that old book with all the clone techniques written in it. What a find. What a day. Hope you enjoyed this chapter._


	3. Academy Arc: The Most Promising Disciple

_**Author's Note: **__Hi all. Hope you're enjoying the story so far._

_Just an early note I feel I should make, there are going to be a lot of interesting things that are going to happen in Naruto in later chapters._

_I'm going to stick as close as I can to the normal timeline, but make this story as original as possible. The characters that will be making their debuts aren't really OC's, but are actually genuine historic and cameo characters from other movies and series, which I have changed to fit in the Narutoverse. Maybe you will be able to recognize the character in this one._

_Enjoy._

* * *

><p><strong>NARUTO<strong>

**The Art of Appropriation**

_The Most Promising Disciple_

**A couple days into the week…**

**Backyard…**

Naruto panted as he glared down at the fallen log from the top of the tree, which he had used to displace himself with.

It had been a couple of days since the clone routines had started to progress forward for him, the successes of which gave him clearance enough to move on with the rest of his training. In his efforts to improve himself in the areas in which he lacked, he made sure not to forget to stay in fit, fighting form and shape by sticking to the old traditions of his exercises. Since he didn't want to become a slouch by neglecting his other material, he made the decision to input some practice with the _Kawarimi_ technique into his daily schedule.

What he ultimately ended up achieving at this point was managing to swipe a log from around the other side of the building, _while_ he was executing the jutsu in the backyard. During the switch he was also able to slap several fake explosive tags onto the object in question and in the blink of an eye, managed to assume an elevated position above the ground.

Wiping his brow, the blonde formed another hand seal and performed the replacement technique for a second time, this time with a table spoon which he left sitting up on the branch. In the meantime he returned to ground level. Dropping down beside the log he had used, he picked it up, chucked it into the air and watched it descend straight down towards him.

Gritting his teeth and concentrating hard, he spun on the spot and threw a side-kick straight at the falling piece of timber. The strike landed, cracking the wood and sending it flying through the air, a second before it slammed into the concrete wall of his apartment building. It dropped to the ground a moment later, his sandal print clearly evident in its side when it rolled to a standstill.

The jinchuriki grinned and lowered his extended leg in a single, fluid motion. "Awesome! My technique and aim is improving heaps!"

Shrugging off the sweat dripping down his bare shoulders, he considered the log lying on the ground for a moment, taking some time to mull it over in his head. The sight of it brought him back round to the _Kawarimi no Jutsu_.

Since he had pretty much pushed himself to the point of being able to switch with not only objects as small as a pencil but also with larger stuff like scarecrows and timber that were some distance away, he wondered to himself if he could up the size of the material he was trading places with. A log or a boulder, which were common objects shinobi in the midst of battle performed the jutsu with, were pretty heavy and not to mention quite large. They were ideal for substitutions.

However, these already existing concepts gave Naruto something else to think about.

"_If I'm diving down at someone from up high and they chuck a bunch of kunai up at me, I could replace myself with something even bigger and heavier that will keep on falling towards them, no matter what they do,"_ Naruto grinned and slammed his fist into his hand, as if he was shouting 'eureka' with his body. _"It's brilliant! I'll call it the Uzumaki Special Delivery!"_

"Let's give it a try!" The jinchuriki took his position in the middle of his backyard and after flexing his hands out, immediately flew through the seals required for the technique to work. When he stopped at the end seal, a grin spread across his face. _"Kawarimi no Jutsu!"_

An explosion of great proportions erupted around him and engulfed the entire area in smoke. Out on the streets and even from a great away distance, villagers could see a white wall of fumes plume into the air and blanket the entire property and building, almost like somebody had rigged several bags of flour to detonate simultaneously. Moments after the pure white mushroom cloud climbed into the air, the expelling smoke lifted from the space entirely to reveal a large tree lying across the lawn.

From its condition, the tree looked as though it had been quite literally ripped out from the earth by its roots. It was disheveled, had leaves still falling about it, broken branches, _and_ it was capsized with a few disturbed animals looking about their newly located home in surprise. Even the birds were shellshocked.

Two things could be subtracted from this analysis. Firstly, the jutsu Naruto executed had been a whopping success. Secondly, it was far more of a problem then it was a _useable_ concept.

Instantly after the cloud faded from the scene, Naruto revealed himself when he walked out from behind one of the oak trees in his backyard, pouring with sweat and gasping for breath. Slumped over and staggering across the lawn, he stopped beside the giant piece of dug up, mother earth and laid a hand across it, before stumbling back some for breathing space.

In between rather noticeable gaps in his speech pattern, which he needed time to take in air, he grinned. "_(Pant)… (Gasp)… (Pant)…_ Never… _(Pant)…_ doing… _(Gasp)… (Gulp)…_ that… _(Pant)… (Pant)…_ ever_… (Pant)… (Pant)… (Pant)…_ _again_!"

Naruto then keeled over and fell face first into his lawn, his body landing with a heavy thud.

As he began to slip into the wonderful world of unconsciousness, he spared anybody who could be listening in to his current predicament the last words he'll ever say if he were to die in his own backyard. Not the classiest way to go but at least he was in a familiar place.

To those who would chronicle his great journey, to the children who would marvel at his 'distinguished' career, and to those who even gave a shit, he could say only one thing…

"I'm… awesome…"

Too bad it was muffled by grass.

He blacked out a second later.

* * *

><p><strong>A few days later…<strong>

Iruka nodded approvingly when he saw Sasuke perform a perfect replacement technique with the cut up log. The piece of timber hit the ground with a clatter, a clear sign that the jutsu had been performed and executed perfectly.

After ticking off the points the raven haired teenager had covered from his sheet, the Chunin then turned towards the spot in the wooded area nearby, where he saw Sasuke walk out with his hands in his pockets and his eyes closed. His reappearance to the land of the living had an incredibly similar eerie to a live, magical performance, so as soon as the Uchiha strolled into view he was met with instant applause from his waiting fans.

Boys congratulated him with cheers and girls swooned in his shadow. The only people who didn't really applaud his success with reason were Kiba out of annoyance, Shino from lack of real visible emotions, Shikamaru out of laziness and Naruto because he was distracted, or couldn't really care less. However, those who did or didn't share the majority of the crowd's ecstatic responses over Sasuke's accomplishment were droned out by his fan club, led on by screams and squeals from Sakura and Ino.

"That was amazing, Sasuke-kun!"

"You are so cool, Sasuke-kun!" Both girls yelled out respectively.

"_Yeah, you're a real dream, Sasuke-kun_," Kiba mimicked sarcastically in a quiet, girl's voice and scoffed, nudging a motionless Shino in the side. The Aburame wearing the ever-present sunglasses slowly turned in the Inuzuka's direction upon his addressal. "Can you believe that? About half of the class has already gone and the so-called best in the academy gets the largest standing ovation out of everybody else. Hell, nobody applauded _me_ after I went up and performed the jutsu successfully."

"The practices of a shinobi are not something to be applauded," Shino replied, the lenses on his shades flashing under the sun. "True, praise builds a lot of confidence and may encourage a shinobi to improve their skills, but too much of it makes one arrogant. In the face of…"

"Stop nit-picking, dude. Geez," Kiba shook his head with an uncomfortable shrug, earning a bark of agreement from Akamaru.

When the raven haired teen passed his used substitution and returned to the crowd, Iruka smiled after him. "Well done, Sasuke. Superb form, matter, distance covered, and you even managed to tack on a phony explosive tag to surprise your enemy. Smart." The Chunin took note of the slip of paper he saw slapped against the face of the fallen log when it rolled onto its side. The comment also alerted the crowd of students to the addition that had been made, with those just above average students awing at it. "You made it passed the tree line during the switch; a space of roughly fifty meters covered."

Despite his markings, Sasuke paid little attention to the results given to him and simply took his place with the rest of the students. The girls immediately surrounded the Uchiha upon his arrival, earning some jealous glares from the boys envying the attention he was receiving from the major female body.

Seeing that that was all the response he was going to get from the teen, Iruka turned back to his marking sheet and moved down the list to the next person. He smiled when he read out the name, "Naruto Uzumaki. You're up."

The blonde picking his ear let out a sigh and walked out onto the pitch for his go, his attitude not really conveying his normal enthusiasm.

It wasn't that he was overly frustrated at the praise Sasuke recieved from his classmates; it was because he was _bored_. While waiting around for others to finish their tests, there really wasn't much for him to do. He wrote a memo down in his head to bring a magazine or something to the next procession or at least one of his books on chakra basics while he cooled off in the breaks between examinations.

Iruka moved the log that had been used in the previous switch out of the way so that Naruto could take his position on the circle. Once the youngster did so, he turned and faced his teacher with his hands at his sides and a quickly renewed, eager expression on his face, his mentality shaking off the boredom and kicking the rest of him into gear. The Chunin nodded to him.

"Okay Naruto, go for it," the man said, pointing at him with his pen. "Remember to choose an object of adequate weight and form; something that is within range of your technique in order for the substitution to be made possible. You can select any material you wish, but understand that it must be able to take a certain amount of punishment, whether blunt or sharp."

Naruto nodded his head and took his stance, quickly flipping through all five hand seals. Out of every other jutsu he knew, he was always passable in the _Body Replacement Technique_. He just made a hash of it on purpose. But not today! With _this_ being the final for the _Kawarimi_, he quickly thought up of a way that would have him go out on a high note for the day's exam.

Concentrating and quickly finding the object he could make the switch with, he took aim and executed his technique.

"_Kawarimi no Jutsu!"_ In a burst of white smoke, his body was gone and in his place a log fell to the ground. It was slightly different from the one Sasuke had chosen, since the one he grabbed had a rope tide around it. It fell to the floor with a thud and left everybody in the area wondering how far Naruto had managed to go once the substitution was made.

Iruka smiled approvingly at seeing his troublesome student take the final _Kawarimi_ test seriously for a change and checked off the points he was able to cover. So far, it was splendid. The scarred Chunin then craned his head towards the tree line to see if the youngster had made it. The entire class also turned and stared, their eyes attempting to seek him out amongst the shadows of the trees and shrubbery.

They all waited patiently, with half of the children present expecting the slacker-clown to trip at the finish line.

Perhaps he had hit his head during the switch and was rolling around on the floor with a bruise or was unconscious. Who knew? The possibilities were astounding.

The jinchuriki had a famed habit of doing something spectacular during his revision tests and examinations. This was made evident in the last practices when the boy replaced his body with a cupcake complete with a cherry on top. Choji had been rather surprised when his teeth unexpectedly discovered his snack missing in mid-bite, which Naruto returned to him later apologetically.

Though that little instance didn't meet the requirements of the test and Iruka did seem somewhat annoyed at the end of his exploit, the Chunin still had to admit it was a pretty underhanded move.

After a few moments of more waiting, Naruto failed to appear. This had the teacher worry and the observing students look around in confusion.

Where did he go? Where could he be? Was he stuck in a tree? Did he displace himself out of reality completely? They were all possibilities. Of course, the questions continued to circulate amongst the masses for some time after the initial inquiry had been made; a minute before everybody heard a familiar voice from above.

"Yo! Up here!"

Though it wasn't even close to 'Kami' it was still quite a surprise when all bodies turned and eyes craned to the roof of the academy building next to the field, where they saw Naruto sitting on the ledge overhead.

Feet dangling over the side, the blonde grinned down at the crowd of twenty six and his teacher. "This is a really great view! I can see my apartment from up here!"

The students all stared up at him silently in spite of his comment, some of them even becoming perplexed and others wondering how the hell he got up there so quickly, while Iruka simply grinned at him in amusement.

"Wrong way, Naruto!" the man exclaimed while pointing towards the tree line in the opposite direction. Though the expected target was off by 180 degrees, he figured it was what Naruto had planned from the get-go and applauded his inventiveness of the situation. "At least you got the distance covered! Well done!"

"Sweet!" The blonde swung his legs up and hopped down from his perch. Some of the onlookers freaked out when they suddenly saw him dangle off of the side of the structure, but after seeing him start clambering down the pipe of the building those who conveyed concern calmed down.

A few seconds later, Naruto was back on solid ground and jogging over to his teacher. When he rejoined the pack, the jinchuriki stood before the Chunin with an excited and expectant look on his face. "So? So? How did I do?"

"Really well. Your selection of material was swift, your hand seals were fluid, and you even applied great elevation to the distance you were able to cover," Iruka smiled down at him at the end of his summary and nodded proudly. "Good job."

"Thanks, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed, inwardly relieved that he had managed to pull off a descent come about.

In his mind, he had intentionally premeditated on being original with his technique, so instead of following the sheep like every other Tom, Dick and Harry from the group, he decided to go black sheep and jumped outside of the flock. Being unpredictable and surprising was a part of a shinobi's career after all, so it was a good impression to make on his part. He had a feeling that Iruka took his performance well.

With that said and done, and upon receiving a pat on the shoulder from his teacher, the boy then strolled back over to the others. He was met with smiles on the way back along with a collection of uplifting comments and various other friendly gestures, indicating a majority of positive feedback from his audience.

The beaming Naruto eventually took a stand at the very edge of the crowd right next to Shikamaru and Choji, the teens congratulating him quietly upon his arrival while their teacher carried on with tests.

While the Nara nodded to the jinchuriki approvingly, acknowledging his achievement with as little effort exerted as possible, the Akimichi patted the blonde on the shoulder and offered him a few chips from his packet, which the boy gladly accepted.

"Well done, Naruto," Choji exclaimed, ruffling the bag open. "You didn't trip over anything this time."

"Thanks," the blonde replied with an amused smile. "I don't plan on fooling around anymore. I'm going to pass these exams with flying colors. Believe it!"

"I'm not surprised you're taking these tests seriously now. After two years of failing in the finals, it's about time," the rotund student replied, smirking at his classmate. "Good to know you'll be joining us on this one."

"I'll do my best."

Hinata, standing in the shadows of Choji, pressed her fingers together and smiled nervously over at the grinning jinchuriki. Naruto's eyes fell on her while he was turning to accept the potato chips from his companion, and upon doing so he responded to her presence with a surprised blink.

When their eyes met, the purple haired Hyuuga blushed brightly. "W-Well done…N-Naruto-kun. I… I knew you would do well." Her voice wasn't even close to the confidence and volume displayed by Sakura and Ino, but she was still vocal enough for the young jinchuriki to hear her.

The blonde smiled at her kind-hearted commendation and nodded. "Thanks, Hinata. I… I really hope you do well too."

His response to her congratulations earned another blush from the girl, with Hinata looking away with a peachy red face.

Naruto grinned both inwardly and outwardly as he turned back towards the field, where he saw Ami begin her examination under Iruka's watchful gaze. As the examination pressed on, the boy meditated on his thoughts.

After receiving such a high influx of smiles and appraisals, the young jinchuriki thought that maybe he was _finally_ making a connection with the other academy students. Reconsidering all of the changes he had made thus far, he figured that he should probably start playing his nice cards a bit more frequently this time around, as opposed to his showboating, prankster personality. Of course, he could make do with one or two minor shenanigans on the side, just to spice up the more boring periods.

The quick trip to the rooftop worked out pretty well on his part, as it certainly did impress three of his old companions from class.

Things were starting to look up.

XXX

**The following day…**

It was mid-topic break period and the students in the class were mingling amongst themselves.

Iruka on the other hand had taken the few minutes available to him to cool off and to prepare his notes for the next lesson, but was actually dawdling in the process. He took things in a manner similar to the relaxed states his students were in the morning, casually going about changing out the drawer with notes and just playing around with the papers. The Chunin stacked together the practice tests for the theoretical exam and straightened them. After which, he then pedantically went about placing them on top of his desk and made sure that they aligned perfectly with the boarders of the desk's edges.

The teenagers standing or sitting about the classroom were carrying on with their own things. Sasuke was brooding in his corner while being ogled by Sakura, Ino, Ami and several other girls, all of whom were displaying enchanted expressions with love hearts fluttering about them. Kiba was chatting with a couple of his old mates while accompanied by his constant companion Akamaru, yipping comments every now and again in his conversation. Shikamaru was sleeping, as per the usual routine, while Choji was munching on a bag of chips and trying to think up some interesting recipes his dad usually made up on Friday night family meals. All in all, the classroom was filled with mixed groups of social animals and lone wolves.

Shino was sitting quietly up in the top back row with his eyes set at the front of the classroom and was joined by Hinata sitting quietly beside him, twiddling her fingers and staring down at her crush closer to the front rows.

Speaking of which, as opposed to everybody else, Naruto was occupying his time with something more constructive.

Actually, his activities were slowly becoming a little bit distractive amidst the chatter filling the room.

A series of loud 'poofs' filled the air, the atmosphere becoming somewhat cloudy. Actually, the clouds were consistently being created and blown away with every explosion that occurred, but it was so repetitive that it caught more than the attention of a few students sitting nearby.

Almost everybody turned their heads to look down at Naruto situated in the middle row of the class. The boy was sitting cross-legged on top of his desk with his hands formed into a hand seal and his eyes tightly shut. Even Iruka had to look up when he heard the continuous sounds of a rather hefty, inflated bag being popped over and over again.

When everyone glanced in the direction of the sounds, they saw that Naruto wasn't really… well…_Naruto_. He was actually being several different people again and again and again. He was perched on his desk going through drills. Focused and calm, his body looked as though it was continuously combusting at an insane rate as he performed the _Henge no Jutsu_ repeatedly, utilizing different subjects and becoming a completely different person with each transformation.

Nobody knew what he was actually doing, save for the fact that he was becoming somebody else every two seconds. Anything else beyond that knowledge: bupkiss.

First he became Iruka, then Sasuke, then Iruka again, then Sakura, the Third Hokage, Teuchi, Ayame, Shino, a _Statue of David_, an unnamed ANBU, Mizuki, Ami, and several other characters that were pretty much an out-of-movie-experience (e.g. Luffy, Goku and Ichigo), before he started going through the students in the class again. There was a brief interval of breathing space between each transformation, a trend which lasted for about a minute before he began 'combusting' at such a speed that it became a half-second interval between each transformation. All the while he wore a focused yet annoyed expression in his continued flashing through various people… and then animals… and then people _again_.

"What in Gods name are you doing, Naruto?" Iruka asked curiously, finally deciding to be vocal on the question that was on everybody else's minds.

Naruto stopped when he transformed into some female kunoichi he had seen on the Chunin training field and looked up at his teacher.

"Practicing my _Henge no Jutsu_," the Naruto-Kunoichi exclaimed in a breathy voice, before he transformed again, taking on the form of a cat. "Trying to make it faster…" He exploded into a cloud of smoke and transformed into Kiba, complete with Akamaru on his head, "… getting a better idea of it…" He combusted for a third time, taking on the appearance of his teacher, "And trying to get the appearances perfect… _dammit_…"

This routine went on for the next few seconds, with Naruto switching between several other interesting characters from whom Iruka recognized as Asuma to random people the jinchuriki had seen out on the streets. He even transformed into different versions of the Hokage, accept changed the color of the things he was wearing several times, like a chameleon with a cold. It was only after about a dozen more henges the teacher got a little tired of the show and glared at the boy.

"If I give you a pass for your Henge test, would you please stop?" Iruka asked in an annoyed tone of voice.

Naruto ended his chain of transformations as a fox, which swished its tail happily and stood up on all fours, ecstatic. The transformed youngster seemed happy at first. However, upon getting a closer look at his teacher's face and a quick double-back on the tone the Chunin used in conveying his message, the boy's delight quickly ebbed away.

Years of being scolded by Iruka gave him enough practice to be able to recognize certain, distinctive emotions and expression patterns exerted by him _on sight_. It was a habit he took up years ago when he started noticing the glares from villagers on the streets. The snide remarks, the anger, the admonishments; it was all enough for him to use and accurately predict coming responses from most adults. He used this unorthodox ability as a counter measure, like whenever he found it advantageous to actually bluff his way past his educators in certain situations.

Hence, when he saw Iruka's glare directed at him, he instinctively took that response as one promising a 'talking' later, at the same time asking him to _leave_ and stop disrupting the peace, which he promptly did so without argument.

"That will be just fine, Iruka-sensei…" With an apologetic nod of its head and a rather well played bark, Naruto hopped off of the desk and strolled out of the room. "I'm going out for some fresh air."

The students and the teacher together watched with perplexed, transfixed expressions as the transformed Naruto Uzumaki vacated the premises. He departed with a brief glance back, a huff and a wag of his tail. It was once the orange critter disappeared out the door and out into the corridor that white noise returned to the classroom.

Ino blinked and looked over at Sakura, who was still staring after the Naruto-fox with an incredulous look on her face.

"Well… that was one of the top ten weirdest things I've ever seen in this classroom…" Everyone else around her within earshot nodded in agreement.

So far, Naruto held about _five_ of the top ten places…

XXX

**Out on the streets…**

**Entertainment District…**

"Hmph… that went well," Naruto grumbled sarcastically with his hands in his pockets as he marched down the streets, looking around at the buildings absently.

He knew full well that Iruka had gotten incredibly annoyed at his activities and would have scolded him further had he stayed, and that was something he wasn't really in the mood for. At least… it was a pending situation _he_ gambled on. The entire situation that transpired had left him with several unanswered questions, with one of them being whether or not the man's proposal on passing him on the _Henge no Jutsu_ early was a joke or not. In either case, he didn't want to overstay his welcome and the moment he received that warning glare, he just ran for it… calmly. Train some more today, argue another day. There wasn't any time to waste. He had energy to burn.

He admitted he could have done his exit a little better though.

"It was _just_ a Henge exercise, what is the big deal? Iruka didn't need to snap at me." Naruto threw his arms out, before putting his hands behind his head as he scowled at the passing shops. "Although, the smoke _was_ a tad bit noticeable… ugh… I should have just stuck to reading…" Too little too late, he had already been told off. Running seemed like the best course of action and had been for two good reasons.

One; he was damned fed up of sitting in a stuffy classroom for most of the day. Two; his body told him he needed to get out and about.

"_Maybe I can go back home and continue working on my taijutsu or my bunshin. Damn… I still need to figure out how to do the normal one,"_ Naruto thought hard, trying to come up with a suitable chore for the day. However, no matter how much he pushed for an alternative he was continually led back to the fact that he still couldn't perform a regular _Clone Jutsu_, all because his chakra wouldn't let him.

All of the normal bunshin he made just exploded right in his face or ended up passed out on the ground. The amount of energy he used when he administered it was either too great or too little; he just couldn't get the balance right. When he was dealing with jutsu that required huge gobs of chakra, he was fine. Like his _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_. That technique agreed with him way more than any of the other clone techniques he had been practicing with, despite him already having learned how to perform Earth, Water, Sand and several other types he had created himself based on the concepts listed in the book. It was all a matter of timing and material presence, sort of like the substitution technique only the ones he thought up had more style.

At least the training was doing him good if nothing else was. He could tell that he was getting stronger by the day.

But he still had a few bugs to work out, like figuring out the style of taijutsu that was effective for him, being able to actively control his chakra without any hand seals, and theory work which consisted of history and knowledge of said techniques. He needed it all for the rest of his final exams.

"Was Iruka really joking about passing my Henge test?" Naruto muttered to himself. _"That would be sweet. One less to worry about."_ While he was recalling the events of a few minutes prior, he suddenly lost track of them when he felt a heavy force unexpectedly wham into him.

The blonde was shoved violently and was sent falling flat over to his side, where he hit the ground hard. Coughing on dust and surprise, the jinchuriki growled and looked up from the gravel.

"_That was a push!"_ He nearly punched the road out of sheer frustration and picked himself up. Somebody was messing with him and there was no way in hell he was going to be pushed around by some arrogant stranger who wanted to pick on him for whatever reason.

If the villagers were starting to get physical with him he was going to put a stop to it before anybody else got the same idea.

However, just as he was about to unleash his fury upon the person that knocked him over…

…

Naruto froze when he found himself staring at the back of a tall looking female. Though he could only see the side of her, he got a good enough glance over to see that she wore a light purple, flowing and flowering kimono, with light blue pants and a long sleeve shirt. She wore what looked like indoor slippers on her feet and had long, flowing black hair tied up into a bun and the rest in a ponytail.

At present she wasn't looking at him, but was facing a rather furious looking restaurant owner. The grumpy, burley man held up a handful of strange coins and shook them right in front of her collected face pointedly, while his literally steamed with outrage.

"You call this garbage money, you cheap foreigner!" He threw the coins at the ground, but the woman was unflinching in her stance as she stared apologetically at the man. "You drifters are all the same, thinking you can come into my store and slink your way into a meal on fake money! Well, I've dealt with your kind before! No dice!"

She bowed to him, with Naruto quietly and curiously taking further note of her gestures and form.

"I'm very sorry. It wasn't my intention to trick you. I didn't know that my money was no good here," she explained gently and without a hint of nervousness in her voice whatsoever. The man huffed at her.

"Damn right it isn't. Now get out of here, you vagrant," he said, pointing down the street. "If I ever see you in my restaurant again I'm calling the authorities." With that said he turned his back on her and stormed back into his diner to deal with the other customers, and to politely serve the ones who _had_ money.

Saddened at her vain efforts of getting some food, the woman dropped down and began picking up her coins. Passing villagers knocked into her as she went about on hands and knees trying to recollect her money, and she winced when a bystander nearly stepped on her fingers.

Registering to her disconsolate state and struggles, Naruto quickly swooped down and helped her out. He methodically picked up the odd looking coins she couldn't get to off of the road one after the other, making sure there was none left before standing back up and giving them to her. When the relieved woman took them from his hands the jinchuriki managed to get a good look at her face and for the first time in his life, his heart quite literally skipped a beat.

The woman had the face of an angel. It was so breathtaking that the very sight of her complete form had seconds pretty much slow down to the equivalent of hours around the young blonde.

She was truly lovely, a fairytale princess, a person with a face of someone you would only find on the finest of artworks. Heck, the picture was so lifelike Naruto could feel the radiance of her very image graze his nose and chin. Gorgeous, tanned skin, rosy red lips and eyes, though brown, sparkled like a shallow stream of pure water under the sun. Her hair framed her face perfectly, and the wind that blew by and caressed her features completed the enchanting vision before him.

Naruto smiled admirably.

The jinchuriki was at a loss for words.

Recomposing himself, he gulped and attempted to articulate an intelligent reply that would impress the angel and earn a smile in return.

"H-Hi…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

If anyone could see inside of Naruto's mind at that very moment, they could see him performing seppuku.

Nevertheless, in spite of what he may have been thinking, the young lady before him did indeed smile. That smile was then accompanied by a giggle, one which made the jinchuriki's heart flutter. The coins she reacquired from him were pocketed and once they were safely tucked away she bowed to him in gratitude.

"Thank you very much," she exclaimed, her voice soft yet carrying a sense of elegance and respect. "There are not many people in this country that would do what you just did…"

"That's okay… really. Nothing to it," Naruto grinned, his voice a bit rushed and bearing a very uncharacteristic squeak at the end. Dammit! He tries to come off charming, but ends up becoming an even goofier version of himself. What was wrong with him and girls?

Clearing his throat, he continued on as best as he could while recovering from his precarious dismount. "You see… I saw that you needed help after that man yelled at you and threw your coins at the ground, so I just… well… I _helped_… heh-heh."

"I see," the woman smiled down at him with a nod. "Well, whatever your reasons for helping, it was very kind of you."

Naruto chuckled and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. _"Come on man, pull yourself together. Look presentable!"_ Straightening up his jacket, the blonde resumed smiling. He tried not to stare at her too hard otherwise it would have looked strange. "Do you really need a reason to help somebody out? I mean… I help because I _want_ to and because I don't like seeing other people upset. People who hurt others for no real reason are just awful."

"…" The woman's smile faded upon listening to his reasoning.

Naruto shuffled on the spot and kicked at his feet, as if finding the next things he was going to say difficult. "A lot of people have been picking on me for as long as I can remember. It isn't fair or kind at all. That's why all I want to do is keep others from getting hurt and keep them happy. I guess I don't like the idea of something that's already happened to me happening to somebody else."

The woman blinked at him and gave him a very considerate stare as she looked him over. She quickly began taking more interest in him with the sentences he was opening up with. _"This boy… he may be just a child, but he has a strong sense of kindness_." "The villagers bully you?"

"Not in the way you may be thinking… people just stay away and stare at me with this look in their eyes that is just… I don't know," Naruto looked up at her with a half-smile. "It just hurts, you know."

Raising an eyebrow, the traveler then looked about her at the surrounding villagers. Those who had witnessed the commotion moments prior had sauntered on with their previous tasks, while those who were just arriving to the scene were staying well away from them. It was in her observations she noticed some of the adults throwing dirty glances at the blonde standing in front of her.

When she got a good look into one of the passer's eyes, she saw something she found rather unpleasant and magnified the crowd as a whole.

In their eyes, she saw a reflection distinctly resembling extreme hatred and displeasure. The way it seemed to cast a shadow over the faces of those who shared that same look and directed at the boy meant that the feeling was genuine, and that they were all over the exact same thing. It was a sight that had her frown deeply at and she looked back down at the teen she was associating with, wondering what could have prompted such confronting gazes.

"Why do they stare at you like they do? Your appearance is nothing to be spiteful of, nor does your character bear any malicious intent whatsoever." She smiled warmly at him. "You don't seem dangerous or unappealing. To me, you're just a child with a good heart."

"Well… at least you can see past what _they_ see," Naruto gestured towards the rest of the world and kept his hands in his pockets. "I live here like everybody else, but they shun me like some enemy or outsider. I just… don't understand." His expression then became curious and he gave her a very long, thoughtful stare of his own. It was after a prolonged period of consideration he decided to speak out on a keen observation he had made of the pretty young lady. "That man yelling at you said you weren't from this village, that you were a foreigner. Is that true?"

The woman gave him a kind look and cocked her head to the side ever so slightly; a gesture towards the boy that told him to take a good, longer look at her. "Well… what do you think?"

Naruto smiled and shook his head. "You don't look like an unordinary person to me. I can tell that you are very kind and that you don't like talking down or back to others when you're upset. As long as you are a nice person, that's good enough for me!"

She giggled at that. "I see that you can look beyond other people's differences on the outside to see the true character of that person underneath. You're someone who can get close to others by connecting to their hearts and their souls. You don't worry about appearances at all, do you?" Naruto lightly chortled at that comment.

Though he was flattered by her kind words about him, he still found the subject matter to be questionable. "Appearances can be deceiving. Ordinary people choose to look at you in different ways, but deception is a big part of a ninja's career. I mean… _I_ look weird!" He threw his arms out with a grin. "But I can be really nice too."

"If you are happy and that is how you choose to view yourself, then I cannot argue. But I can still see things differently about you," the woman exclaimed and leaned in towards him. "You're young, but you have incredible ideas."

"Ideas? Like… _smart_… or intelligence?"

"Well… I haven't gotten to know you well enough to make that kind of judgment yet," the woman straightened up. "But from what I have seen so far, you have good character."

Naruto grinned at this.

Boy, this lady was making him feel a million times better about himself then anyone else he had met or spoken to before. Not even Iruka was this deep. Everything that was coming from her was incredibly pleasant and he was hoping he could hang around with her for a little bit longer. "What village do you come from anyway? Somewhere far away… like… the _Land of Wind_?"

"I'm afraid it's further then that. I come from a land far to the west of this nation and across the seas. It is a place very few people from this country have visited." She said this with great confidence and grace laced in her voice.

It was this unique aspect about her character that assured Naruto that a person like her wouldn't lie so easily about their country of origins. Though she didn't look unordinary, her mannerisms and personality definitely didn't originate from some common place. She was somebody else entirely.

"So you're… like a real _foreign_ foreigner?" Naruto exclaimed, throwing his arms out. The way he described her far-off, place of birth induced another giggle from the woman.

"Let's just say I live far enough away from this village." She then looked around her inquisitively. "It's quite a long journey from my homeland to this place. One can only imagine the sheer length this expedition has taken me so far. It is such a _strange_ continent."

"Strange as in… the culture?"

"Yes, but… this land is a lot lengthier then I first expected."

This was fact, something Naruto found quite hard to grasp. He had only seen the _Land of Fire_ on a map, as well as several of the other nations. Based on the information he already knew it was quite impossible for him to put things exactly to scale, so all he could do at this point was take her words to heart.

What she said she said without any hint of regret or surprise. In fact, her smile seemed to brighten even more at the prospects of continued travel. "To be honest, it's been quite a long walk for me to get to this village. But nevertheless, my journey has been quite fruitful."

"Why are you traveling so far, anyway?" Naruto asked, tilting his head curiously. "You must have come all this way for something important. Don't you miss your home?" The young woman merely shrugged back at him while her eyes once again surveyed her surroundings in interest. At the same time she tried to come up with a suitable answer for the teenager.

"I came to this continent to explore, to learn, and to soak in the different cultures. My goal here is to learn as much as I can about the world before I eventually settle down back in my country and start a new life." She looked the youngster up and down analytically, and after a few more seconds of thought she unexpectedly gave him an approving nod. "I've learned many things on my journey so far. For example, I've noticed your youth and the people of this country have interesting choices of clothing."

Naruto realized she was talking about his orange jumpsuit and merely shrugged away any accusing thoughts. So what if people thought his outfit was peculiar? He loved orange! People wore orange! It wasn't uncommon! Or maybe it was. Well, in either case he had nothing to say about _her_ uniform since she looked lovely no matter which way you sliced it.

"I haven't really been outside of Konohagakure yet, but I guess people dress differently in here because this is a shinobi village. I'm going to become a shinobi some day as well," Naruto grinned proudly and thumbed himself in the chest. "We can dress however we want as long as we represent our village with dignity!"

"I can see that you are making an excellent presentation of yourself. You are representing your village well as both a kind and respectable gentleman," the raven haired woman bowed to him, still smiling. "My name is Yim Wing-chun."

"Naruto Uzumaki," the boy exclaimed happily and saluted in his characteristic manner. "It is nice to meet you!"

"And it is a pleasure to meet you in kind. Fortune has smiled upon me today," the girl now identified as Wing-chun exclaimed, and straightened herself up. "Now, if you will excuse me, I shall be on my way…"

Yim turned to leave, but found herself held up when the energetic boy leapt in front of her. Still grinning excitedly about meeting such a very interesting person, he decided to present to her an offering that would keep her around some more.

"Hey! If you're looking for a place to eat or if you want to look around the village some more, I can help you out!" the blonde placed his hands on his hips and stuck his chest out. The macho appeal had worn down some. He had to get it back. "I know the best places you can go! Believe it!"

Yim blinked and rubbed her chin thoughtfully. She looked around a bit in consideration, but after some careful thinking graced the young man with yet another pleasant smile. Hands rolled into her sleeves and pressed together, she nodded to him in acceptance of his offer.

"I'm still very new to this village… I might get a little lost…"

"That's cool! Once you've been around the block a few times it's not that difficult to find your way back home," Naruto exclaimed and took her arm. He gently pulled her along while pointing down the crowded road they were negotiating, like a child eager to show his mother something he had found. "Here! Here! I know a great place where we can get some good food!"

The woman blinked in surprise. "Good… food…?"

XXX

**Sometime later…**

Naruto had treated his guest with his outmost attention and interest, taking her on a grand walkabout of the village's roads. They toured the market places, where the boy was able to show her some of the stuff that was sold, like exotic foods, souvenirs and animals. Of course, being primarily a shinobi village he also showed her to where the security forces and academy students could buy their materials, even the library which he had been frequenting over the week. They waved at Shiho when they passed by at the entrance.

He also introduced her to the wide-range of restaurants about town, even going on to explain to her that they needed ryo or monme to buy what she was interested in, _not_ foreign coin.

Apparently, unlike the gold and silver used in Naruto's village, she used copper coins of zhu and tael. Unfortunately for her, though it was once an international currency between their lands, they were no longer good here. It made him wonder how she was able to get so far on her own without anything of real value on her person.

Naruto traded some of _his_ monme and ryo for her tael and zhu, mostly for souvenir purposes and to help her get something to eat.

Along their trek of the village, Naruto pulled her into _Ichiraku's Ramen_. He happily introduced 'old-man' Teuchi and Ayame to his newly made friend, and spoke stories of her even though he had only known her for a couple of hours. Yim, though a little bit overwhelmed by his generous services and introductions, simply smiled back and introduced herself personally once the boy stopped to finally catch his breath. He then went out of his way to buy her all she could eat, and paid for both his meal and hers.

Soon enough, the two of them could be found at the dining booth sitting side-by-side, enjoying a nice hot bowl of Miso Ramen on the serving desk. Yim quietly drank her broth under the intense gaze of her guide.

Naruto nervously watched on, hoping that she would enjoy the noodles and not fall into disappointment. He was doing his best in showing her around; he wanted to impress her as best as he could. Teuchi was also watching patiently from behind his stove, hoping for a good review from a new customer.

After a thorough taste test, the raven haired woman smiled approvingly and looked up at the restaurant owner with a bright smile.

"W-Well… is it good?" Naruto asked.

Yim turned towards him with her gorgeous smile in play. "It is… tasty… very much like the noodle soup I have back home. However, this one carries a rather distinct flavor in it…" She turned back to her bowl and took another sip, plucking some noodles out along with a few pieces of meat. The way she ate conveyed significant dining etiquette, which captivated the now more cheerful looking boy gazing at her. "I like it very much…"

"Heheheh! See, I told you so!" the jinchuriki exclaimed happily and turned to look up at a now beaming Teuchi. The old man clearly approved of her review and Naruto felt that it was time to give his forever positive verdict as well. "Hey! You're a genius as always, jiji! Great ramen!"

"Glad to hear that," Teuchi nodded with a wide smile, gesturing to the both of them kindly. "How about another bowl on the house?"

Naruto's expression improved, his smile turning into a wide grin. He literally leapt in his seat. "Wahoo! You're the man!"

Yim took note of the young boy's eccentric behavior and the way he responded so positively to the man's offering.

Pausing for a moment in her meal she became incredibly intrigued by the boy's character and saw that he was unlike anybody she had ever met before. Despite his odd appearance and the way he so freely conveyed his excitement, as well as his unconventional personality traits, the woman observed that he had an incredibly big heart and was unbelievably generous. Even though he didn't know her, he still saw that she was in a rough patch, and unlike those who had passed her by without a care in the world, _he_ went out of his way to help her and more.

Looking back, she rarely ever found people like him back home that would so readily accommodate or assist a complete stranger. Even in a country such as this one, she saw that a boy like him was something unique; a one of a kind.

The smile on her face grew and she returned to her small feast at a labored pace. The giggle she attempted to suppress didn't go unnoticed and Naruto turned to her when he heard her muffled exclamation.

"Hm? Is something wrong?"

Yim gazed up at him with eyes closed. "No… nothing."

Confirming that there was no problem; Naruto nodded, grinned through a mouthful of noodles, and quickly dove back into his bowl, working at it so that he could move on to the next one.

As they ate, Yim couldn't help but frequently glance at the interesting, yellow haired child. She looked him from top to bottom, from body to soul. She made sure that her observations were discreet and accurate.

"_There's just something more about him …"_

XXX

After their late afternoon lunch, Naruto took his guest back around to his place to show her the rooftops. Since there was only so much one could do in one day, the blonde decided to treat her to a prime-time view of the village from the top of his apartment block. It wasn't everyday he actually asked somebody over to his place for a play date, but if it was to show off the rest of the village then there was definitely something of value behind the quality time he spent with an individual.

Yim had no arguments to share when the excited teenager led her up the stairs of his apartment and up onto the roof from the balcony.

It was quite a liberating spot.

Though he had never mentioned it to any of his peers, even to Iruka, Naruto had been up on top of his apartment many times before to watch the sun set and the night sky to replace it. He just couldn't describe the sights, they were so inviting and awe inspiring.

Outside, he felt free and alive, and from looking at the natural wonders that passed overhead, the clouds, the moon and the rare shooting star, he could feel his soul take flight. Time he spent on the roof were some of the only times he had felt most at peace with himself, like he had nothing to worry about.

He felt that this was the perfect place to show off and even though he had to help Yim up onto the tiles, it was worth it in the end. From his usual spot, he looked out over the rooftops of his village, which flourished with both fascinating architecture and varying types of trees. There were a lot of structures that were appealing and unusual; flat-tops, cone-tops, slick-roofs, traditional style buildings and dome-tops. The more prominent ones were the larger institutes, including the library, apartments, hospital, and the _Hokage Mansion_; the largest building in the entire village.

In addition, the _Hokage Monument_ stood proudly above them all, overlooking the whole of Konohagakure. Framed by both the slowly dimming orange sky and the clouds, it was a most wonderful spectacle.

Naruto took in a deep breath and stretched out his arms where he sat, with Yim perched quietly beside him.

"A shinobi in training can really breathe out here!" the boy exclaimed and grinned up at the young woman he had been escorting. "To me, this is one of the best views in the village. Maybe tomorrow I can show you an even better view from the border walls!"

Expecting a reply, the jinchuriki became a bit taken aback when he received none after a while of waiting.

She just stared. Nothing more. Expression vacant and eyes glazed over.

This either meant she was distracted or couldn't care less about her surroundings. At least, that was what Naruto first thought.

'_Don't tell me she's not impressed! Why is she being so quiet all of a sudden?'_ The jinchuriki became worried when the thought that his guest was getting annoyed crossed his mind. He didn't want that. Not at all.

Blinking, Yim turned back to the boy. Catching him off guard, a smile returned to her lips and her eyes sparkled.

"This village… _your_ home… it is a very nice place," she said in a soft voice, her cheeks becoming a little red under her beaming grin. "Konohagakure… am I right? The _Village Hidden in the Leaves_… it's wonderful…"

When she turned back she missed Naruto's jaw drop.

However, while she was once again focused on the far horizon and drinking in the setting sun, the blonde haired boy quickly returned to his usual self and sprouted a grin. He rubbed the back of his head and fixed his eyes on the village for a second time.

"Y-Yeah. Yeah! It really is a great place! I… I bet your village is nice to. I would really like to go out and explore the world one of these days, you know… before I become Hokage."

Yim looked at him. "Hokage?"

"Yeah! It's what we call the top ninja in our village?" Naruto grinned and thumped himself in the chest grandly. His face lit up in the dim atmosphere at the idea of becoming the leader of his home one day. "I want to become a strong shinobi and the strongest Hokage there ever will be, so that everyone will acknowledge my existence. I want the people of this village to view me as… I don't know… _somebody_… somebody important!"

"I see," Yim's eyes shone under the boy's fluxing aura.

He truly did have ambition, something which was reflected in his words.

"I want to be the best I can be! Protect Iruka-sensei, teach others, save people, go on adventures, all of that stuff!" The jinchuriki looked out over the houses again, letting out a thrilled sigh. His declaration had used up a lot of words, so he took a rare moment to catch his breath and admire the scenery some more for inspiration. "There are so many things I can do and see as a shinobi. But before I take up the funny hat, I know that seeing the world is one of the things I really want to do…"

"You can find something unique wherever you go. Life is just full of surprises," Yim spoke up softly, catching his attention. "Remember to appreciate what you have and to protect those closest to you, because… like this view… they are priceless."

Naruto beamed and sat up straighter. "Sure! Of course I'll protect them." He gave her a thumbs-up. "Once I become a shinobi, I will protect _everybody_ in this village and prove my worth to them!"

"You have incredibly noble intentions. But your value to others mostly depends on how _you_ value them as friends. Do not treat them like objects needing to be won over. True friendship is born here." Yim poked him in the chest, pressing the space just over his heart. At the same time, Naruto gave her a quiet and intent stare. "You treasure the people you are with, you respect them, and you make them happy for just being you. _That's_ what friendship is; the ideal and people worth fighting for."

When she moved her hand away from his chest, Naruto placed his own over his heart and felt its beat slowly beneath it. It was calm. It was peaceful. Not erratic at all. For about a minute he studied himself and his thoughts in utter silence.

All excitement over his dreams and prospects of becoming a Hokage molded in with these new ideas and realizations he had been shared with by Yim, her words sinking deep.

He smiled to himself.

Apparently, there was something to learn from everyone.

Yim beamed at him when the jinchuriki looked back up at her. "As for me…I am truly happy to be around you. You've shown me many things and have spent so much time with me today, and I am grateful for your hospitality. It's been fun…"

"S-So… can I consider you a friend as well?" Naruto asked hopefully, tilting his head. He just felt compelled to ask. He had very few people close to him he could really call friends.

There was his teacher Iruka, and Teuchi and Ayame who have been incredibly nice to him for the longest time.

Aside from his classmates he was mostly acquainted with, and Shiho who he had just met and was just starting to know, he liked to think that he was making another.

He waited patiently for her answer.

"Of course you can," Yim giggled, gently nudging him in the side. "I wouldn't have accepted your offer so readily to escort me around your home if I wasn't…"

Naruto laughed childishly along with her, trading a few good natured taps and jabs to each other's shoulders, before eventually settling down to staring out over the village once again.

For the next hour or so, the two strange individuals sat, watched the sun set, and talked. They shared with one another their most recent and most befuddling of experiences, their favorite things, and laughable moments of days past. The jinchuriki excelled in making the girl laugh at his historic antics, particularly his various exploits. He even asked her if she wanted to stay with him a while if she didn't have anywhere to sleep tonight, which she gladly accepted.

After just a few hours the two of them had admittedly grown to enjoy and appreciate being in the other person's company.

XXX

Soon enough, the afternoon wore off and the pair came down from the roof.

Naruto showed his newly befriended guest his backyard to familiarize herself with her new lodgings.

It wasn't glamorous or anything and still held scars from scuffles he had been having while practicing with his different types of clones, but it was spacious enough to walk about.

Yim became fascinated with the large tree stump in the middle of the lawn with the rope tied around it. She ran a hand over a particular groove made in the side of the post when she approached it and then glanced over at Naruto in question. The boy was standing by the outdoor table, picking up scrolls he had laid out over it and rolled them up.

She only needed to share a few brief glances to see what the scrolls were detailing to come to a suitable conclusion.

"So you're planning on becoming a martial artist as well?" Yim asked curiously, causing the boy to stop packing and look in her direction.

Seeing the woman's curious eyes locked onto his materials, he looked between them several times before grinning. "Sort of. I'm training to become a ninja. Martial arts are a big part of it. I haven't been scoring too well in the tests over the years, but if I can get good marks for these last exams then I will definitely pass and become a ninja, dattebayo!"

"Oh?"

Naruto chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "I shouldn't have been taking things so lightly before. At first I thought it was going to be a breeze, you know… just learn a few jutsu, know the moves and BAM! Graduated! But after what Iruka-sensei said to me he made me see how much improvement I actually needed. So I'm upping my game. Right now I'm looking at the books and scrolls that I have on taijutsu, so that I can improve my fighting techniques…"

"Taijutsu?" Yim became curious and turned completely in his direction.

"Yeah. It's the close-combat stuff of shinobi training. There's heaps of it to get down," Naruto set his articles back on the table and walked over to her. When he stopped on the grass, he beamed excitedly up at her. "I specialize in attacks up close, like fighting, throwing weapons and using clones. But I still have a _long_ way to go."

"Really?" Yim looked between the large, rope-bound log and then the boy. After several inquisitive glances and judgments on the overall condition of the post, she then focused attention back on him. "Can you show me?"

"Of course," Naruto grinned and bade her to step back some.

With the appropriate distance established between himself, the target and his one-person audience, Naruto dropped into his fighting stance.

Choosing to start off with the basics, he comfortable prepared himself and, after grinding his feet into the ground to get a good feel of his foundations, leapt at the log. He thrust punches and kicks of all forms of attack, parry and counters at the log immediately upon engagement. He didn't keep his attacks direct and chose to move around to practice working around an opponent rather than wearing them down, since the tactic would wear him down in a real fight as well.

Shouting and grunting with every blow he managed to land, he attacked the stump with utmost focus and consistency.

Yim watched on intently as the youngster maneuvered around the stump, performing a flurry of strikes which he unleashed upon his stationary 'opponent'. At first she recognized his style to be very simple, combining power and technique appropriately. However, after going at it for about a minute or so, she watched him step back some and take a defensive stance.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto then did something unexpected and switched styles.

Utilizing fighting form purely from memory of his nights he had spent watching the Chunin sparring at _Training Field 2_, Naruto dropped into a wider stance, both hands extended forward and palms open and upwards. Breathing out, he lunged in and began attacking the stump with open palmed strikes. These attacks were more fluent and had smoother motions as opposed to the rigid, straight out attacks from his previous academy style taijutsu.

He had perfected the former, but this one seemed to just fly out of nowhere.

It only took a few seconds, but he began to get more used to it, and his forms and movement improved drastically. It was this sight that Yim raised an eyebrow at in surprise

Finishing with a flick-kick and side-kick, both aimed at the upper and lower parts of the training stump, Naruto hopped back to gain distance.

When it looked as though he was about to start again with a different fighting style, he was stopped by Yin walking up to him. She stood in front of him and gave him a considerate stare.

"Where did you learn those fighting styles?" the woman asked, having noticed that they were remarkably familiar in contrast to the ones she had knowledge of. This realization became even more pronounced to her when she recapped on the last one. _"That style resembled the Baguazhung form practiced in my country. How strange." _

Naruto saw her intense and highly curious expression locked onto him. Running a hand through his hair, he took a short breather before straightening himself back up into a proper standing position.

Patting the side of the stump, he smiled up at the raven haired woman. "I learned the first one at school and the other one from watching some shinobi fight. The first one is _Academy Style_ for the students who don't have a family or clan style to learn. All of the students are expected to know it. The second one is _Soft Style_, which I learned from watching another Chunin use against an opponent. _That_ one helped me improve my academy style's technique because it uses less physical strength and more control."

"They are very distinctive fighting styles. You have a keen eye," Yim exclaimed, stepping up to him and assuming a very analytical position as she looked him over thoughtfully. "As a painter of this… _taijutsu_ martial arts system you shinobi use, I'm going to assume that you have dipped your brush into a lot of styles?"

"I work from one to another," Naruto stated, gesturing to illustrate his process. He then started to rub his neck anxiously, averting his gaze from the woman giving him her complete attention. "I want to be good at taijutsu… but I can't find a fighting style that's right for me. I mean, I can use my new shadow clone technique to overwhelm opponents in numbers or by rushing them tactically. But all the same, I'm still a little worried that… if there is a time that I _can't_ use chakra or if I just happen to run out, it'll all come down to one-on-one brawling and if my opponent is better then me at taijutsu, then I don't know what I'll be able to do. I'd be screwed!"

"Remember Naruto-kun, it is not the fighting style that assures success in battle. In the art of fighting, there is _no_ dominant form. The master's choice of style may be a contributing factor to their victory, but it is really the _practitioner_ and their skill that ultimately decides the outcome of a fight," Yim explained, surprising the boy at her rather knowledgeable response. "You know many fighting styles, and through practice you have gained strength and understanding of each and every one of them. However, it is _possessing_ knowledge of the fighting styles that is the most important and if you know how to perform more then one form, that is good. But an opponent can be just as good, if not better, using only one fighting style as opposed to another using many."

Naruto gave her a dead panned look. "W-Wow… really?"

"Yes," Yim giggled at his slack-jawed expression and stepped forward some more. She took his hands in hers and moved them up, with her thumbs gently running over his palms. "Your body is extremely flexible. By creating a basic fighting style as a foundation, you can branch off and learn _**any**_ form of fighting you wish, and input it into your style. This means that you have the potential to create your own fighting style made up of others. However, it is the base style that matters most and _you_ have yet to decide on one that is adequate for you… correct?"

"Y-Yeah," Naruto murmured, watching as the woman turned his hands over again and again. Yim made it a quick habit to move his arms up and down while still clasping hold of his wrists, as if she was trying to solve something about his body practically. It seemed to work well for her, as she nodded her head affirmatively at each individual inspection. "What should I do?"

"Well…" Yim smiled and released his hands. She took a few paces back and set a reasonable distance between them.

Her right foot slid across the ground in front of her while her body rested into a relaxed stance. Palms open, she extended her right arm and left, the left palm hovering around the elbow of her extended right arm. Naruto watched her finish with a nod. "As thanks for your hospitality Naruto-kun, I will teach you _my_ fighting style and help you create your own."

The boy blinked, a smile quickly forming on his face. "Are you serious?"

"Yes." She immediately saw the blonde readily drop into his own fighting stance at her answer, obviously eager to get the ball rolling. His fists were balled and extended left and right, his stance a little bit wider then shoulder width. Yim nodded when she saw him ready himself. "Unlike your shinobi taijutsu, I practice kung fu… so it is highly unlikely that you will know _this_ style."

"Okay," Naruto nodded, raising his fists and rocking in his stance, warming himself up. "Is this kung fu good?"

"Like I said, success in a battle between martial artists depends on the individual… the practitioner… _not_ the style," Yim exclaimed, her eyes narrowing yet still she was able to maintain that calm and relaxed state. "It is also common practice amongst martial artists to greet each other before every engagement."

The jinchuriki smirked and nodded to her. "Naruto Uzumaki: _Future Hokage of Konoha_."

"Yim Wing-chun: _Fist of Eternal Spring_."

Naruto nodded and approached her slowly.

A little bit weary due to the strange stance she had assumed, he shuffled forward. Bringing his body closer, the jinchuriki then decided to test her first by throwing a feigned punch that was barely outside of her reach. She didn't react or anything and just stood there.

Of course, being at least half his body taller then him, just a little below Iruka's height, Naruto had a little bit of difficulty coming up against someone that just _towered_ over him.

Nevertheless, an opponent was an opponent.

With a smirk, he leapt forward and started his assault with a flurry of punches. What he met with each punch he unleashed was a series of hand movements from the woman in kind. Naruto tried not to blink, but the blocks and parries from his opponent that negated his direct attacks had him flinch in shock.

A quick leap back-and-forward, the jinchuriki roundhouse kicked at her, only for her foot to suddenly come out and just knock his barely opening leg back.

Skidding across the grass, Naruto gritted his teeth and lunged again, starting off with a hook. He began hammering attacks away at her again, both of them remaining stationary as one opponent lashed out whereas the other deflected the incoming strikes one after the other with ease. Yim's hands did most of the work, literally weaving in and around his approaching fists and knocking them away or completely stopping them at every juncture.

The woman's arms blocked his executed punches and worked around the ones that didn't even have a chance to start, knocking his straight punches downwards to negate the energy behind them. She even came uncomfortably close and locked his neck around with her arms and elbows, immediately after his last attacks were rendered useless.

When his head became trapped in her arms Naruto attempted to body shot her, but she nudged him away with her elbow and his fist sailed past her. The jinchuriki staggered away, blinking in alarm.

He watched Yim as she lowered her hands in front of her, a smile still worn on her face.

At that moment, the blonde was at a loss for questions and words.

He had no idea what was going on. All he knew was that his taijutsu was effectively being stopped at every single strike and he was going all out. She looked as though she hadn't done anything and just standing there normally.

Scrunching his face up, he took a different stance.

Fists raised he approached her with a series of skittish foot maneuvers. He weaved left and right on his advance, his eyes locked onto her when he lashed out with a side kick. Once again her leg shot out of nowhere and kicked his out of the way, forcing him to continue the attack with a straight punch. However, both her hands came out and lightly slammed themselves into his shoulders and face, pushing him away.

Naruto hurriedly retreated in surprise and with a growl he came back in with an open palm strike. One, two attacks… that was all he got in before Yim retaliated with a series of flashy hand movements that seemed to come out of nowhere and everywhere. Naruto felt her fists lightly tap his chest, where he literally lost count at the number of times she struck him, before he eventually tried desperately to counter. But his attacks barely got executed when they were stopped and the energy behind them was negated as he was forced back step by step.

After a few fists flashed in front of his face, yet failed to make contact, Naruto hooked at her, but she pushed him away with a swift double-palm strike to his chest. The boy slid across the grass again.

Flexing his shoulders, Naruto brought his fists up while Yim slowly strolled back with her hands in front of her and a smile on her face.

"Ready to concede defeat?"

"What for? I have no idea what's going on?" Naruto shrugged back, earning a head shake from the woman.

Focusing, Naruto lunged out again with an open palm strike. In the blink of an eye, his palm made contact, but as a result he was unexpectedly slammed in the face by something heavy. Eyes shut and head cocked back the boy staggered away while seeing stars flashing around him. Yim giggled when she watched the youngster put a good distance between them.

Naruto groaned lowly when he lowered his head and ran his hand over his nose, assessing the damage. Looking down at his fingers a moment later he saw that he was bleeding and when he looked back up, he saw that her fist was still extended.

"A straight, unloaded punch… just in case you didn't catch it…" She lowered her hands in front of her, expecting him to be done.

However, far from giving up, Naruto yelled and leapt at her, sending a series of spin kicks. Just before his first foot made contact, _her_ foot came up and struck him in the chest, which resulted in his body slamming into the training log of his front lawn. Collapsing to the ground, Naruto quickly got back up and lashed out with a series of clawed strikes, but again his opponent blocked them, effectively hammering him with light blows, before grabbing him by the arm, tripping him and sending him to the ground.

She then lightly jabbed at his body, and repeatedly at his head before pressing her knuckle against his cheek.

"It's interesting fighting other practitioners, isn't it?" Yim asked happily.

Naruto blinked in shock as he was gently pulled to his feet and up righted. The woman dusted his clothes down while he processed the events that had flashed past him in his mind. It took him several seconds before he realized what had happened.

After shaking his head several times and slapping himself in the cheek repeatedly, insuring that he wasn't asleep, he looked up at the raven haired woman in bewilderment.

"Y-You're so fast, Yim-chan," Naruto exclaimed in awe. "How… I didn't… I couldn't even follow your attacks at all! They were so fast."

"Speed and precision are key aspects to my style, while relying very little on power. It's much like the _Soft Style _that you showed me. To be honest with you…I was purposely holding back a great portion of my strength. I wasn't even trying."

She saw him blink again in shock.

"I was simply demonstrating to you the speed and power you can achieve through practice. I downplayed the effort exerted to light taps and nudges, because I didn't want to seriously injure you," Yim explained, briefly esstablishing herself as a levelheaded teacher for the boy to look up to. "This fighting style was taught to me by Grand Master Ng Mui, one of Five Elders of the Shaolin Temple. The focus of the style is primarily striking and trapping, where the techniques can be adopted for defense and attack depending on your approach. It takes years of practice to get to the level I'm at."

"C-Could you teach me, please!" Naruto asked excitedly, jogging up to her and hopping on the spot with a pleading look on his face. "I'd really like to learn all that I can about taijutsu! Please!"

Yim giggled and nodded to him. "I said that I would. Didn't I?" The blonde's head nodded feverishly, earning a headshake from the gracious young lady at the incredible fuss he was making. "My, you really are energetic, Naruto-kun. Very well then."

She placed her hands behind her back and bowed lightly to him. "From this day forward, I will train you in the _Fist of Eternal Spring_."

"_I want to see how strong you can really become…"_

* * *

><p><strong>The following day…<strong>

Iruka was up at the front of the classroom giving his scheduled review session on correct weapons handling, storage and cleaning. He was making sure he covered all of the material required by shinobi, to give his students a better idea of what they needed to do when the necessary times came in. A lot of the students were writing notes, while some of the others were more or less drifting in and out of sleep or paying attention.

After the first couple of hours the teacher's voice sort of just droned on, with any distinction into the subjects he was talking about just blurring out. It was all static now.

Everyone was currently in class, including Naruto. At least, everybody _thought_ it was Naruto. Sitting in the middle row with his hands laced together, he was listening and watching the teacher with utmost concentration, and had been since he walked in.

It was almost like he was a shell of his former self. Not the Naruto everybody knew all too well. It was quite a shock to those people sitting next to him.

Kiba, still pissed off at the blonde for tossing him over a few days ago, was glaring at the runt from his seat up in the back-row, to the left, right next to the window. His fists balled and creaked under pressure, earning a curious glance from his classmate Hinata.

"W-What's wrong, Kiba-kun?" the purple haired Hyuuga asked, noticing his slowly foaming anger. The feral looking teen spat and continued to scowl spitefully at the jinchuriki.

"It's Naruto. Since when did _he_ start trying to act so cool?" The boy folded his arms tightly and huffed. "Look at him! He's just sitting there in silence doing nothing but listening and learning. No jokes! No pranks! Just white noise! It's like he's becoming Sasuke from this angle of light and shadow. It's pissing me off!"

"I-I don't see any difference in N-Naruto-kun's behavior," Hinata murmured, looking curiously down at the boy in question. "He looks the same t-to me."

"Yeah. Yeah. To you he's _your_ sweet, charming and strong _Naruto-kun_," Kiba sighed and threw his hands behind his head. "I bet I can down him in five seconds flat if I was serious."

"W-What about when he flipped you over on Monday, Kiba? You had plenty of time to react to that…" Hinata replied in defense of her crush, only to shrink away when she spotted the annoyed tick mark forming over the other boy's head.

The aggravated teen grumbled and looked away, glancing down at the training field directly outside of the classroom window next to him, trying to distract himself from the embarrassment.

"He just got lucky! That's all!" Kiba growled, his eye twitching and Akamaru barking quietly. _"Bah… why in the world am I this worried about the dead-last? So he got a tad bit faster. Big deal. Things will be different when the taijutsu final comes around. We'll see who's lying on whose back when I call him into the ring!"_

Just as he was about to go on about how he was going to clobber the troublesome class-clown, the Inuzuka then noticed something peculiar going on outside. Blinking in surprise, he took a closer look down at the range.

A couple of stories below, he saw a familiar orange-clad figure carrying what looked to be a wooden training dummy from the supply shed out back, the door to it having been jarred open by force.

Arms wrapped around the large item securely, the shifty individual tried to look as inconspicuous as possible as he tiptoed out of the shadows of the area.

He visibly looked around him several times more, scanning for any signs of nearby guards, before slowly beginning to stroll out of the vicinity casually like his actions were a normal thing to be seen. However, a few seconds later, the blonde haired thief then let out a surprised yelp and legged it. Kiba then saw a couple of Chunin leap out of the shadows and pursue him, their yells of outrage filling the air.

The Inuzuka shook his head in disbelief as he watched Naruto vacate the boundaries of the school. Once he had gone, along with the many tuition officers patrolling the grounds the teen then looked back down to the middle row to make sure he wasn't tripping out.

_Yup_! Naruto was _still_ there, sitting in his seat, straightened up and conveying the sense that he was the head of the pack, completely engrossed in Iruka's lecture. It wasn't a fake or a dummy, it was the real deal.

It took a few blinks and glances to confirm the boy's suspicions. After which Kiba then growled and leaned back in his chair again. His actions earned yet another curious stare from the girl sitting quietly next to him.

"Must be my imagination," the disgruntled teen breathed, with Akamaru yipping from atop of his head in agreement. "No way there's two Narutos running around the village… that's impossible…"

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Note:<strong>_ _The cameo character in this chapter, who will be making a few more appearances in the story, is Yim Wing-chun._

_She was a real life martial artist from China, her character inspiring many legends of being the first real master of the style bearing her name; Wing Chun. She taught her style to her husband, who named her martial art after her (Wing Chun Kuen or Wing Chun's boxing). He would then pass this on through his students for generations, before it eventually came into the hands of Yip Man years later, who then taught the style to Bruce Lee._

_In this story, she is both a historic character based off of legend (much like Jiraiya, Tsunade, Orochimaru and Hanzo in canon) and a cameo character from the 1994 film Wing Chun, with the main character being played by Michelle Yeoh._

_To those who are wondering, no, she will not be a part of Naruto's harem. This is not an overbearing harem fic, I'm trying to keep it strictly between one-three girls. Yim is Naruto's friend and one of his mentor's._


	4. Academy Arc: I Am Uzumaki

**NARUTO**

**The Art of Appropriation**

_I Am Uzumaki_

**Three weeks later…**

Naruto was sweating bullets and panting like he had just run a marathon thrice over and then some, his body hunched over and looking ragged. Bringing his hand up, he ran it through his wet hair and glared across at the woman he was currently having it out with. By association, she was also the one responsible for his present state and appearance.

So far, his long-winded training regime with his newly made friend had taken on many surprising turns.

Over the past few days he had been put through a series of drills and challenges by his teacher. The raven haired martial arts master made sure she was absolutely thorough in her approach, instructing him on the techniques and form of the style she used and expected him to learn.

"_This style combines both defense and attack. You attack and fight to defeat your opponent as quickly as possible."_

Simultaneous defense and attack; this was all a part of the first lecture Naruto was given before he was immediately put through hands on material of the arts. He didn't have any books to follow on, save for the illustrations and poses his teacher used through her body. She showed him exactly what techniques were involved and gently instructed him to apply it.

The first step he had to perform was to set aside everything he already knew about martial arts and start from scratch, practicing the types of punches and kicks that were associated with the _Spring Chant_. For example, the basic jab that was adopted for the style was quite unconventional, nothing like the loaded punches _he_ used for the taijutsu he already knew about. No. It was straight-out attacks from the guard position for the quick uncorking and execution of each strike.

The form and basic stance was also much different from the _Soft Style_ and _Internal Style_ he had seen in action. At first he couldn't see it when he tried it out for himself, but after several sessions and through intense practices of what was involved, he eventually got the hang of it. His body's natural structure took to it well, even though muscle memory of past styles used in his training took a bit more effort to overcome.

He managed to surpass this obstacle over time.

The first couple of days was spent learning the attacks used in conjunction with the defenses. He copied his teacher's movements on the introductory sessions and she helped him at every stage she could, fixing up the positions of his hands and feet correctly for each phase.

It was a matter of going through the motions; _that_ was what was involved in the second step.

In order to accelerate his memorization and naturalization of the style, Naruto used his _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_ to assist him during the longer, more important aspects of the training. With knowledge of this jutsu, which he kept note of to find out who the author was to thank later, he was easily able to speed up the amount of learning time required for the fighting style he was being taught.

He did this by having at least two dozen clones lined up on his lawn to follow-through with the techniques he was shown beforehand.

Yim observed his progress intently, mimicking the Chunin instructors Naruto had witnessed back at _Training Field 2_, practicing in their formations.

The whole teaching experience started off normally for the wandering martial artist, as she helped and nurtured an incredibly devoted pupil. The routine remained as such right up until the point Naruto started accelerating his learning with clones that she was caught completely by surprise. She had rarely seen a person duplicate themselves back in her land, let alone increase the speed of their information absorption capabilities through use of it.

The numbers he also created were phenomenal and this made her wonder about his more latent capabilities.

To Yim, it was an entirely new episode for her as much as it was for him.

Presently, the Naruto clones were assembled, in formation, and following the instructions given to them. Yim on the other hand was pacing back-and-forth down the rows on the outside of the square mass they formed, watching them work.

The platoon of doppelgangers fluently went through the motions of technique and form, practicing striking and blocking repeatedly, pacing across the wide-open lawn and utilizing the space provided for greater effect. From a distance, it was like watching an entire class working together in perfect sync, and every so often you could see one or two of them differ ever so slightly from the rest with a slight quiver or error in their stances or execution.

Though in reality Yim was really training only one student, she treated the multitude of one person as a group made up of completely different individuals. Each clone was a part of the original and each of them had a particular slice of his personality. Though they were exact doubles, there was always that one tiny aspect that made them slightly different from the others, ultimately defining the identity of the original.

Hands behind her back and a focused stare in play, the teacher kept careful watch of everyone, noting the minor lapses in timing and concentration in the particulars.

After seeing them reverse, proceed down a different line, and restart the patterns, she swiftly raised a hand. This queue was enough to have the entire platoon stop dead in their tracks.

As soon as the shadow clones froze, Yim weaved her way through the group of youngsters to the one she had singled out in the middle of the pack. Looking over his form once, the raven haired woman then physically, but gently, adjusted his position; bringing his arm up because it was set too low and nudging one foot back to better balance his stance.

Through these simple actions, she effortlessly fixed the noticeable error in his style.

Smiling at the correction, Yim nodded and stepped back. "Continue!"

"**Yosh!"** the entire enclave shouted.

The session resumed, the clones once again going through the exact same steps of combinations, only this time focusing them in a different direction. Yim nudged her way through the equivalent of an entire classroom till she made it to the outside, where she then focused her attention on the other groups of clones set to work in the backyard.

While the original Naruto was working on strength application through technique at the wooden dummy set up at one side of the lawn, there was another group situated close to the rose garden on the left hand side. A team of about a dozen were all arranged into a wide circle, all of them cross-legged, and facing each other with their hands held out in front of them around their core.

Their hand positions almost looked as though they were holding an invisible bowl just above their laps, but it was much more serious then that.

Almost meditative, each clone had incredibly concentrative expressions in play as they glared at the space between their open palms. The task was odd, not to mention way too different to what they were normally used to, but Yim expected them to get it right.

The woman smiled and crouched down beside one of the clones. This particular Naruto was sweating and looking quite aggravated, his arms and upper body trembling as the muscles in his appendages tightened. It was like he was trying to force something into his open palms through his pores, but was having no such luck at accomplishing the task through that means.

Yim giggled. "No, no. You have to relax your muscles." The clone ceased his shaky performance and looked up inquisitively at his instructor. The raven haired woman took a seat beside him and held her hands up, mimicking the others. "Remember, chi is the tangible energy living in the center of one's body; _your_ life force. Every person can tap into their chi to a certain degree, but for those who wish to excel in controlling it, it cannot be brought out through sheer force. You must be relaxed and focused in order to do so. To harness your chi and to manipulate it in conjunction with your style, you have to bring it out, feel it, and work on manipulating it through that sensation. Once you have control over it, you will be able to perform various different techniques with it."

The clone watched on carefully as Yim held her hands out in demonstration. Silence fell amongst the Naruto copies formed into the circle, with the atmosphere becoming tense and the wind literally stilling.

A second later, with breath held and tongue clamped down, the clone looked on in awe as a yellow, transparent sphere appeared right in between Yim's hands. The ball of pure life energy hovered within the woman's grasp and flickered brightly, seemingly creating its own sunlight at its intensity.

She held it up towards the clone, which he leaned in for a better look.

"Every energy signature is different. It can either be small and meek, barely a speck in the dimmest of nights, or it can be large and radiating with intense confidence, generated from years of practice. But whether small or big, everybody will be able to find it within them," Yim exclaimed gently, seeing the Naruto-clone's eyes shimmer in her projected chi's aura. After some time of watching and waiting, the raven haired woman allowed her energy to dissipate and lowered her hands. "Remember: _relaxed_ and _focused_. When you are, you will be able to listen to the very center of your body and _feel_ your life force. If you can control your life, nobody will be able to take it away from you."

Upon hearing this, the clone nodded and returned to his task. This time, he properly relaxed himself. The shadow clones in the circle reciprocated his actions and restarted a new. They calmed their trembling bodies, allowing them to better attempt to tap into their latent energies.

Yim then proceeded on, leaving the copies to it.

While the legion worked out, the circle meditated and the original worked the dummy over, there was another group of clones on the porch doing their own thing. While the majority of the dozen in this part were working on controlling their chakra in order to stick to trees and surfaces, as prescribed in the 'handouts' from the library, one solitary clone was _still_ reading.

This one had peeled off from the herd to continue looking into the vast assortment of fighting material detailed in the almanac the original so loved.

The Naruto-clone smiled as he turned the pages, moving from one fighting style to the next. It was an incredibly compelling read and he had barely scratched the surface of it. Most of the fighting styles he had looked up in here were solely Konoha based taijutsu and he had barely even gotten into the known fighting styles outside of the _Land of Fire_. There was so much to take in.

Forget about the history, a lot of the techniques recorded and described were somewhat tricky and untraditional, something he'd have to work around when the time came.

After a certain period was spent flipping from page to page, mostly drinking in the summaries of the important stuff, the clone then noticed something odd.

It wasn't really an immediate revelation, but he was brought around to it no less.

Frowning, the Naruto-copy flicked backwards through the pages, furrowing his brow as he reacquainted himself with the most well renowned taijutsu styles of _Konohagakure_. He was easily able to distinguish the branched styles with the parent styles based solely on the illustrations, and with every one he crossed over he was able to trace back to their sources.

_Mad Dog Attack_, _Dog Tooth Fist_ and _Hounding Claw_ could be rerouted back to _Inuzuka Style _taijutsu. The _Internal_ and _Soft_ approaches, though they could be practiced as complete, separate and individual styles on their own, coupled to form the _Gentle Fist Style_ of combat, which was a major part of the Hyuuga branch of martial arts. _Hard Fist Style_ originated from the _Wood Blocking Fist_ first employed by Hashirama Senju about a hundred years ago, who also created the _Senju Style_ and _Leaf Cutter_. The foundation _Uchiha Style_ utilized aggressive, direct movement and technique in order to overcome an opponent through precise, brute force and overbearing speed. However, though their style was one solely focusing blunt power upon an adversary, their rival _Senju_ _Style_ instead used confident, fluent movement and motion to produce power.

Depending on the practitioner, any one master of any of these styles could overwhelm even a seasoned shinobi who was also in the practice of ninjutsu and genjutsu.

However, despite the great potential behind such knowledge, the information categorized so conveniently before the clone seemed to strike a different chord with him.

Naruto's brow furrowed as he looked from one page to another, back and forth. His frustration grew more by the second.

Damn. It didn't seem to matter that much in the beginning, but after three weeks of doing nothing but working on close combat, it suddenly started to dawn on him the actual significance of the topic in question.

Every known clan had a fighting style. Hell, if you were to put the existing clan totals into whole numbers, a great majority of Konohagakure would probably have been taught in the ways of the big-name taijutsu styles listed in the book. That's not even counting those who were trained in just the basics and advancements of other signature styles.

Everybody had a name to live up to in terms of this inspiring art.

The Uchiha, the Inuzuka, the Yamanaka, Nara, Akimichi... the whole list of last names and people he knew that had them, started to grind against the jinchuriki's mental state till it was flaming red.

Even though he was just a wily shadow clone, his thoughts, dreams, memories, aspirations and appearances were all the same Naruto. So it made perfect sense that he acted and took to the information in the same way the original would if he were in the same position.

"_They are all famous… everybody knows them… all because of their last names…" _the Naruto clone blinked and scowled at the next page. _"D-Do I belong to a famous name?"_

He tried searching for any signs of _Uzumaki_ within the book, turning to the Index to narrow down his search. However, to his dismay, no matter what parent style he pursued, no matter what branch he referenced, he could not find a single style bearing his name.

Frowning some more, he then shut the book and turned it over to the spine.

**Continental Martial Arts Dictionary Volume III**

It was thick. Like; several hundred pages thick. Despite of this, it was _Pocket Addition_. Even though it weighed like a son-of-a-bitch it still said _Pocket Addition _at the very top of the front cover.

So much for light reading material.

Nevertheless, despite its vast collection of documented fighting styles of the period, Naruto was still left utterly baffled. There were no signs of _his_ last name anywhere to be seen. Even when he looked under 'U' in the index, he found not only a shit-ton of Uchiha branch styles that were pretty much extinct, but he even found his teacher's style. The _Umino Leaf Cutter_, which was derived from the old Senju concepts taught from the academy and crafted by the shinobi members of the family.

Sure, it was a small, not too well known style completely localized to within the village, but there was really only one Umino in the entire village! And there were more! Many more!

However, after taking some time to think the whole thing over, it eventually made sense to the jinchuriki.

Iruka had a family at one point in his life. He said so himself on the night when he brought him up to the observation balcony for the first time.

But what about himself?

The clone considered his copies training on the lawn with Yim pacing circles around them. He then considered the original training by the wooden man.

The sight had a bit of an eerie to it, as the real Naruto looked so alone and confined to that one space. If you were to dim out his surroundings and negate the presence of the shadow clones, the young Uzumaki was completely alone.

No brothers or sisters. No aunts or uncles. No cousins. No mother or father.

The clone's face fell.

All this frustration and fussing over not having a family fighting style unintentionally led him to the greatest, most illusive fact in his young life that he had never attempted to find out before; that he had _no idea_ who his family was or who his parents were.

All his time spent trying to become a shinobi, working hard towards his dream of becoming Hokage, overcoming the various hardships and heartbreaks of his loneliness, and his segregation from society by the greater populace, completely eclipsed the fact that he had nobody waiting at home for him at the end of each day.

That realization cut him deeper then any kunai ever could.

Quickly considering the opportunity presented to him, the solitary clone made up its mind and, setting the almanac down on the table, leapt to his feet and soundlessly dashed out of the backyard. He literally hurdled over the fences dividing the property from its surrounding neighbors, leaving the makeshift training field to its current occupants.

The Naruto clone was safe for sure.

The original would not dismiss his technique till the end of the day.

XXX

"_I'll drop in to see Shiho-chan. Maybe she can help me,"_ the shadow clone exclaimed in his head as he dashed down the road.

He was extremely careful to avoid hitting people and obstacles in his way. One careless move and he would be dispelled before he could even get to the heart of the matter at hand. Shadow clones were independent spirits of their own after all. He had a sense not to interrupt the original from his training till the very end.

After ducking and dodging crossroad traffic and alike, the rogue Naruto doppelganger used the engraved map inside of his head to help navigate himself through the village. He wasn't going to waste valuable time discovering new shortcuts or taking to the rooftops to cover more ground. Those routes of thinking would attract trouble he was certain he was not in any condition to fight off. The clone was aware that he had to keep his life extended for as long as he could.

However, while he was jogging down one of the main roads he knew ran right by the _Dango Shop_ on route to the library, he stopped in his tracks when he noticed something peculiar going on right in the middle of the boulevard.

Villagers were paying little attention to the obstruction laid out in their path and simply sauntered on by it, ignoring what looked to be a grown man lying sprawled out in the center of the dusty street. A blink later and a gradual approach towards the hindrance quickly confirmed the Naruto-clone's suspicions that a person was, in a words, passed out on the footpath.

It was also quite obscene from his point of view.

Out of the dozens of people that were marching passed the unfortunate soul, only one person had taken genuine interest and concern in the fallen civilian's predicament.

That added some comfort to Naruto's conscious that there was at least one other person out there other than Iruka, Teuchi, Ayame, the Third and himself that cared.

The doppelganger marched to a stop a couple of feet away, from where he was able to make out the person squatting right beside the unconscious stranger and was gently trying to shake them away. The Good Samaritan turned out to be a girl roughly around his age and a shinobi from the looks of it, if the hitai-ate she wore around her forehead was any inclination. She had brown hair tied up into buns, some of which hung over her headband in a fringe, and was wearing a pink, sleeveless blouse and dark green pants.

The girl was looking quite worried for the safety and wellbeing of the individual as she tried shaking him again, this time with a bit more effort.

"S-Sir? Are you okay? Sir?" The kunoichi huffed when she got no answer. Begrudgingly, she placed her elbow on her thigh and propped her chin on her hand, giving the body a quirked stare. "Geez, he's not getting up, is he?"

"Uhh… are you alright?" 'Naruto' asked, approaching with an inquisitive and apprehensive expression of his own. The girl turned towards the boy, to which he acknowledged her attention with a pointed gesture. "Is uhh… is _he_ alright?"

"Beats me," the teen replied and redirected her focus back towards the lump in the road. "I nearly stepped on him on my way back to my family's shop. I've been here for ten minutes already and to be quite frank, I'm a little bit worried."

"Is he… like… dead?"

"No. Alive." Deciding to change tactics, the teen started poking the person in the shoulder… _repeatedly_. "How a fully grown man can continue to sleep through this ruckus on top of an uncomfortable bedspread is beyond me. He's literally eating dirt right now." The person's nose was a nail to the floor; it was quite obvious what he must be experiencing if he had lost all capabilities of movement. Naruto thought it to be quite unpleasant, since he'd been in that position more then once.

Since they were splayed out on their stomach, it was hard to tell who the person was. All Naruto and the girl who he was accompanying could see was that the man was incredibly tall, had long brown haired tied back into a long ponytail with a light purple ribbon. They also wore a traditional samurai hakama, with a white kimono and close-to-black, dark blue, umanori style pants. The man also wore a pair of tabi and traveling sandals.

There was also something else that caught Naruto's eyes. "Hey, the guy has a sword with him."

The young girl, being brought about from her patient state and uneasy stare glanced over the torso of the unconscious traveler to see a katana sheathed in a red scabbard at the person's belt. The sight only meant one thing to her.

"Oh. He's a samurai."

"Don't samurai like… have _two_ swords or something?" the Naruto clone asked curiously, rubbing the back of his head.

"Traditionally… yes. But this guy only has _one_ weapon," the teen smiled up at the blonde, who stood attentively beside her. "That means he's either an armed traveler or a samurai who's pretty much lost his way, so to speak. You would think for an adventurer they would come more prepared, but instead they end up passed out from whatever, in the middle of a busy highway and in _our_ village no less!"

The girl was both amused and doubtful, mostly towards the individual's supposed life skills that were meant to be a soul part of a samurai's development.

Maybe it was just for show.

"What a way to go," Naruto exclaimed.

"Moud mou muys mmum mmm…"

"_**Huh?"**_ Both Naruto and company blinked in surprise when they heard the sounds of mumbling emitted from the person. Glancing at one another, they both then knelt down and leaned forward, ear first just so to confirm their suspicions.

"Sir? Could you repeat that?"

"Mister?" Naruto murmured, placing a hand on the person's back and shaking them gently.

This last gesture seemed to coax whatever life was left swimming inside the stranger's body out of them, whose head rolled over to the side and allowed the curious duo a glance of the person's eyes glaring up at them. Covered in dirt and dust, the uncharacteristically gentle face of a warrior took in the troublesome brats fretting over her 'corpse'.

"I said… would you guys shut up…?" the stranger replied in a weak, annoyed tone. "Can't you see that I'm trying to die here? At least send me off peacefully."

Naruto and his temporary companion stared back at the reawakened traveler. They took their time processing the information being addressed to them from the stranger and blinked several times at his tonnage. They gave him a once over from head to toe, before refocusing their attention on his face.

It was peculiar.

A traveling samurai, dressed in traditional samurai robes, but bearing only _one_ sword.

Surprisingly long, silky smooth hair…

A gentle face with more prominent eyes and eyelashes then most…

Very pronounced facial definitions, almost close to that of an angel if you concentrated hard enou-

"HOLY CRAP, YOU'RE A WOMAN!" Naruto leapt away in shock, only to fall onto his backside. The revelation also startled the girl next to him.

It didn't occur to either of them that they were prodding a woman samurai, let alone one at all. She didn't look it from her angle to them, but after looking past her condition and the dust smeared across her face, she was actually quite pretty. This had the blonde blush a bit at his bluntness on the situation and made a note to himself to check before assuming next time.

Clearing his throat and recomposing himself, Naruto got back up onto his knees and crawled over, looking down at the barely conscious traveler.

"Why are you bothering me again?" the samurai murmured questioningly.

The bun haired girl smiled weakly in return. "You're lying in the middle of the road, miss. You're disrupting some of the local traffic." Though people didn't seem to really care, her presence did drive something of a grove in between the flowing stream of villagers. It was quite noticeable from a birds-eye-view.

The woman stared back at the girl talking to her for a little while longer, expression blank and eyes slightly glazed. However, after taking in the teen's overall appearance and attitude, the samurai furrowed her brow. "Meow… is that you…?"

"Huh?"

"You changed your outfit… not much of an improvement there… but I like your hair. Keep the sideburns." A little bit out of it, the woman's eyes fluttered shut a moment after her 'admirable' comment.

The Genin scowled and placed her hands over her ears. Though the words from the samurai did assure her she would live, the teenager was still quite taken aback by how the woman so freely and openly commented on her appearance. The Naruto clone was promptly looking at the flustered girl with inquisitiveness upon hearing the samurai woman's words of wisdom.

"What is she talking about? I don't have sideburns!" the girl turned to the blonde nearby, showing him the side of her head and raising her fringe. "D-Do I?"

Naruto tilted his head and rubbed his chin in thought. Though he didn't normally judge a person based on their hair, he had to admit that the girl in front of him had exceptionally excellent locks.

"No. Your hair looks really nice to me." He saw her breathe a sigh of relief and smile kindly at him.

"Thanks."

Just as the pair were about to inquire more into the traveler, just to make sure she didn't go wandering off into the land of surrealism again, the sound of a low, hollow growl filled the air. The noise caught the pair completely off guard, who looked around momentarily before narrowing the fading grumblings and complaints down to the stomach of the person lying on the ground before them.

The samurai woman, close to unconsciousness, cracked an eye and stared up at them, "So… hungry…" The growling got a little louder. "Silly tummy… you're the stomach of a samurai… you must be vigilant…"

"Oh! So that's it!" Naruto exclaimed, clapping his hands together. The two girls looked in his direction, one in surprise the other one lazily. The chipper blonde grinned down at the traveler, being quite abrupt and forward in his presentation. "I know just what you need!"

XXX

**Half an hour later…**

Naruto and the young kunoichi he had come to associate with, watched on in bewilderment as the samurai woman they were assisting sat beside them on the bench just outside of the _Dango Shop_, devouring what they calculated to be her twentieth plate of dango, along with her third bottle of sake.

One by one the kebabs became empty skewers on an ever-growing stack of plates, with the waitress of the store frequently running back and forth between the counter and the table to restock on the woman's orders. Unlike every other day, the servicewoman had never had to work so hard in her life, which was saying a lot about the wanderer's eating habits.

Swallowing another mouthful, the samurai sighed excitedly. "Delicious! I haven't had dango like this in ages!" She spun around and waved towards the service counter in sight of the trio, where both the chef and the exasperated waitress stood, gawking at her. "Yo! Five more plates and two more bottles of your finest sake please!"

"Y-Yes ma'am!"

"Oh… so good!" The happy traveler plucked another dango from her dish. Holding it at a good angle, she took yet another bite out of it and devoured all three dumplings in one go. She chewed, giggled in delight and swallowed with much satisfaction to be expressed, "Simply exquisite!"

"Holy hell, how much of that stuff can you put away?" the bun haired girl asked, seeing yet another order placed before her, which the samurai immediately became acquainted to. When the woman started drinking the bottle of sake like it was a bottle of water, instead of taking it in shots, the girl raised an eyebrow. "We did say that the food was on us, but there's no need to go all _gungho_ on it. Show a little restraint, why don't you?"

"Well… you see, I haven't eaten for quite a while… about three days to be exact, and I was truly dying of starvation. I only wish to eat my fill, express my sincerest thanks and delight for the meal, and be on my way, if that is okay with the two of you," the woman replied happily, pausing long enough in her gorging of the food next to her to speak eye to eye with them. "As a beautiful, honorable drifter, I am simply taking you guys up on your generous offer."

"B-But…" the girl attempted to interject.

"And do not worry. I always make good on my debts, even to people who I have only known for the briefest of moments in my life. I will pay you back as soon as I am able, but I cannot say for sure when that will be. For now, I will convey my utmost gratitude to the both of you as best as I can."

She tipped her bottle to the youngsters and downed the whole of its alcoholic contents. As soon as she did so, she lowered it, let out an appreciative gasp of delight and smiled at the ones paying on her behalf. While the girl seemed a tad bit irked, not to mentioned astounded at her ability to consume so much sake and not even feel a little bit tipsy, the blonde haired boy on the other hand was still staring at her in great interest.

When she locked onto the children for a second time, the samurai bowed to them gratefully, setting aside her empty bottle of sake to acknowledge the kindness they have given her properly. "You two saved my life today. Thank you."

Naruto smiled at her and nodded, deciding to speak up now then never, "That's okay. I understand where you're comin' from. When you gotta eat, you gotta eat! It's something that a person has to do."

"Of course." The samurai smiled more widely at the boy, taking some interest in him. "You are very perceptive and welcoming; a character who acts on good intentions."

"Really?" the boy grinned sheepishly. "Nah, I'm not. I just like helping people who are in trouble. It's no biggy."

The kunoichi next to him looked at him with a smile. She nudged him in the side in a good natured gesture, "She's still thanking you, dummy. Just accept her appreciation."

The boy looked at the Genin addressing him, his eyes shifting between them, "O-Okay. Do you really mean that, miss?"

"It's the truth. You went out of your way to pay for a meal for a complete, unfortunate stranger, even going so far as to run all the way back home to get money. To some, your actions may make you seem too trusting of others that they may take advantage of you. Not to mention that they may trick you into misconduct. But you are indeed selfless and kind," the samurai exclaimed, nodding to him and then looking at the girl. "You may only be children, but you are both compassionate and considerate. Please, tell me your names so that I may remember you."

"Naruto!" the clone stated, thumping himself in the chest.

"Tenten," the girl with the buns in her hair replied, giving the woman a small smile and running a hand over her ear to brush some stray hair away. "What's your name?"

"Me?" the samurai replied while picking up the last bottle of sake from the bench. She pulled out a flask from pocket and began filling it up. "I'm merely just a beautiful drifter, who lives for the joys, pleasures and tastes of good sake. Unfortunately, I have long since forgotten my real name." Once the flask was full, she tied it up and put it away. When she looked back at the two teenagers, she saw them staring at her oddly, which prompted yet another smile from her. "You may call me Ran."

"It's nice to meet you, Ran!" Naruto exclaimed.

"And it is a pleasure to make your acquaintances," the samurai replied with a kind nod.

Pleasantries between the three didn't last too long from that point though. Before any more conversation could be exchanged between them, Naruto unexpectedly leapt to his feet. Both women turned to him in surprise as he stood before them and bowed in an excited manner.

He shared with them his characteristic grin, directing one from Ran to the other nice girl he had been sitting with, "I enjoyed talking with you and it was nice to meet you, Tenten."

The kunoichi smiled at him, tilting her head curiously. "Where are you scampering off to in such a hurry? Clan stuff?"

"Sort of," Naruto straightened up and shrugged, hands on his hips. "Well… _close_. Not really sure. I… sort of have _questions_ to ask for a friend… _important_ questions. If I don't hurry along I might miss her."

"Oh. I see," Tenten smiled. "By the way, thanks for helping me out… I… I wouldn't have been able to drag her all the way to the other side of the road on my own. I really appreciate you stopping by." Unknowingly, the young kunoichi missed the dirty look thrown at her by the samurai lady sitting beside her, one which held surprise and bother in one mask.

"_Is this brat implying that I am overweight?"_

Naruto waved her thanks away, but treasured her words no less. He had already received enough flattery to last him for quite a while. He didn't want to feel too good for just some little things otherwise it would spoil his lunch.

"Don't worry about it. I'll take simple thanks above favors any day of the week. Heh. It's been fun, gotta go!" Taking his queue, he turned heel and began rushing down the street, smiling back at the pair, "I'll see you two around some time."

Tenten waved after him, watching the odd youngster duck through traffic before disappearing altogether. It was from simply judging his exit the girl was brought around to an interesting characteristic trait she saw in the boy. Even though she was surrounded by weirdness day in and day out, she could safely say this…

The boy appeared with a smile and left with a smile. He didn't bother with many questions, nor did he insist for something in return.

"He's a very happy person, Naruto," Tenten exclaimed, rolling her shoulders a bit as she continued to stare off after the jinchuriki, _"A little odd and straightforward, but a down-to-earth human being no less."_

The samurai beside her was sharing the exact same thoughts, while also staring after the boy with a curious gleam in her eyes.

XXX

**Konoha Library…**

"It's great for you to visit me again so soon, Naruto-kun," Shiho exclaimed, sliding down her ladder and stopping at the bottom, grinning widely at her beaming visitor. "How are those books I lent you? Been helping you along?"

"They've been great!" the jinchuriki exclaimed, walking around when she hopped off of her post to approach him in kind. "I'm really enjoying that clone book you let me borrow. It's given me tons of stuff to think about and even cooler stuff to learn! I'm really coming along."

"Glad to hear that. I knew I made the right choice," Shiho replied, pushing her glasses up her nose. Rounding on the shelves, she strolled over to them and casually ran a finger along the row of spines, while looking back at the boy following after her. "A book may look rundown, shabby and out of place from the rest of them. However, it is not what's on the outside that matters; it's what's _inside_ that counts. There is so much more you can learn by studying the whole contents of the article then just the first few pages." She then shrugged. "_Although_… I do have to admit that it sometimes helps to have an appealing cover to attract an audience. But that's from a marketing perspective. The main point is; you _can't_ judge a book by its cover."

"Oh yeah… definitely," Naruto agreed wholeheartedly.

"If you're aspiring to become a shinobi, you've got to throw your hand into everything you can, not just ninjutsu. If you want, I can find you some material on genjutsu… stuff that _you_ can use to your advantage," Shiho smiled at him and gave him a once over. "You don't look like the type that digs genjutsu, so I'll give you something to help you break the stuff. Don't have to know genjutsu intimately to be able to utilize its aspects in the field. If you can master certain techniques you'll be a real winner when the time comes around."

"T-That would be great… t-thanks… Shiho-chan," Naruto spoke up, watching her lead him down the isle. However, not wanting to lose his current train of thought he hurried after her with his topic on hand. "I…uhh… umm… Sh-Shiho-chan!"

"Yeah!"

"T-There's… there's uhh… there's something else…"

The library girl quickly noticed something off about his speech patterns and turned to him. When she did, she saw a look of anxiousness on his face and blinked in surprise.

If Naruto could see behind her glasses he would be able to tell how concerned she looked right at that moment, "What is it?"

"I-It's something important," Naruto fidgeted. He shuffled on the spot a few times, shrugged his shoulders, doing whatever he could to bottle the nerves. "It's about the book on taijutsu?"

"Is there something wrong with it?" Shiho asked, stepping towards him and gesturing over her shoulder. "If it's a problem with the actual book, I could have the manager check it out for y-"

"N-N-No… no… it's not what's wrong with what I'm reading, it's just," the clone sighed restlessly and balled his fists, hitting his knuckles together a few times to convey his distress. "I noticed in the book of taijutsu that almost _every_ family in Konoha… the big ones like the Yamanaka, Nara, Akimichi, and Inuzuka… hell… even the small ones like the Umino, Haruno and Yuhi… they _all_ have their own brand of taijutsu. Signature taijutsu… stuff that only their families know."

"Y-Yeah…" Shiho started to feel a little on edge herself. There was no telling where the boy was going with this.

"I just wanted to know… w-well… if it isn't too much trouble for you," He rubbed his neck, wondering whether this was really such a good idea. Then again, he did come all this way to ask a friend, so what harm was there from pursuing the truth? "I… I want to find out… whether or not _**I**_ have a family like theirs," the Naruto clone finished, throwing his hands out to the sides and letting them drop.

The thud of his arms hitting his sides was the last bit of noise for the next few seconds, as both teens stared at each other. One side waited patiently for an answer, any answer, while the other one stood planted to the floor with her mouth dropped open slightly to communicate her small measure of astonishment. It took a bit for the information to actually sink into Shiho, whose fingers started to clench and unclench repeatedly.

"I know I never asked this question openly before… but… after seeing that everybody else has something from their parents to carry on with them, it got me thinking," Naruto reasoned, bravely holding his ground, "Do I have something to carry on as well? D-Did I even have a family to begin with…?"

Shiho averted her gaze in thought. However, after brief deliberation of his words she then furrowed her brow and looked up at him. Her hand promptly followed suit and took his in hers, which she then began pulling down the isles.

"Come with me."

Naruto didn't argue or fight against forcefully being pulled around like a shopping cart. He made his friend's job easier for her by keeping foot with her, as she pulled him down the rows and rows of shelves containing the collective knowledge of centuries of research. He tried to discern exactly where she was taking him, but lost track after about a minute before he was pulled into an isle somewhere at the far side of the building. Upon arriving at the center, Shiho stopped him and went to scanning the racks of books alongside them.

Skimming a finger up and down, the library girl then pulled a hardback copy somewhere out from the section marked 'U' and approached her friend hastily. Brushing the article down, she smiled weakly at the jinchuriki and handed him the almanac, which he took with great care.

"_This_ is one of the only copies that we have that contains any information on the Uzumaki family that isn't restricted to the public," Shiho stated, seeing the academy student run his hands over the book curiously. "It was donated by a kind soul from this village, but by whom exactly I don't know… and whether he's still around or not I'm uncertain."

Naruto rubbed his fingers over the simple symbol that was on the front cover of the almanac. There was no title to be seen or any indication of who the book previously belonged to. But the character that was on the cover was the very same one he recognized from the back of the jacket he was wearing and on the backs of the vests he had seen on many of the shinobi around Konohagakure.

It was a swirl pattern formed within a perfect circle, almost like a whirlpool.

The boy opened up the book to the first pages, expecting some history or basic knowledge. However, the moment he accessed the volume's contents he was immediately hit with a truckload of information. To him, it felt like being hit by an actual truck.

The academy student nearly stumbled back at the stuff he saw. He was quite literally blown away the moment his eyes drank in the first sentences on the page.

"T-The _Uzumaki Clan_… _m_-_my_ clan…" Naruto gulped and looked up at Shiho, who he saw was looking at him with deep consideration. "I… I have a clan… I have a family. A-And the… they have their own village? They have their own _Hidden Village_! _Uzushiogakure_!"

"Y-Yeah…?"

Naruto grinned and looked back down at the article, flipping wildly through more and more of the pages.

Though the exact location of his family's home village wasn't disclosed to him, he was still thrilled to learn that he actually had a genuine family and a place where he could also call home. However, this information still wasn't enough for him to settle his excitement as he hurried through more pages, at the same time backing up until he hit one of the shelves behind him.

He leaned against it for support, turning another page. "L-Look at this! This is amazing, Shiho-chan!" The boy animatedly held up the double page spread and showed her a photograph on the page, pointing at the men standing side by side under two different banners. "A lot of these guys have the same hair color as me! Golden blonde! _My_ hair color! Well… not just blonde, but red hair as well… and their outfits are awesome! Wa-how!"

Naruto was speaking quite loudly now, but at least he wasn't shushed. He was grateful for that.

Laughing some more, he continued turning pages, looking from one seemingly familiar face to another. All the while Shiho continued watching from the side, hands in front of her and, though she wore a small smile, still looked saddened. Unfortunately, the happy jinchuriki didn't notice her expression as he was so engrossed in the book.

"Look! Look! Konoha shinobi standing beside Uzushio shinobi! Sweet! They look so cool together!" Naruto laughed, flipping through the pages again. "Man! This is great! Konoha must be allies with them! I mean… why would a big village like this one be so friendly with another, smaller village somewhere else? Unless they're allies, there's no other explanation. My people are friendly! AWESOME!"

"N-Naruto-kun…"

"And there's so much more!" Naruto grinned, slamming a finger down on a specialty exclusive chapter of the book. "Look! Fuinjutsu! My people's specialty is sealing techniques! It says here…" He scrutinized the paper some and read off of it, his grin growing wider. "That, _'the Uzumaki Clan of Uzushiogakure specializes in the art of fuinjutsu, a practice that requires a high amount of discipline, experience and understanding. Renowned for their mastery behind the concepts of sealing, the Uzumaki Clan taught it not as a means of fighting but as a means of understanding the principles and secrets behind chakra, space, matter and time. However, these unique abilities make them quite fearful as shinobi in battle, establishing them as one of the most powerful, smaller neighboring villages of the Land of Fire_!"

The boy giggled happily and looked up at the girl. "I can't believe it! Not only do I have my own clan, I have my own clan symbol, my own village, and my own brand of fighting feared by everybody else! T-This is… this is…t-this… is…" He noticed Shiho was giving him a very grave look, making him confused and suppressing his mirth. Looking between the book and his friend a couple of times, he wondered what could be earning such a downhearted stare.

The jinchuriki stepped towards her, "W-What's wrong… Shiho-chan?"

"N-Naruto-kun…" The library girl shuffled uncomfortably on the spot, not sure what to say to him to answer his question. However, since he was already in possession of the book, the chances were that he was bound to find out sooner or later, so in an effort to help him along as best as she could, Shiho nodded towards the article in his hand. "F-Find the last page…"

Blinking in confusion, Naruto did as he was asked and turned back to the almanac, turning the pages over till arriving at what he immediately deduced was the end. Before the book's contents even reached the very end of the book, which was its back cover, there were several pages left blank and unfilled.

The academy student became bewildered at the sight and moved through the end pages that still had writing on it. He found a whole lot less here then what he had been previously delving through beforehand, which was surprising considering the amount of depth the book had covered on the Uzumaki clan at the beginning.

When arriving at the last page of the very last chapter, he flipped the page over several times, noticing that the writing stopped a little bit over on the other side.

He looked up in question. "I… I don't… I don't understand…"

"Read it…"

Shiho persisted, mostly for the boy's own betterment. If he was to discover the truth that was slowly approaching him then he needed to face it himself.

The jinchuriki looked back at the last recorded pages in the book.

He read through them slowly, making sure to drink in every word. As much as it had been a compelling read for him in the opening, the rest of the book was nothing compared to what came up next.

It didn't take the clone long to get to the end of the final statements and notes written down, by which time he suddenly stepped back and collapsed to the floor, using the shelves behind him to slide down. Bringing his legs up to his chest, he dropped the book and looked down at it sadly.

His response was immediate.

The look he wore greatly resembled the exact same expression he wore back in the days when he was upset and would sit on the swing behind the academy for hours on end.

As of that moment, he couldn't completely describe what he was feeling.

All he knew, was that he felt more alone now then ever before.

"They're gone…" Naruto murmured and shut his eyes. "The village… my clan… all of it… there's nothing left…"

Shiho swooped down in an effort to console him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and holding him close to her. She felt the jinchuriki respond to her reassuring gesture by leaning into her hug, but was unwilling to do anything beyond that. All energy in him seemed to just vanish, "I'm sorry."

Her embrace did the upset clone some comfort and he was grateful for it. Of course, being the stubborn brat that he was, he didn't cry.

"I… your clan… I… (sigh)…" Shiho hesitated. She didn't know what to say to him.

She had no idea what the boy could possibly be feeling; knowing that the people who were pretty much his brethren and blood, the people who he belonged to were wiped off of the face of the earth before he even knew he belonged to them.

"I-It's alright," Naruto wiped his eye against his shoulder and jacket, before looking up at Shiho with a small smile. "It may not be what I was expecting to find here today… but at least I now know that I _did_ have a clan… a family. Heh. An honest-to-goodness family! Just like Shikamaru's, that baka Kiba's and even Sasuke's! It's… even better then what I was hoping for…"

Shiho gave him a weak smile in return before picking up the book he had dropped, sliding it into his lap. "You were hoping to find something else?"

"Yeah… something about my parents," Naruto sniffed, wiping his tearless eyes out of reflex for a second time. "But the writing in the book stops at a date years before I was even born. It's like… the person who wrote it was actually there, right at the time when the village came to… its… end…?"

…

He planned to continue, to express his deep interest and the significance of the book's contents and its value to him…

However, there was a sudden moment of pause in his sentences, which left him staring at the book's cover in his lap.

The emergence of the topic he had consciously brought up got the boy pondering over the blanks in that area. It just occurred to him that it didn't appear at the end of the chapter he had quickly run through and there certainly was no mention of a final conflict whatsoever.

After some careful consideration he looked back up at the girl with an inquisitive look on his face, "H-How did Uzushiogakure fall? What happened to it?"

Shiho left the almanac in his hands and moved away an inch. She withdrew her arms and folded them over her knees when she brought them up to her chest.

_That_ particular question was quite the troublesome one.

_What happened to Uzushiogakure_?

From her understanding of shinobi history, there were many periods in the past that the village could have been classified as deserted or uninhabited. _The Third Great Shinobi War_, unaccountable or possible civil wars that had been waged secretly within the village's walls, foreign invaders from the Western countries carting off the village's resources or even invaders from the neighboring shinobi nations; they were _all_ possibilities. Even plagues or famine could have been contributing factors to the village's disappearance from the map!

However, after culminating everything she did know into one, logical explanation, she was able to place the time of _Uzushiogakure's_ ultimate destruction between some twenty or so years ago to today.

"I don't really know, Naruto-kun. There were very turbulent times back then. So many events took place back in those days that it's… it's really hard to say for sure what actually happened to the village. A lot of the stories nowadays are told differently by anyone who knows anything about _Uzushiogakure_, and even then they are mostly mere tales based off of myths and legends. It's a real mystery," Shiho replied, seeing her companion blink. "But… I _do_ know this. It is near impossible for an entire civilization to be completely wiped out. There are bound to be survivors."

"Survivors?" Naruto blinked, earning an encouraging nod from his friend.

"Yes, even villagers who left _Uzushiogakure_ before it collapsed. Who knows, maybe a lot of your people scattered themselves all across the mainland when they moved out or migrated across the seas. There is even a high possibility that descendants of your clan are still around today, maybe even hidden here in Konoha." Though this was just a blind assumption, she didn't regret it. It was a big village and an even bigger world out there. She was sure she was right.

"Y-Yeah!" Naruto grinned up at her, happiness slowly returning to him at the uplifting words Shiho was sharing with him. "Y-You're right. They couldn't have _all_ been killed. There are _always_ survivors. Otherwise… who would be left to tell the tales of what happened inside the village? _This_ is proof!" The blonde held up the closed book and jabbed at its cover. "Their history is in _here;_ history other people should be allowed to recognize and know. I just can't let that all disappear, not now. I can't let my clan's name be forgotten. I have to do something about it!"

"Really?" Shiho's smile reappeared at his steadily growing excitement. She was glad to see him beaming again, "What are you going to do?"

"Well… become Hokage of course!" Naruto grinned and thumped himself in the chest. Same course of action; it all pretty much tied together. Things were bound to happen on this journey. He knew that as fact. "By becoming the leader of Konoha, I'll get people to acknowledge not just my name, but the name Uzumaki! What better way to let people know that you can kick ass and are a part of one of the most respected clans in history by becoming the strongest shinobi in the village?"

"Heh. I see. The _new_ plan is the _old_ plan then," Shiho placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it gently. "You'd better keep working hard then, Naruto-kun. This village and its people weren't made in a day you know. Practice, practice, practice! That's the key!"

"Yeah!" the Naruto clone shouted, taking the book he was given into two hands and looking down at his front. "I'll get there eventually. I _will_ become Hokage some day… not just for me… but for them; for my family and my friends. Believe it!"

The boy admired the uniqueness behind the symbol representing his people engraved upon the book. There was just something to be said about libraries.

Libraries were awesome.

With this article he was able to find through a friend, he could learn everything there was about where he came from and maybe even find out who his parents were. Of course, he'll do all of that on top of making the _Uzushiogakure_ symbol his trademark logo next to the _Konohagakure_ headband.

Boy was he looking forward to graduating this year.

While he continued to marvel the book, Shiho watched him from the sidelines with a giggle and a smile.

However, the glasses concealing her eyes hid a small case of deep afterthought and concern.

In spite of knowing that _Uzushiogakure_ fell under mixed circumstances, the truth behind it all was still shrouded in darkness. A lot of the senior shinobi of Konohagakure knew this fact within the tale as it was told by others and revered it. Being a part of one of the largest collections of knowledge in the entire _Land of Fire_, Shiho was also aware of this.

She just couldn't break to Naruto how deep the kunai actually went.

"_Hopefully… you won't find out what really happened to your village… Naruto-kun…"_ Shiho thought. _"It's best that nobody finds out. There's nothing to gain from such sadness…"_

XXX

**Meanwhile…**

**Thousands of Miles Away…**

A lot of people say that _'it's a_ _big, wide world out there'_; a world that holds an infinite number of possibilities, destinies and chances.

Now, when somebody says _this_, a skeptical person would immediately assume that that is not necessarily a good thing. They would say that it was a death trap, a sewage system, and an unpredictable pile of excrement.

True, it was unfamiliar. However, in spite of this view, you cannot deny the fact that it is still a wild and random world out there, one that an adventurous person could easily subtract from as equally as they could draw out the negative values.

Across the oceans from the _Land of Fire_, towards the east, beyond the warring, desolate island nations, and beyond the treacherous channels and oceans, there lies yet another large continent.

Very few people from either place have had the privilege of traveling between each other, but the existence of either continent was still well known to the other. Those in the _Shinobi Nations_ viewed these strange places, these so called _Americas _and _Europeans,_ as the _Western Worlds_, much like how the people from the _Western Worlds_ viewed the _Shinobi Nations_ as a series of backwater, primitive places one wouldn't think twice of settling in.

Well, that was some of _their_ views.

This far off continent was much larger then the one the shinobi and samurai hailed from and was just as diverse. It was a world where one could dream big and become great… if only for a moment.

Vast megacities, advanced villages and towns built upon sophisticated building materials, unique wildlife and habitats, and infinite numbers of social groups. It was a very strange world indeed.

Within one of the larger cities established along the coast, there sat a popular port town used as a medium between the different worlds. The port was set up close to the mouth of a wide canal, complete with suspension bridges, architecturally sound buildings made of brick, skyscrapers, ships constructed of iron and wood, and was bustling with hundreds of civilians. Rich and poor, old and young, clean and dirty, it was quite literally a place where cultures clashed and engaged with each other.

Rich came in on either mechanized contraptions run on coal, horse-drawn carriages or elegant ocean liners sailing in from distant countries. The poor and middle-class worked for these 'aristocrats' and 'masters' of the world, operating the machines, off-loading or loading up the cargo, and serving the patrons at the various stores and restaurants lining the peer. The sounds of seagulls cackled incessantly, horns of ships blared, and people were rambling and shouting among moving crowds.

Overall, the entire atmosphere reeked of oil, smog and ocean, but dammit, in spite of it being the armpit of the _Western World_, it was still home to those who lived and breathed here.

At the far end of the large port closest to the entrance there sat a large, steel monstrosity of grand proportions. It was a ship, enormous compared to a lot of the other vessels within its presence; a pre-dreadnaught class battleship with masts, central structures, funnels and guns fixed, but muffled for in-port checking and safety.

Judging from the number of crew already strafing the decks, with the resupplying of the vessel by cranes and hands nearing completion, she was just about seaworthy. There was still the matter of handling the clients and traders seeking transport to the other world who needed to be tended to.

Ships rarely visited the _Shinobi Worlds_ from this continent due to the sheer length of the journey, so people were literally jumping at any chance they could to get there.

The name of the presently docked vessel was written at both sides at the bow end;

_**Mikasa**_

Not a normal name to give to a ship, but suitable nonetheless.

Naval personnel were hurrying about their duties and assignments, mingling and mixing in with the passengers already present on deck. Those who weren't crew were situated at the railings and sides of the ship with their baggage in hand, scattered and tending to their own devices. While the ship's staff hustled along and got everything organized, the commander of the freelance military group also occupying the vessel was firmly set at his station at the base of the boarding ramp, overseeing the final preparations.

Arms folded, the man kept his eyes on the peer, watching the last of the supplies get moved on by able men and cranes.

This commander, in contrast to the rest of the battleship's crew in view, wore a bright red military uniform with golden epaulettes, buttons fastening the top together, and decorated with all sorts of white and golden trim, distinguishing him as an officer. He wore white pants, brown, knee-high boots and a bandoleer, but instead of a sidearm had fingerless gloves with brass knuckles fixed to them at his side. His physical appearance was that of a large, muscular man with a chiseled jaw, a very serious glare adorned as a casual expression, and slicked-back, dark brown hair.

He stood steadfast alongside his lieutenant, a young woman with light brown hair tied into two braided pigtails, had soft brown eyes, and was wearing a similar uniform to her superior's, only with a red beret and less noticeable traits on her uniform. In addition to her outfit, she also wore strange, black gloves with thick, high-impact gauntlets around the armbands.

They pretty much stuck out from the beige crowd, which continued to pass them by without notice. This was military business, nothing for the commoners to get all excited about; in spite of the glances people were giving the ship.

Above the bustling of the port, the officer in charge of the proceedings sighed and looked up towards the deck of the vessel behind him. From his angle he was able to get a good view of the entire length of the ship and its armaments.

"Captain!"

"Yes sir?" A man dressed in a white, naval officer's uniform, complete with hat and brown beard, replied. The individual leant over the railings and down towards the docks, giving the utmost attention to the man who had called for him.

"How soon till we are able?"

"Approximately one hour, Colonel Corbett. I'd recommend that you call your men into formation for a head count soon, before we set off," The captain tipped his hat to the officer below before disappearing back over the side, probably to continue attending to the comings and goings aboard his ship.

His news however drew a rather disgruntled groan from the commander.

"An hour. Brilliant." The colonel turned back around and, pulling a brass box out from his pocket, drew a cigarette. Lighting the death sticks, he breathed it in deeply and exhaled a plume of smoke, before glancing up towards the city in front of him. His lieutenant looked over at him in response to the small efforts he took to relax himself. "Our client is expecting us at the port within a week and at the rate we're going, we'll be lucky to make it there in two."

"A voyage such as this one requires a certain amount of time and preparation, sir," the other officer replied, earning a hard yet curious stare from her taller superior. "From what I've heard, these distant 'shinobi countries' are home to large populations of dangerous warriors, hideous creatures, and enormous beasts and alike; a society that is just as well versed in the ways of war as us."

"And… what else?" the Colonel murmured with a raised eyebrow. "Tactics? Weaponry?"

"Underdeveloped and local, sir. They are much like the _Far East_ countries, trained in the disciplines of close combat and martial arts," the lieutenant replied, her expression unchanging. "People who have originated from these lands have even said that _their_ shinobi's combat prowess far exceeds the talent of experienced fighters such as us."

"Pft. I'll be the judge of that," Colonel Corbett scoffed, looking away in disbelief while slipping his right hand into his pocket. He removed his cigarette from his mouth and blew out another ring of smoke. "Nevertheless, if what you say is true, that a great majority of their population is comprised of highly skilled warriors, then it is understandable why the head of _Gato Shipping and Transport_ himself requested our services. He's so concerned about the presence of these 'shinobi' that he even went so far as to buy out a whole battleship, complete with crew, from the royal navy and commission an entire company of soldiers to protect his shipping lanes in… in…"

James Corbett paused in midsentence when his memories left him prematurely. After a few moments of muttering, during which time his mind was unable to recall the more important details of the mission specs, he looked down at his right hand man, "What did he call this country?"

"The _Land of Waves_, sir."

"Right… _Land of Waves_," the Colonel sighed and ran a hand over his face. _"Why did I ever agree to this assignment? I could be going for the heavy-weight championships in Britannia this year…"_

Seeing the man leer behind his palm the lieutenant smiled softly and placed a hand on his shoulder, getting him to look down at her again. "The head of an international corporation asked for the two of us personally to strong arm his forces at this country. After this job is done, you and I won't have to work ever again. We will be able to concentrate on our fighting careers…"

Blinking, the officer considered his companion's reasoning. He responded to it quite well. So well in fact, that he actually spared her a rare smile. But then he returned to his usual, stoic self and shrugged away her grip. "At ease, Lieutenant Fairclough. Just because we are kindred spirits doesn't mean we can break routine."

The woman smirked at him and reassumed her normal standing position, feet spread at shoulder-width and hands behind her back, "Whatever you say, _darling_." The tonnage was sarcastic.

While the colonel was offering his lieutenant a cigarette, he suddenly noticed a strangely dressed person appear from out of the crowds in front of him and paused. The two soldiers looked up to see an individual dressed in outlandish, dark robes marching towards them with a sack tied to an enormous scroll on his back, and a straw hat worn over his head. He also had two swords at his side, which the pair recognized distinctly as katana.

Flipping his lighter shut, the colonel stepped forward and stopped before the shadowy stranger, who also stopped before him at his gesture.

"Passenger?"

While the figure under the odd headwear looked up towards the battleship, James was able to get a good look over of the individual before him. The equally tall man wore dark blue kimono robes and dark grey baggy pants, complete with a red sash. On the front of his kimono written in white was the name _Sengo_. Though his face was mostly hidden by the straw hat, Corbett saw a thin jaw line with matching mouth and a piece of straw wedged between the lips.

He certainly didn't carry much weight, just the swords and his peculiar backpack.

"Sir…?" the colonel inquired again when not receiving an immediate response.

The stranger looked back and smiled. "By any chance, would this vessel happen to be heading towards the _Feudal Countries_ to the West?" His voice was smooth, calm, yet cold in a very indistinctive way. The tone he conveyed literally sent chills down both the battle hardened officers' spines.

"Come again?"

"The shinobi nations…?"

"Shino… oh, right. _Yes_. Yes, of course. This vessel is bound for the _Land of Waves_. We're currently undergoing final boarding preparations," the colonel informed and placed the cigarette back into his mouth.

He gave the odd gentleman a final look over. A once or twice over of his appearance eventually brought him back towards the swords, which Corbett then pointed at lazily. "Have you been through clearance checks with those?"

"Yes, of course," the man replied slyly, turning a bit to emphasize the items in question.

Corbett extended a hand, "Just to be on the safe side, I'll need to inspect them." The officer approached, all the while being watched over by his trusted aid for any suspicious activities. Any sudden movements would trigger immediate action from her.

Of course, there was no hassle made whatsoever by the traveler, who permitted his weapons to be temporarily relieved and examined by the officer, who took great interest in the craftsmanship of the handles and sheaths.

"Impressive artwork," the colonel exclaimed, rubbing a thumb over the engraved images on the scabbard, which he followed up to where the hilt and the ring met. "Gold encrusted?"

"Only the finest," the stranger replied gracefully with a sly smile, "I see that you have a keen eye for weapons?"

"What can I say, I'm a fighter? I can't help being impressed," Corbett smiled up at the man and took the larger of the two swords by the handle, pulling it from its sheath. "Really, it's the first time I've seen a katana up cl-ARGH! Jesus!" The colonel suddenly yelled out in shock and leapt back, waving his stinging hand while at the same time dropping the swords.

Just before the sheathed weapons hit the ground, the stranger's foot swiftly struck out and caught them on the groove of his ankle. With poise, he then flicked them into the air, grabbed them, and carefully placed them at his side once again. Making sure that they weren't damaged and were secured, he then returned his attention back to the colonel gripping his hand, as well as the bewildered female officer immediately standing at his side.

"W-What the hell?" Corbett hissed.

"My apologies." The stranger bowed to them, expressing his utmost sincerity toward the injured one. Noticeably, one of his hands continued to grip the swords at his side, almost protectively. "I'm afraid that my blades are a lot sharper then I had earlier anticipated. It was poor judgment. I should have warned you earlier to handle them with care."

The colonel and the lieutenant looked at the man in bafflement and confusion. He was still unusually calm and uncomfortably polite. They had no idea what it was, but the vibes they were subconsciously receiving from him were making them feel uneasy around him.

Nevertheless, after glancing at one another in a brief, silent word exchange, Corbett then looked back up towards the stranger and waved the man on. "Present your ticket or payment to the officer at the top of the ramp. We'll assign you to your quarters as soon as we depart."

The traveler bowed once more, before turning heel and heading off as directed. While he was still in sight but well out of earshot, Corbett returned to nursing his wounded hand while Fairclough attempted to assess the damages for herself. However, her insistence had her shooed away by her superior.

"S-Sir?"

"I'm fine, Polly. Leave me be," Corbett murmured and pulled a cloth out of his pocket. After wiping away the blood and running the material over the wound several times, he then glared down at his palm to see a scar carved into his flesh. The wound was a minute fresh and blood was still seeping out, but it was nothing some disinfectant, a few bandages and some healing time couldn't fix. "God dammit!"

"D-Did you cut yourself on the blade, sir?" Fairclough asked in concern, quickly looking towards their new passenger currently walking up the ramp and back towards her superior. It was a perplexing situation, but she was certain her partner had not gone about his actions carefully enough. It was _he_ who was at fault. Men were clumsy after all. "I warned you many times before, you know. Don't try to act so rash on your duties and be careful around sharp objects."

"No. I didn't even touch the damn blade! My hand was placed firmly on the handle. I just pulled it out a bit to see if it was genuine, but then I felt a sharp sting across my hand and then… and then…" Corbett, still firmly clutching his wrist, glared down at his open palm. The direction of the scar was slightly angled and based on his acute observational skills, he was certain that he didn't even come close to the sharp end of the sword.

It was ridiculous.

Hissing away the pain and forcefully being treated by Fairclough, who decided his 'bawling' had carried on long enough under its own steam, the colonel then glared up in the direction of the ship's boarding ramp. From where he stood, he was able to see the stranger with the unusual swords check in with the officer up top, and after a moment of negotiations, was permitted access.

Though he was a young soldier who had had plenty of conflicting experiences in his life, the colonel still had this sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach that there was something more about _that_ man. It was far above his knowledge and comprehension of where the individual actually came from, but something was going to go down at their destination, and he could feel it.

This stranger was, by any stretch of the imagination, _beyond_ normal.

XXX

Back on deck, the samurai from parts unknown took his first steps across the bow of the magnificent vessel, while at the same time looking over the crew and passengers walking around him. He was able to make out the presence of tradesmen, mercenaries, families, and people from the shinobi nations who were returning to their place of origin. They were all mixed groups, but the greater majority was military.

After a brief inspection of his surroundings, he then approached the very front end of the battleship. Taking his place at the very apex of the bow where the railings intersected, he focused his eyes towards the entrance of the busy port, beyond the suspension bridge and its horizon, and sighed.

Upon settings his sights on the ocean and the lands he knew were waiting for him thousands of miles away, a sinister grin then spread across his face. This smirk was kept hidden and out of sight of any potential onlookers, for if any person saw it they would immediately be able to recognize the clear signs of bloody, malicious intent drawn from the pits of his very soul.

His sneer perfectly matched the narrowed eyes hidden underneath the shadows of his straw hat.

"_It's been a long time… since I last saw home…"_ He sniffed the air, from which he was able to distinguish the blood that had been drawn by his sword. _"Ahh, how I miss them so, Konohagakure, Kumogakure, Kirigakure… Uzushiogakure… oh… wait a moment…"_

His grin seemed to widen as he recalled the most relieving moments of yesteryear. Of course, how could one forget about those days? It was this knowledge alone that beckoned him back to his place of birth.

"_That's right… I killed all of them…silly me…"_

_**TO BE CONTINUED…**_

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>_**: **__Naruto continues his training. I'm drawing nearer to the graduation date, but bare with me. This is where the story gets interesting._

_I figured that during Naruto's training and looking into particular clan styles he would eventually begin questioning his own origins. This would prompt him to then invest time into asking one of his closest friends about where he came from. Since Yim is his teacher and wouldn't really know about his clan, because she's from a different continent, he would then consult Shiho, being the closest person to his age he would logically approach and because she's helped him out so much already. Iruka and the Third will be next in line for interrogation, but later._

_He also meets Tenten here. Since in first meetings thus far in the series the conversations have been brief, I figured a prompt presentation was suitable. This is where they first meet and he makes his first impact, despite being a clone._

_Naruto is also learning, not just chakra control but chi control (inspired ki training from DBZ), which he will use in conjunction with his taijutsu. (No ridiculous flying or stupid energy beams, that'll just be over the top)_

_There are also a lot of characters making their play here, as I'm still establishing the story. Once again, the characters are historic or cameo, assigned to similar or fictional roles within the story. I'm also putting in more cultural diversity, where the rift within the Naruto world is considerably loosened, allowing characters from different backgrounds and origins to emerge._

_The ones in this chapter are as follows:_

_**Ran Tsukikage** – The main protagonist from the series Carried by the Wind, Ran is a sake-loving ronin who goes 'wherever the wind takes her'. She is a samurai trained in a very unique kenjutsu style where she uses only one hand to wield her sword, her skill of which making her unbeatable and invincible. She's strong, as she will be in my story, and plays an important part in it in the future._

_Note: wherever she goes, I can guarantee that Meow from the same series is not far behind… lol_

_**James J. Corbett**_ – _Also known as James John 'Gentleman Jim' Corbett, was an Irish-American heavy-weight boxing champion, born in September 1st 1866, and is best known for his victory over John L. Sullivan, another heavyweight boxing champion._

_In order to introduce him into the story, I had him pursue a career in the military and has been hired by Gato to strong arm the forces in the Land of Wave (or eloquently, Wave)._

_I think you can predict where this is leading up to…_

_**Polly Fairclough **_– _She was a famous boxer from Britain back in the 19th Century, who was not only versed in boxing but also Greco-Roman wrestling. She holds the distinction of being the first female boxer to fight at London's National Sporting Club, where she challenged men to bouts. She even had an exhibition match against heavyweight champion Jack Johnson in Dublin._

_She's Corbett's partner, since they come from roughly around the same era_

_Both Corbett and Fairclough are HISTORIC characters, while Ran is a CAMEO character_

_The pre-dreadnaught class battleship that is featured is also a historic article, a vessel named **Mikasa**, which used to be a battleship for the Japanese navy and is today a museum ship; the only pre-dreadnaught class battleship still around today. If you want, you can look her up._

_Then there's the established villain responsible for destroying Uzushiogakure. **This** man is famous in Japanese samurai legends, much like Mifune whose name has been used for countless heroic samurai from various other movies, and will become one of the major antagonists of the story_

_Hope you enjoyed this chapter…_


	5. Academy Arc: Beaten to the Punch

**NARUTO**

**The Art of Appropriation**

_Beaten to the Punch_

**That afternoon…**

Yim and several of the clones she was still training stood off to the side and were staring at the original Naruto sitting in front of the training dummy on the other end of the backyard. While the teacher looked significantly concerned for the wellbeing of her student, the clones on the other hand were filled with a mixture of bored, perplexed and blank stares scattered all over the place. After all, training had been postponed for the time being when information from the clone that had gone rogue for the day came back to bite the original in the face.

The young jinchuriki had fallen into a state of shock that had him effectively drop out of his scheduled training for the afternoon. When he explained the situation to Yim a couple of minutes after the realization of what his clone had learned had sunk in, he then moved himself away from his crowd of shadow clones and went to sit next to the training dummy he had been using earlier that morning.

From that point on, he just sat there with his knees brought up to his chest and a grave look on his face. He had been like that for about three hours now.

One of the clones sitting on the grass sighed, "Boss looks pretty down in the dumps."

"Yeah? When did you figure that out?" another shot back. "He's been like that for ages already."

"We can all see him, you insensitive jerk."

"Why are you such an idiot?"

"We're all the same idiot you dumbasses," the clone that had broken the ice first retorted, while at the same time glaring around at the other doppelgangers mouthing off at him for his out of term comment. After batting off the glares he then retrained his sights to the original, now methodically picking grass out of the ground in an effort to distract himself. "What I don't understand is why we're _all_ still here? We're not even training anymore, so what's the point with all this waiting."

"Just give him some time," Yim said, glancing down at the shadow clones next to her. The group she was addressing in particular looked up at her in response. "Even though you may be just copies of the original, you are still the same person. So out of the entire population of this village you guys are the only ones who should understand him the most. I can scarcely imagine what he's going through after hearing that he had lost whatever family he had years before he even knew he had one, but you on the other hand should know exactly what he's going through."

This had the clones pretty much put a clamp on their mouths. Shot down by their teacher's reasoning they went back to dawdling and waiting patiently for their creator to return to the present.

How could they argue from that point of view anyway? After all, Naruto had already been through an unaccountable amount of ordeals in the past; silent treatments, death glares, segregation, loneliness, name-calling, mockery, and mistreatment and neglect. There may have been worse things in the world, but Naruto had taken the brunt of pointblank abuse for his entire life, so much so that he could just about walk through and pick himself up from anything, really. After experiencing all of that, a few hours was ample time for the jinchuriki to get all of his affairs into order and recover from his brush with heartbreaking realization.

Back at the original, the jinchuriki was still sitting and looking down at the grass at his feet. He spent so much time just staring he was able to count the exact number of ants that walked passed him and every single blade of grass that fell within his peripheral vision. He had done just about everything he could while sitting there. He had time to think, he had time to do, but all he did was nothing beyond just being planted there contemplating reality.

No family and no clan. Although he did have both before at some point in his life, he didn't even get the chance to meet either of them. Despite the fact that his clone's little side trip helped him discover that he did have a family a long time ago and that he did come from somewhere, there were still other questions left lingering around in his mind.

Just who were his parents? How was his clan destroyed? Where was Uzushiogakure? Are his parents still alive? Did they love him?

These questions occupied his thoughts throughout most of his meditation.

Though his main response towards this development had been wallowing around in complete misery, his clone did accomplish one other thing above the rest;

…acceptance and renewed determination.

A part of him had already accepted the fact that though he was alone, he now knew that he _did_ have a clan and that he was _their_ legacy. He had expectations to meet, he had lives to live up to, and on top of this, he now had a new goal added to his quest. This acceptance came hand in hand with his determination to be better for his clan, to make an impact on the world for them by becoming the best shinobi he could be.

The book his clone brought back for him would be enough for him to keep on going, for the time being.

Upon bringing himself around to this part of his spiritual journey, the jinchuriki slumped up beside the training dummy looked up towards it. Life returning to his body and energy renewing, he nodded towards the wooden post and rose to his feet.

The crowd behind him became aware of his activities and focused their attention on him as he approached. When he stopped before them, Yim stepped forward and looked down at him, seeing his eyes focused intently on the now and no longer dwindling in the past.

She smiled at him.

"Are you okay, Naruto?"

"I am," the blonde nodded, smirking up at the raven haired woman, "So… are we going to continue this thing or what?" The clones perked up to his words and also rose to their feet, expecting action.

The martial arts master tilted her head, expression softened, "Are you sure you're up for this? It is late… and you've already been through a lot today."

"Konoha wasn't built in a day and neither were its villagers or its leaders," Naruto grinned and gave her the thumbs up, "I'm ready for anything."

Yim smiled. _"__You __are __strong, __Naruto-kun__…"_ Seeing that he was set and though the sun was already setting, she could see that he wanted to make up for lost time. With their chore for tonight established, the woman rounded on the clones filed up behind her. All of them immediately jumped to attention. "Alright then, let us pick up where we left off."

"R-Really?"

"I'm not sure about this…"

"I'm pretty tired."

"Can we sleep?"

"Ha! You guys are wusses!" Naruto grinned at them and nudged passed his teacher, who allowed the original to set his copies into order. The jinchuriki stood before his rough formation with his hands on his hips. "Come on! We're tougher then this! If I'm going to become Hokage some day, then I need all of you to be in the same boat with me. We need to work hard! We need to be strong! I know we're all tired, but I haven't reached my limit yet so let's put our backs into it and keep going."

Yim smiled at her student's attitude towards work. Though at times his policies towards his clones seemed a bit odd and difficult to comprehend, yet they managed to understand him anyway, she still admired the boy's spirit.

"B-But boss…"

"We're worked to the bone. Can't we just call it a night?"

"Please!"

"Pretty please, with a cherry on top? And some chocolate around the middle… with flakes… and strawberries lining the… screw this, I'm going to get a sundae!" A random clone started to part from the crowd in a hurry, but was stopped by one of his other more docile compatriots. "Aww. But I'm hungry!"

A round of empty growls and muffled gurgles came from every individual Naruto present, including the original. All of them blushed brightly in embarrassment and rubbed their complaining stomachs, with the enclave looking towards their creator with restless and discontented expressions drawn.

"We're done."

"Can you please dispel us, boss?"

Now how could you ignore that? There were puppy-dog looks and everything. Nobody could beat a hungry stomach. It was at the top of Naruto's list; never under any circumstances train without having a decent meal first or an empty stomach. Since he had burned up pretty much everything in his gut over the entire course of the day's proceedings thus far, he didn't really have much of a choice.

With a heavy sigh and a smile to match, Naruto formed the jutsu specific, cross-fingered hand seal to dispel his technique. Before he did so, he gave each of his clones a well earned, pat-on-the-back, final word, "Thanks for everything you guys. Great job. We wouldn't have gotten this far if it weren't for all of you…"

"_**Thanks, **__**boss!**__**"**_ The shadow clones replied. They were happy they were being appreciated for all their efforts. To them, it meant that the original actually cared about them.

Though mere shadows of their creator they still technically counted as existing individuals.

With that said, they all disappeared into clouds of white. The smoke filled the air and lifted moments later, leaving Yim and the original standing where they were with smiles on their faces. The wind that caressed the scenery carried the wisps of smoke left behind in the wake of the clones away while also uplifting a few loose leaves from the trees and careening them through the air.

Stretching his arms out and rotating them, the jinchuriki turned to face his teacher, "Guess we'd better ge-" Naruto's eyes suddenly rolled into the back of his head and all he saw from then on was black.

The boy's body capsized without warning and was about to hit the ground when Yim swiftly swooped in and caught him at the last moment, with little effort exerted behind her movements. She held his limp form a few feet off of the ground momentarily, before picking him up and carrying him back up into his apartment.

The shock of all the clones dispelling at once really took it out on him, particularly after such a long day.

"_This __is __the __hardest __I__'__ve __ever __seen __him __work,__"_ Yim thought, pushing the backdoor open and marching into his bedroom. Despite it still being significantly darker inside she was able to navigate through his hallway with ease, knowing exactly where she needed to go. When they arrived at the bedroom she turned on the lights, carefully laid him out on his bed and with tender care only a mother could give, tucked him in.

On her way out, she paused at the doorway and smiled over her shoulder. _"__Don__'__t __worry, __Naruto__… __there__'__s __always __tomorrow__…"_

She quietly switched off the lights and vacated his room completely, leaving him to dream…

XXX

**Two days later…**

Naruto gritted his teeth and pursued his opponent across his lawn, keeping his steps and timing at short intervals. He switched from straight out attack to snake like movement as he struck out with punches and kicks strictly made for the style he was learning.

However, Yim wasn't making it easy for him by being a stationary target. She had suddenly changed tactics to up the training regime by having him attempt to hit an opponent faster and more nimbler then he was. She was currently backing away step by step, evading all of his strikes with little effort. Every so often she would maneuver around and retreat in a different direction, throwing him off with her narrow yet fluent movements.

It had been hard going for some time. While Yim hadn't even changed from the clothes Naruto had first met her in, Naruto had gone through several sets. Most of them were thrown into the wash from all the scuffs and dirt they picked up while some, mostly pants and shirts, were thrown out altogether. Presently, he was dressed in just his orange pants, with no foot wear and was top naked.

You could literally see the sweat flying off of him with every attack he executed.

While all this was happening about two dozen clones were sitting on the sidelines watching him train and work it out. They were keeping careful watch of his movements and made sure to mentally record all notable errors in order to correct him on technique. After all, it wasn't the strength and speed they were concerned with at the moment, but form and implementation.

If a shinobi could execute perfect technique every time in any form of attack even jutsu, they could overwhelm an opponent superior to them in both strength and speed.

Yim frowned as she observed his footwork and approach. He was spot on with most of his attacks thus far, but he was often falling into desperate, instinctual based attacks and routinely lost focus. She pointed this out on his twentieth over-flourishing of a kick.

"Do not overexert your movements," Yim explained, stepping back from a series of punches, and stepping to the side to avoid a straight kick, which struck out like a bolt but was a confirmed miss. "Remember, quick and precise. Strike for the vital areas."

Naruto slid to a stop, kicking up grass. The next thing Yim became aware of was the closing distance between herself and her target when the boy's speed suddenly jumped in an attempted lunge. He kept his form steadfast and narrow, much to her surprise and delight.

He was catching on quick.

The blonde attacked with another set of punches followed by a kick. Yim blocked them easily, striking out with a punch of her own. Her fist was quickly redirected downwards by a well aimed block from her opponent, leaving both their right sides exposed when they crossed each other's lines and came into close proximity with one another. Naruto's right shoulder met Yim's right side.

"Take advantage of openings," Yim pointed, to which Naruto acted on before she could finish.

The jinchuriki ducked a return elbow from Yim and seeing her center open up to him he struck out with an elbow and forearm, shoving her back. This maneuver took advantage with her directional energy and sent her staggering backwards, but she was able to maintain control of the situation, throwing both hands forward and steadying her retreat.

When Naruto was about to continue pursuit, Yim smiled and threw a swift roundhouse kick. However, she had way too much distance between them, about a few meters, so the jinchuriki was confident he was out of range.

This confidence was then shattered when his trainer's shoe flew off of her foot and hit him smack-bang in the face. The boy let out a yelp as he was sent tumbling over backwards.

He then found himself sprawled out on the floor, a shoe print on his face and glaring up at the sky.

Just as Naruto was about to get back up to reengage his opponent, while he was rising into a seated position the jinchuriki suddenly became aware of the raven haired woman crouched over him, knee hovering about where his breast bone was and her fist mere millimeters from his nose.

He blinked in shock, having not counted on her to move so quickly and at such a distance. Hell, even weeks after he had started training with her he had yet been able to keep pace with her even once.

"Expect the unexpected. In an open grounds fight your opponent can use anything as a weapon against you," Yim murmured, keeping her fist in place just in front of him. "Analyze your surroundings, take advantage of what is already provided for you and turn it against your opponent."

The blonde blinked, whereas the clones on the sidelines awed at the results of the spar. Hilariously enough, a few of them even took up chuckling and silent jeering in the instance of their user's defeat, earning an annoyed glare from the original lying belly up on the lawn.

Naruto then looked back to see his teacher smiling at him.

"Remember, a throwing knife can be supplemented with a rock, a pebble or a stick, just as much as a sword, shield or spear," the martial artist exclaimed.

Well, at least she wasn't disappointed at his failings.

"Uh-huh…"

XXX

**Three days later…**

"Great work!" Iruka exclaimed, watching as the final target dummy was peppered by shuriken seconds after it popped out from its hiding place. The red circles in the chest were hit dead on and even the head took a brunt of the punishment. In the end, not a single projectile's trajectory was off.

The scarred Chunin smiled and marked off the last target and its score, before looking back to see Naruto slide out of his stance with a smirk on his face while adjusting his goggles in the process.

The entire class was out on the _Shuriken __Range_, which was right next to the running track on the academy grounds. While the group of students and their teachers occupied one end of the field, down the range of about a hundred yards or so there was a multitude of spring-loaded mechanisms with targets attached, hidden behind all sorts of cover. These gimmicks included haystacks, training logs, trees, bushes, walls and railings. All of these devices and their obstructions were scattered, with the dummies used to test the practitioners set to jump out at random intervals.

Naruto looked proudly at his work, the last 'victim', which had been cut down by iron. Though it wasn't as refined as he had hoped it was still impressive.

The extra-curriculum lessons with Yim were really showing their results in the practical exams.

"Nice going, Naruto. No stink gas, no silly string and no exploding paints. You did excellent!" Iruka stated, signing off on his name and stepping towards the jinchuriki, who he then good-naturedly jabbed in the shoulder and whispered to, "I told you hard work pays off."

"You don't need to tell me that again, Iruka-sensei," Naruto grinned in return.

The man shrugged while looking away with a half-smile, "Well…. I figured after about seventy two times of on-and-off detention and lectures would eventually get that talent streak of yours to kick in. I was about to suggest hypnosis, but the Yamanaka discontinued that particular program two years ago." Iruka then patted him on the back, "Go on. Rejoin your classmates."

The blonde did as he was told and strolled on back into the crowd, hands in his pockets.

He figured his good results had been all thanks and only due to his extended lessons and activities with Yim as his overseer. However, even if he hadn't received any extra training in the first place he had always been, in reality, good at throwing weapons. It was all a matter of concentration and sitting still, which turned out to be his main problem in the first place. Normally during Shurikenjutsu practice he would try to pull a fast one over his teacher or copy Sasuke's mannerisms as a way of mocking the bastard. However, whenever he found time to get some hard practice in on his own, he actually got the hang of throwing knives but was too caught up in his ongoing social debacle to fully apply it during the testing periods.

At least now, he had found a steady balance between both.

Naruto left the firing position with a smile on his face and a spring in his step. He couldn't wait till the next exams. They were starting to get exciting.

While on his way back, aside from the pats on the back and congratulations handed to him from fellow students Choji, Shikamaru and a nameless few, he stopped in mid-stride when he saw Sakura and Ino sharing an animated discussion on their side of the audience.

Readjusting his collar, though it didn't really do much to improve his overall look, he approached the girls with a grin and a wave, "Yo, Sakura-chan!"

The pink haired girl he had admired for years turned to the person addressing her and saw it to be the class troublemaker. Despite her negative outlook of his immaturity that she had had the pleasure of experiencing in small and frequent doses, she nevertheless returned his smile with one of her own, but it didn't look too convincing, "Hey, Naruto."

Her reply didn't express great enthusiasm either. Too bad he was too thick to pick up on that.

"What did you think of this part of the exams? Pretty easy, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess. I mean, you don't even have to try to get a pass in this one," Sakura replied with an uneasy shrug. The jinchuriki chuckled sheepishly and put his hands behind his head in his characteristic manner.

"Really? Well, I bet it was _way_ easy for you. You looked so cool out there."

"Cool?"

"Yeah. Yeah. The way you stood out there all silent like and just threw the shuriken at the targets when they jumped out at you!" He attempted to illustrate his descriptions by mimicking poses from his classmate's previous performance. He pulled this off in a very colorful way, "You weren't put-off or anything. That was awesome when you caught the sucker between the eyes! Hey! I bet when you get out there, enemy ninja will be caught dead the moment you spot them."

"You know… it's not going to be that simple out in the real world, Naruto," Sakura replied with a raised eyebrow, finding his displays odd and his words cheap. "If you're not careful, smart or quick enough, _you_ could get killed… or worse… especially if you're going to go out wearing bright orange in the middle of an ambient night setting." The girl's eyes moved to his flashy jumpsuit adorned proudly over his shoulders.

"Aww, that's not fair, Sakura-chan," Naruto grinned. He shook off her ill-spoken comment towards his outfit and opted to swaying on the spot, keeping his hands fixed firmly behind his head in an effort to keep his cool. "There's no way I'll let enemy ninja catch me out in the open like that. I won't give them the chance."

Ino shook her head at the boy's attempted conversation with his crush and her rival, and rubbed the side of her head in an exasperated manner. _"__Ugh. __Instead __of __going __for __an __immediate __crash-and-burn __instance, __he__'__s __going __for __the __old ,__pouring __flammable __oil __over __his __head __and __letting __it __soak __for __a __while __approach__…"_

Shikamaru, who was conveniently standing close by to the trio, also picked up on his friend's choice of words.

It was pretty painful to listen. The Nara visibly sighed at Naruto's cheesy praises of Sakura's abilities and added backtracking of his own skills during the talking period. How could you improve on garbage like that? Knowledge of his past experiences didn't exactly help him connect with the girl.

At this point, Sakura looked more inclined on ending communications with the jinchuriki than anything else; he just didn't notice her expression yet.

"So… uhh… are you looking forward to the next exams, Sakura-chan?"

"Maybe… I don't know." She gave him a small frown. "Don't tell me you are, Naruto. The next part is taijutsu and you've failed all the tests involved with it every time you stepped out onto that ring. Most of it was because you messed about and didn't follow-through with the techniques required. It's all textbook stuff, something I doubt you'd really know." The girl sighed exasperatedly and looked away again, "How do you expect to graduate at the end of this if you've never, ever taken Iruka-sensei's classes seriously?"

"This time I am, Sakura-chan. Believe it!" Naruto smiled at her, leaning in sharply with a confident look on his face. "I've been working _really_ hard on some new and awesome fighting moves at home. This time I'm bound to come out on top."

"Yeah, right," Ino smirked at him, folding her arms and giving the jinchuriki a disbelieving look. "A person who's shown no prospects in any field whatsoever can't just go from failure to success just like _that_." She snapped her fingers loudly, "If anything Naruto, you've definitely showed us that a _dunce_ will always be a _dunce_ no matter what they do, what with all of your 'successes' in past tests over the entire year so far."

"Well, what about now?" Naruto looked between the two girls quickly before pointing towards the range behind him, where the next student from the class was now going up to have his shot. "You saw what I did out there, didn't you? I hit every single target dead on without missing even once. Is that the work of a failure, Ino?"

"I guess not…" she shrugged.

The Yamanaka didn't want to openly admit at this point that she found it pretty surprising that the once bottom of the list, class slacker had done so well on his exam and pretty much passed it with an outstanding grade. She buried her outward shock away from the surface of the world but couldn't suppress the obvious fact that Naruto was performing abilities a million times better than what he had been doing months before.

"_He __got __top __marks __on __the __Kawarimi __Exam, __the __Henge __Exam __and __now __the __Shurikenjutsu __Exam.__" _She spared a moment of contemplation to this realization. "_Hmm__… __in __contrast __to __all __those __other __times __he __took __similar __tests__… __I__'__d __say __he__'__s __doing __phenomenally __well. __I __mean__… __am __I __talking __to __the __real __Naruto __or __is __this __an __imposter?__Am __I __missing __something __here? __What__'__s __going __on __with __him?__"_

Naruto smiled when he saw Ino give him an uncertain look and nodded. "That's what I thought." Bringing his arm back around, he rubbed the side of his neck and redirected his attention toward the pink haired student he had been associating with earlier. "So, Sakura-chan. I was just wondering… if… maybe-"

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura suddenly shouted, bringing Ino back to her senses and cutting off Naruto in mid-question.

The Yamanaka glanced around to see her rival waving towards the famed, last of the Uchiha, who had stepped out of the crowd and onto the range for everyone to see.

This left Naruto staring frozen at both girls' shoulders with a look expressing a state of verbal address, before he was so rudely shut down.

"Good luck, Sasuke-kun! I know you can do it!"

Not wanting to be thrown out of the limelight so easily, Ino also joined her rival at her side and began calling out to the Uchiha at a much louder volume in an attempt to outdo the others. This prompted the rest of the girls in the class to follow their example, much to the chagrin of the boys.

"Go Sasuke!"

"Yay, Sasuke-kun!"

"You're the best, Sasuke!"

This put Naruto pretty much on hold by both girls prematurely, ending with him simply staring at their backs with a disappointed look on his face.

A small raincloud flew in from off-screen, suspended itself over his head and began pouring down on the emotionally flattened jinchuriki. At the same time, his head dipped over in an incredibly animated representation of rejection.

Shikamaru noticed the boy's 'plight' and, for the first time ever, deciding to hurdle his laziness for the betterment of the world, approached his friend. The Nara hesitated for a moment about stepping too close to the blonde because he was already getting wet from the splash-back of the proverbial rain, but pressed on no less.

Clearing his throat, the sloth-like, pineapple haired student wrapped an arm around his friend's shoulders and rotated him on the spot so that they both had their backs turned to the two-girl cheerleading squad now ogling Sasuke's magnificence for just standing where he was.

If they could see the Uchiha's face right at that very moment, everyone would be able to make out an unhealthy vein mark pulsating on his forehead.

The screaming was incredibly irritating, especially since the entire female body of the class was calling out to him at once. This prompted Shikamaru to put some distance between them and the promoters of the uproar.

"Hey, you want some advice, Naruto?" Shikamaru asked, bracing his friend tightly in his best effort to console him.

"Hn?"

"Well, even if you say no I'm still gonna tell yah. Otherwise you'll just end up in an early grave and I won't be able to live with myself knowing that I could have prevented that," the Nara stated in his normal, boring tone. Letting out a sigh, he gestured up towards the sky. "Naruto… guys like us, in the face of all the girls, the hunks and every so-called genius out there in the big, wide world, we are simply designed to start out _uncool_."

"What?"

"Oh… it's true," Shikamaru sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. He also brushed at his shoulder, since it was still getting wet. "Bottom of the barrel, back of the fridge, or to put it more eloquently for you, that lousy chocolate you often find in gift baskets that people don't care or simply forget about. It's just the way the world works sometimes."

"Oh. Are we that bad?"

"It's true," Choji exclaimed, also walking over to his pals once they were out of earshot of the girls. "That chocolate is just plain awful, not to mention the cheese and the discount vouchers you also get with the fruit."

Naruto looked over at his other companion with a blank look on his face, "That's not what I'm confused about, Choji. What I want to know is; why are _we_ the uncool guys?"

"Look, I'm not one to pry into a girl's personal life or her preferences, and to be brutally honest with you; I don't really care and can't be bothered finding out for myself." Shikamaru patted him on the chest, which was at this point drenched from staying underneath the cloud still hovering overhead. "So be grateful that I'm taking time out of my meditation hours to help you out of this little pickle."

"Gee, thanks. That makes me feel loads better," Naruto replied sarcastically, the rain increasing its downpour. Choji backed away a bit, not wanting to get his chips wet. The blonde then elbowed Shikamaru in the stomach, making him wince. "You just want to go back to sleep you ass!"

"Whatever. The point is, even though I don't understand girls as much as the next guy and their choices made in life, for some otherworldly reason, girls like guys who are complete dicks."

"…?"

"It's _exactly_ what I mean. Take a look at Sasuke," Shikamaru gestured towards the raven haired boy on the range, who had just opened up on the spring-loaded targets with volleys upon volleys of shuriken and kunai. At the same time, he ignored the girls calling out to him from the sidelines even in between the breaks he took. "He doesn't even flinch at the girls throwing themselves at his feet, for most of the day he's an arrogant prick, and his idea of having a good time is spending his daylight hours brooding and going off on long walks around the village. Now, for me, simply responding to somebody's approaches is a big effort in itself, so I can respect him for that…"

"Not helping…"

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. But listen to this: the harder you try talking to girls the way you are now, the more likely it is that they will either completely ignore everything you say to them or will just outright laugh at you in the face." Shikamaru then stepped away from Naruto far enough to watch the cloud overhead dissipate. Slipping his hands into his pockets the young Nara then started to wander off. "Take my advice or leave it. It's too troublesome for me to think about it."

Naruto shook his head after his classmate and shrugged off the results of his emotional downpour. Though his friend took up a rather blunt and laidback approach in his lecture, he still made a lot of sense and gave him something concrete to think about on top of the other material he had on hand.

I mean, what harm was there from listening? Shikamaru always had some kind of answer for anything, really.

But it still begged the question; how could somebody who sleeps most of the day find the time to think of such things? To be honest, the guy didn't seem like the type.

Letting out a sigh, the jinchuriki then turned towards Choji who was still standing vigilantly at his side and munching on a bag of corn chips. Sensing somebody staring at him, the Akimichi looked over at his blonde classmate and after a brief exchange of blinks, held the open bag out to him.

"Corn bite?"

The blonde stared for a moment, before exhaling in resignation and reached into the foils kindly offered to him, "Thanks."

"_Oh __well__…"_ Naruto groaned in his mind. _"__I __think __it__'__s __safe __for __me __to __say __at __this __point __in __time __that __I __have __a __rotten __luck __with __girls.__"_

You had to be pretty bold to admit to something like that. Come on! After being punched, slapped, yelled at, scolded and ignored more times than he could even remember by every female student in his class, except Hinata, for whatever 'crime' he was accused of committing, it sort of put evidence to his mentally deduced fact.

Would his luck with girls ever change…?

XXX

**Two days later…**

Yet again, the routine of being grounded endlessly continued.

Naruto dodged left and right, avoiding various punches from his opponent who threw them towards him in different patterns and at different intervals. She often feigned attacks to get her point of reflex action, timing and telegraphing across to him, but so far he was admittedly doing well. Still sweating bullets and still feeling like shit after getting more than a few dozen sandals to the face, the blonde ducked, dodged, and moved on the spot. He restrained himself from wasting energy by overly exhausting his movements or making them too noticeable. It was a method he needed to occur instinctively to him.

That was why he was working himself as best as he could.

Yim punched repeatedly, keeping her speed set at average so as to not overstrain the boy. She was impressed he was able to keep this up for upwards of an hour now, even after getting knocked about and thrown off his feet over a hundred times already.

One thing she really liked about this kid is that he didn't give up without a fight.

While she worked with the original personally, a dozen clones were positioned on a greater portion of the lawn sparring with one another, practicing grappling and blocking techniques. Of course, attacks came hand in hand with the parries therefore there was a steady balance of attacks and defenses being practiced. Furthermore, while about half a dozen were assigned a corner to practice manipulating and controlling their chi once they had managed to draw it out, another squad of copies was set in another corner, going through the steps and was shadow sparring, so to speak.

To put it into perspective, the entire block was filled with the sounds of random yelling and simultaneous shouting coming from group-Naruto. It was a very strange series of noises not natural to a particular neighborhood or to people passing by the premises.

Naruto grunted as he sped up his movements, his eyes barely enabling him to follow his opponent's actions. Yet he was able to accurately assess what the next punch was going to be. Reflexes increased in order to keep up with new patterns of attack, as well as the interval between and timing during those that were executed.

Yim kept up the pace; increasing it drastically after a few more minutes, "Use only your upper body to dodge." She focused chain punches, the blur of movement being matched by Naruto's own. His increased speed had the woman smile that he had finally gotten it down and by the time she switched to hooks and elbows, he was still on his feet. After at least fifty times, he was finally able to dodge her chain punch combo effectively. "Don't think about anything else!"

The jinchuriki ducked and dodged, nodding his head in doing so, switching to left and right maneuvers when random straight and upper cut attacks came his way. He opted changing his dodging techniques so that he would be prepared for later combat.

However, just as he was beginning to avoid a new pattern of straight line strikes, Yim's attacks suddenly took another leap forward.

"_I __see __it, __trickster!__"_ Naruto grinned.

He anticipated the roundhouse kick, ducking sharply and preparing for a direct thrust, but a split second later Yim followed-through with a leg sweeping technique; _Dragon __Sweeps __Tail_. The lightning fast kick literally toppled the blonde and in the blink of an eye he was on his back… _again_, glaring at the now orange sky with an annoyed grimace on his face.

Yim rose to her feet gracefully and glanced down at the disgruntled looking youngster with irritated lines under his eyes.

"Also, _adapt_ to your circumstances…"

Naruto's right eye twitched.

"_Should have seen that one coming…"_

XXX

**Three days later…**

If dodging hits and sparring with your teacher who was several-hundred leagues ahead of you was tough enough from one point of view, sweating bullets while doing a single-handed hand stand against your backyard tree, while balancing a jug of milk on your foot was even tougher.

The original Naruto was attempting to incorporate varying degrees of balance into his body in order to improve his form's structural integrity under his teacher's guidance. While he could definitely handle tight rope activities and balancing the table spoon with an egg on the end between his teeth, as well as a stack of books on top of his head in a meditative position, those were mere kindergarten tasks compared to what Yim was putting him through.

The woman was currently keeping a close watch over him, at the same time his clones were proceeding on with the chi meditation and chakra control exercises around the more spacious areas of the backyard. While one or two were practicing their combat techniques near the central log, their efforts were to a far lesser extent in contrast to a lot of the other days.

To say the jinchuriki of the Kyuubi was under a lot of stress at this point in time was an understatement. He had been in this exact same position for over two hours while intravenously changing hands and moving the jug of milk from one foot to the other.

"Concentrate your chi to your head, it will create the illusion in your body that you are standing upright," Yim instructed, seeing the boy's face slowly turning red again from all the blood rushing in the wrong direction. She didn't want him to pass out, which was why she taught him the basics of chi grasping and manipulating beforehand in order for him to avoid health problems in these exercises.

The chi redirection through the body helped create a gravity shift at the person's core and rotate it, meaning that the blood would be pumped regularly and be evenly distributed throughout.

That still didn't mean he didn't have to work excruciatingly hard to simulate and maintain this effect. It was ridiculously exhausting.

"Five more minutes…"

"YOU SAID THAT HALF AN HOUR AGO!" the boy screamed.

XXX

**Three days later…**

"Alright… and… TIME!" Iruka shouted to the class, who all looked up from their exam papers to see the man begin his approach of their working spaces. "Pencils down! Do not speak and do not move from your stations until I have collected every single sheet."

Doing as instructed, the students sat idly at their seats and did whatever they could to pass the next few minutes. Students like Ino checked their nails while Sakura decided to give her answers a quick go over before the time came to hand it in. Then on the other end of the spectrum, those guys that couldn't be bothered just laid back, napped or did whatever they could to distract themselves from the present, some of them wearing expression that indicated that they were not looking forward to the results.

In spite of all the practice exams and tests they had taken in the past, _this_ one was different, just as all the others had been. No question was formulated in the same way and no answer would be exactly the same. It was all designed to trick them and to encourage them to look back further then they had ever before. Some had stressed, others flew through, but all in all it came down to one thing.

This exam would determine the level that they would accomplish in the future as shinobi of Konohagakure.

Well, that was what Iruka said. He also said this…

Preparation was preparation, regardless of the method used, so to put it directly every individual student had readied themselves for the day in whatever way they could. Some studied, some trained, and some procrastinated until the very last moment. But then out of all those classroom regulars there were several others who stood out from the rest of them and their instructor could tell which of those were from the expressions written on their faces.

Passing by Ami and collecting her sheet along the way, Iruka suddenly paused when he noticed one of his other more lax students lying with their head out across their desk and completely out of it. Shockingly enough, it wasn't Shikamaru this time.

Naruto, middle row, middle column, directly in the center of the classroom as per his usual routine, had nodded off sometime before the test's conclusion. Dressed in his casuals with his goggles slapped lopsided over his forehead, he was snoring away loudly on top of his exam sheet with a pencil up his nose.

"Oooh… hey… that's (snore) my ramen… stupid monkey… falling… flying pink elepha-CATS… give it back!" Most of the words coming out were mere mumbles with slight, yet very noticeable gaps in his speech patterns. His random shout at the end about felines stealing his food made the students sitting next to him jump in their seats.

Iruka sighed and tried to pull the exam paper out from under him, but found that he couldn't. The boy was lying directly on top of it with his entire upper-body weight keeping it pinned, unrelenting even in an unconscious state.

"_That __is __so __not __a __good __look __for __you.__"_ The Chunin grumbled under his breath and poked the boy in the head to rouse him from his slumber, "Naruto…"

The jinchuriki let out a surprised yelp and leapt to his feet out of pure reflex, immediately dropping into a fighting stance and facing his surprised teacher eye-to-fist. In his shock at being so rudely awoken, the blonde had unintentionally jumped up on top of his table for everyone in the class to see him.

"ROUND FIFTY, YIM-CHAN! COME ON!" Naruto shouted, his tired eyes darting around wildly in paranoia.

With the pencil up his nose and bulging eyes to match, he looked pretty insane.

It took a while for reality to sink in, but after a few seconds of just staring off into silence Naruto eventually realized where he was, what he was standing on and what he was doing. The jinchuriki shimmied out of a state of confrontation, blinked once and dropped his arms, keeping his legs spread in a horse-riding stance.

"Oh… I'm… _not_ at home?" Naruto murmured, seeing his academy instructor give him a head shake and a half smile of amusement, while everybody else was looking at him oddly. The boy chuckled and pointed down at his feet awkwardly. "Desk?"

"Get down, Naruto," Iruka exclaimed, watching the boy hop to the floor and drop exhaustedly into his seat. Seeing the paper free from under him the Chunin picked it up, but let out a groan a second later when he slipped the paper into the pile he had gathered so far.

"Ugh?" Looking at his hand he saw a webbing of saliva between his fingers.

Unfortunately for him, unlike Shikamaru, Naruto drooled in his sleep.

"Finished okay, did we?" Iruka asked while wiping his hand against his vest and looking at the slightly smudged ink marks on his test sheet made from the pool the boy had formed.

The blonde responded with a yawn and a lazy wave of a hand.

"Yeah, yeah…ju…just fine." Not interested in a prolonged conversation, Naruto quickly went back to sleep. It was the final written aspect of the exam period anyway, so why did he give so much crud over it? The whole thing seemed pretty easy to him, and he figured his early completion had been mostly due to all of the reading and rereading he'd been doing with his clones in bulk.

Regardless of the possibilities leading up to it, it was over.

There were other more vital areas he needed to devote his time towards, such as his clone techniques.

But for now, all he needed was rest. He'd been quite literally driving himself up the wall for the past couple of weeks so his body was screaming at him to hit the hay. He was beat.

Iruka shrugged when he saw his student doze off again and continued on marching, leaving the jinchuriki to his own devices.

Ami frowned at the boy next to her when he resumed snoring, which kind of depreciated the value of her surrounding environment.

At least he took the pencil out of his nose.

"Idiot, why don't you take these final exams more seriously? You'll never become a great shinobi if you don't concentrate on your studies." When all she got was a low mumble and another snore in response, she frowned and looked away.

In all honesty, she didn't really feel like putting up much of a bother towards his insolence. She didn't want to for a whole lot of reasons, the most prominent being that the written exam also wore her out quite a bit, _"__Why __do __I __even __bother? __The __dumbass __doesn__'__t __listen __to __anything __anyone __tells __him __anyway__…"_

Why with all the doubt? Everyone was tired. Sakura, Choji and others with the same brain setup were beat from sitting through an hour long exam. Naruto was 'dead' for a totally different reason.

XXX

**Four days later…**

"Ha!"

"Again."

"Ha!"

"Again."

"HA!"

"Again!"

"HAAA!"

"Yelling louder will not increase the potency of your _Long __Fist __Technique_," Yim shook her head at Naruto's attempts to try and produce a chi wave using a double palm strike. The idea she was trying to stick into his head was the ability to project energy outwardly from his body to take down opponents from a distance or to disrupt his attacker's advances.

Unlike chakra based techniques, the whole concept was administrated differently. It required no hands seals, no complete concentration when mastered, and certainly did not project itself as anything other then a pressure surge through the air. It was completely invisible. The only way chi waves would become visible is if dust or debris kicked up into the air to form a cloud indicating the path of the technique, or the end, impact point which would take the form of surface damage.

Right now, Naruto was practicing using what Yim called the _Long __Fist __Technique_, which was an attack that required the user to project energy from his or her palms to widen and extend their striking distance (similar to Frog Kata). The force of the attack is increased by the amount of chi the user is able to project depending on their level of strength and experience.

All his chi controlling exercises and training had led him up to this moment and because he had been progressing at such a high rate, Yim figured he was ready for the next stage.

Unfortunately, in spite of all of his successes to this point the distance he was able to cover with the technique was barely under a couple of feet, not to mention the attack wasn't that strong at all. It was more like a gentle breeze then anything else.

Naruto's eye twitched when he saw the chi disrupt the atmosphere in front of his fist but then disperse in a gentle gust. Yim, who was standing beside him, clapped lightly at his accomplishment.

"Well done. You managed to get a few inches further," she giggled. The jinchuriki could tell that she made that comment out of pity and fumed inwardly.

"What am I doing wrong?" Naruto growled and looked at his hands. He clenched his fists repeatedly and glanced over at his mentor. "This is stupid. I can't get it far enough to do any damage let alone do anything remotely useful!" His eyes trailed back to the training log sitting about fifteen meters away.

He was working to get the distance covered with the appropriate amount of power but the concept seemed impossible. It felt more like it was sitting a hundred meters away!

"You're not relaxed. Chi manipulation isn't something that you can force. It's about taking _control_ of your energy through a state of focus and serenity, and allowing it to _extend_ beyond the scope of your body," Yim explained, raising her hand and producing the yellow orb of energy Naruto had seen previously. It hovered above her palm and flickered brightly, unwavering in its state. "Step one: feel the pull of your chi from your core. Step two: draw on it. Step Three: gather it at the section of your body you wish to produce it. Step four: release it. Remember, in this instance your chi is an extension of your hands. Allow that energy to flow freely with the movement of your body."

Willing the energy orb to disperse, Yim took a stance and turned to face a boulder sitting at the other end of the garden behind her; directly through the middle of the class of clones currently practicing their taijutsu techniques. Naruto watched with great interest as his teacher assumed a fighting form he had never seen her use before; index and middle fingers extended while her others were cuffed, using pointed hand positions in a wide yet well balanced stance. It didn't resemble any style he had seen before from his nation, but it was obviously derivative of her country's martial arts.

Breathing normally, Yim stepped forward and with a serious of fluent, snake like movements, let out a shout and threw a left finger strike. There was a 'thump' like sound as if air was sharply imploding on itself before the boulder at the end of the garden quite literally exploded into a shower of rock. The clones standing around were pelted by the debris and they ducked for cover, a couple of them that were in close proximity dispelling from the damage.

When the swift 'bang' and explosion display ended a split second later, Yim breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to her student. She saw the boy gawking at her, but disregarded it and simply placed her hands together normally as if having not exerted much effort whatsoever. This was fact after all, a testament of her true abilities.

"That was an extension of the armor piercer technique. With my level of skill I can use it to extend my range indefinitely," the woman stated with her hands being moved and placed behind her. "It is not a traditional technique associated with my style of kung fu, but it comes useful with my vital point method of attack." She nodded to him when she saw him acknowledge her wisdom with his own, "It's the exact same principle. Once you've developed significant control over your chi you will be able to perform ranged strikes with your martial arts. However, I recommend you use it only sparingly as it will wear you out quickly, even for somebody with enormous stamina such as yourself."

Absorbing what information he was given, Naruto nodded and assumed his stance used for the execution of the technique. Bringing both hands around to his side, he cupped them and relaxed, inspiration from his master's demonstration leading him along the steps one by one. He allowed his mind to be calm of all thoughts and focused on the present, allowing him to tap into the chi within the center of his body.

Feeling the pull, Naruto aimed for the log and followed-through with the process as fluently as he could. A mass of pressure built up within his palms and, once he had gathered the necessary amount of energy, thrust both hands forward in a double-palm strike, unleashing his chi wave. The attack kicked up dust and easily covered the ground it was meant to in the blink of an eye, before hitting the log with a loud 'crack'.

Its surface splintered with a massive dent forming in its side, the force behind the invisible blast of energy sending the log careening through the air. Moments upon its launch, it hit the ground with a dull thud, completing the process.

Yim smiled.

Upon witnessing the conclusion of her student's attack she applauded him for real this time, preparing to verbally congratulate him on a job-well-done until she saw the state he was in at the end of it. The jinchuriki was hunched over, panting and sweating, like he had just finished a full-on sprint across the village.

Wiping his brow, Naruto straightened up and looked towards his teacher with a weak grin, seeing her… ugh… three of her, staring back at him, "I… I did it!"

His attempts to convey his coolness were overshadowed by his trembling knees and labored breathing.

Yim approached him. "Excellent. Excellent. Excellent," she exclaimed, placing a hand on his shoulder and watching as he regained control over his breathing. This was something she would have to fix through breathing exercises to help him maintain a high level of output throughout the entire duration of a fight. However, that could wait for another day.

"Manipulating chakra is a lot different to manipulating chi, isn't it? If I understand correctly, your chakra is based on physical and spiritual energies confined within a circulatory system inside of the body that is invisible to the human eye, and can only be excreted at certain points or nodes that you call the tenketsu," Yim explained, breaking down the concepts she had learned from her months of travel as well as from her time spent with Naruto.

This knowledge was incredibly useful when it came to teaching him the material necessary for him to understand what he was learning.

"Chi on the other hand is embodied life and potential energy, something my people have come to understand. Like chakra, it also courses through the body but along a different set of pathways; a separate system that creates balance. The best way to describe this structure is like having one circulatory system on top of the other. They both exist in nature as separate entities and though their manifested forms look different from one another, the two of them together create harmony, much like the yin and yang concept."

Naruto blinked at her, "Oh… okay…"

"Chakra is selective. Chi is indiscriminate. Nevertheless, the two are just as easy to use at taking and giving life. You're not used to manipulating chi because you've had more experience at controlling a singular entity, which is the ability to influence chakra. More practice and physical exercise is needed for you to increase your chi capacity in the same sense you can use it to increase your chakra capacity. It takes years to hone your abilities to a balanced point. But with _your_ capabilities and at the rate you're progressing at, you should be able to use chi techniques as if they were as natural as breathing within a few months."

Yim was pretty sure he was too tired to be listening any further than that. However, he'd surprised her a lot so far.

In any case, he looked pretty beat even after just one chi shot. She could sense it.

However, he continued to deny this by putting on a fairly poor display of an able person.

"Don't worry… I'm fine. I'm not a baby. I can keep going…" Naruto grinned stupidly, waving a hand through the air. The next thing he knew however was falling backwards, before a heavy thud filled the air. Seconds later, the jinchuriki found himself facing the sky for… let's just say the first time _today_, while his clones stopped mid-practice to look down at their original's predicament. "Just… fine…" he groaned in a strained voice.

Yim sighed, placing her hands on her hips. "We can pick this up after lunch…"

XXX

**Three more days later…**

And after much torture, pain and anguish, Naruto was finally getting all of the material down with varying degrees of performance excellence and execution.

Of course, now that most of the more painful stuff was out of the way for the time being, Yim proposed a few relaxation days to help him ease the muscles. After all, rest and sleep was just as important as training, so the pair took it upon themselves to undertake as many less strenuous activities over the course of the next couple of days to recuperate. The jinchuriki had been working so hard for so long he had nearly forgotten what real relaxation was.

It was a breath of fresh air. Yim took him to the hot springs to bathe and to rest, something he hadn't done in quite a while. Sure he bathed and washed regularly, but not by these means.

The hot spring Yim took him to for the day was a separate establishment on the far side of the village, some ways out from the one Naruto and his friends normally used. This one was closer to the training fields and, though it was smaller then the public baths on the other side of town, it attracted a lot of shinobi patrons who were looking to relax after a hard day of training. It wasn't as elaborate as the district the _Konoha __Hot __Springs_ business took up, but these ones in particular were a very nice place to be.

Naruto smiled and sighed blissfully as he lay back in the hot water of the men's side of the resort, soaking in the heat and the steam wafting around him. The bath salts and what not were working wonders on his skin, and the clouds of water vapor were so thick he couldn't see a damn thing, but was that really a problem? Of course not. Was there anything more pleasant and heavenly than a good, long soak?

Man, was it a good day to be him.

"Ahhh… This is sweet," Naruto sighed, taking the folded towel from on top of his head and wiping the side of his face.

"Ahh… isn't it?" A very sultry, very familiar voice spoke back from out of the mists.

"There's nothing like a nice hot sprin-HUH?" The jinchuriki nearly jumped out of the water when he registered to that voice.

Wheeling around in the water and hurriedly moving away from the wall, he saw his teacher lying against the side right next to him, partially out and showing off quite a bit of upper-body cleavage. Thankfully, only the area above her bosom was out leaving the rest of it up to the imagination.

Hair tied back with a towel sitting comfortably beside her, the youngster was grateful she wasn't completely out.

The shock was big enough as it was, "YIM-CHAN!"

The woman giggled as she tilted her head back, partly blocking out the sounds of his screaming. "Could you keep it down, Naruto-kun? I'm trying to relax."

"W-W-W-What are you doing in here?"

"What?" Yim looked down at him with an innocent smile, "Isn't it traditional in this country for a master and student to spend some quality time with one another?"

"N-Not right now it isn't?" Naruto shouted, his face glowing bright red for a completely different reason. He was hot and bothered, and not in the way he was supposed to be. As extra precaution, he crossed his legs under the water and covered his shame with his hands, in spite of the fact that nobody could see anything below his chest, "This is the men's side! If somebody finds you in here you'll get into trouble!"

"Well then, it's a good thing that today is mixed bathing day. It said so up on the sign," Yim exclaimed, pointing over her shoulder in a random direction. Even though the site was nowhere to be seen, she was pretty confident of her answer and didn't even bother reacting beyond her casual demeanor, since she was already deeply immersed in her resting period. "Nothing to worry about."

"A-A-Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." She seemed so casual about the whole thing.

On Naruto's end however, he was blushing to the roots of his hair and shuffling about uncomfortably along the hot spring's stone floor. His eyes shifting between the public baths around him and his teacher, he decided to speak up again. "I'm... not really comfortable... sharing the same bath with a girl..."

"Why so?"

"Well, you know. It's not what I'm used to."

"There's nothing wrong with it, Naruto-kun. It's not like I haven't seen what you have on other men before. It's perfectly normal." Yim giggled when she saw him blush even brighter than he had been previously, so much so that he became almost like a red, hot glowing light bulb. He was such a child, in _all_ aspects about his character. Sweet, innocent and bashful. "I thought it was a good idea for us to spend some more time together as good friends. So, when I found out it was mixed bathing day at the hot springs I decided to bring you over here for that reason."

"To take a bath with me?" Though he didn't mind having a soak with other people, with his _teacher_… it was kind of weird. To be blunt, he was more worked up over the fact that not only was she his teacher and was naked in the same place, but she was also attractive. He admitted that a looo-ng time ago. "I-It's not that easy for me to relax in here with a girl hanging around. I'm just... I... uhn..." His brow furrowed and he looked away again.

Why fight it?

In spite of all his protests and reasoning, Yim didn't even bother to try move, offer to move, ask him to move or argue with him in the slightest. She had no worries whatsoever of being around him, while on the other hand he was completely beside himself.

"_She's not gonna move no matter what I say, is she? Ugh…I'm getting too worked up over this."_

Naruto ducked back into the water so that his nose was sticking out, and he blew a few bubbles out in exasperation of the situation. He stayed where he was, sitting in the middle of the spring.

No way was he wadding over in her direction.

Yim giggled when she saw the boy glaring at her from his spot and waved him to join her. "Come on over, Naruto-kun. Don't be shy."

"T-Thanks… but I'm fine over here," Naruto spoke back.

"Aww, don't be so miserable." Yim reached over to her side and pulled the serving tray sitting close by her on the floor. When she did, she poured herself a drink and another in a spare glass provided. Taking a sip, she sighed happily, "Have a cup of tea with me."

"I... I don't really think I should..." Naruto stammered, his face flashing red again.

If his blood continued to fluctuate and boil the way it was, he was going to pass out.

The woman gave him a warm smile from where she sat, "I know that I said before that I would train you as your teacher, Naruto-kun. But... I'd prefer it that you and I remain as friends in our spare time. I really just want to keep moments like this and ones that we may share together in the future as just regular occasions spent between you and me. I promise you, there are no strings attached, tricks or hidden agendas here. Please."

Naruto looked away, feeling even more flustered. However, after looking back and forth between his teacher and the far wall a couple of times, unable to ignore the sweet expression she was throwing him any longer, he resigned to his fate with a growl and moved across the 'pond' towards her. He made sure to leave a considerable distance between himself and her when he sat himself back down against the wall and took the tea she offered him.

When he sniffed it, he found it a bit strange. However, upon taking his first sip of the delectable liquid, he felt warm relief flood through him in the form of a light buzz. He sighed when he consumed the tea and smiled weakly up at his teacher, "T-This is... this is pretty good."

"See. I told you. Just relax and enjoy yourself. There's nothing wrong with a boy and a girl spending time with one another in a shared bath, is there?"

"I... I guess not," Naruto's smile turned into a grin. "Thanks very much, Yim-chan."

Yim saw his mood immediately improve and smiled. With the atmosphere set, she raised her glass to his and he did the same in kind, the two of them quickly settling back into their bathing while they drank the time away.

It took a while and a few more cups of tea later, but Naruto eventually became accustomed to hanging in close with his teacher in the spring. Their bath together wasn't unpleasant at all. They laughed, they shared jokes, they reviewed some of their more eventful moments of weeks past, they talked about what they knew of the village they were in… it was great! To Naruto, it felt like he was talking to an old friend again and not a tutor.

Though Yim had always been kind to him, even in training, the young academy student had come to realize that he hadn't spent as much time with her outside of their sessions then he thought he had. Sure they talked at lunch breaks and shared short conversations in the afternoon, but the problem was that they never had long breaks like this to really communicate.

Why had he been so bottled up for? She wasn't trying to take advantage of him, attack him or do dirty things with or to him? No way. The way they were currently situated was really, really nice; two friends sharing the same spring and having a good time, just like he would with any. Perhaps it was all of those stupid stories he had been hearing from idiots like Kiba and other places that had him all riled up about mixed gender baths in the first place.

Sweet.

He had nothing to worry about. This was nothing like those cheaply written pornos he'd heard so much about after all.

"Oh… hey there, Naruto."

Okay… maybe it was.

The blonde nearly screamed when he recognized that voice and quickly ducked into the water, stopping at the ridge just below his nose. Looking up with wide eyes and a red face he saw Tenten standing just a few feet away from him in nothing but a couple of towels wrapped around her.

Yim didn't react beyond a casual glance of the newcomer and a quick look over, and upon assessing the threat level associated with the kunoichi returned to her cup of tea, business as usual.

No skin off her teeth. It was Naruto's friend.

"T-T-Tenten? What are you doing in here?"

"What does it look like, I'm taking a bath," the girl replied, walking over, sitting down and dipping her feet into the hot pond. She gave the boy a small smile when she saw his eyes still glued onto her, "After a whole day of training with _my_ team… man… do I really need a dip. I'm stuffed."

"I-In here? Seriously?"

"It's convenient. These springs are right next to the training fields," Tenten shrugged, rolling her shoulders a bit to loosen the tension. This caused her towel to slide down her chest a bit, prompting Naruto to let out a yelp and turn around so that he was facing away from both girls.

The brown haired Genin noticed his reaction and giggled, before then spotting the woman who was in his company.

Judging from how close they were, she figured something down the obvious lines and nodded to her.

"So who's your companion, Naruto-kun? Mum? Sister?"

"Friend," Yim exclaimed, looking over at the youngster who was questioning her identity. "Naruto-kun has been accommodating me and showing me around the village, and in return for his gestures of kindness and hospitality I decided to treat him to a mixed bath today."

"Wow." Tenten looked the woman several times over and after taking in her appearance from the distance between them, summarized that there was no reason _not_ to be impressed with the blushing blonde's social skills.

Even though she knew absolutely nothing about his low social stature at the academy, let alone knew he was still attending the academy, she knew just from her first interaction with him that he was good with people to which she immediately took a liking to his personality. What reason could there have been to spite him? His results were all sitting _right_ here!

The woman the young jinchuriki was hanging with was nothing short of a bombshell. Hell, she was borderline supermodel with a reasonable bust, a calm and collected attitude, and had great etiquette by the way she held her cup.

If a young chipper like Naruto could hang with someone like her and she was cool about it, then Tenten had a select choice of whether to be envious, disgusted or impressed.

She chose the latter.

"You really have a way with women, don't you," Tenten exclaimed in amusement, looking at the jinchuriki.

Naruto stiffened, but kept his back turned despite his glowing red face. "D-D-Don't get the wrong idea! T-This is just a uhh… a uhh… uhh… I uhh…"

"He knows how to pick his moments," Yim spoke up.

"Yes!" Realizing his blunder a second later, Naruto choked and double-backed, spinning around towards the girl with buns in her hair and waving his hands frantically. "No! No! That's not it! That's nothing like it!"

"Really?" Tenten laughed, seeing him desperately trying to fix up his mistake.

Flustered, Naruto cleared his throat, straightened himself and grandly gestured towards the woman sitting beside him. At that moment he decided on the best course of action required for him to mend his slowly deteriorating confidence, despite how weak his next words appeared, "Tenten-chan, this is my good friend and mentor, Yim Wing-chun! Yim-chan, this is my friend Tenten-chan… who I just met a couple of weeks ago!"

By the way he spoke towards the two of them he sounded incredibly strained at the efforts, mostly for a fact he was trying to keep his eyes locked on areas that were considered descent.

Yim smiled towards the kunoichi, "Hello. It is a pleasure to meet a friend of Naruto-kun's."

"Nice to meet you too," Tenten exclaimed. Refastening her towel, she reached up and began undoing the strings tying her hair back. At the same time she looked over at Naruto who was doing well in keeping a straight face despite his hot-red cheeks. "So Naruto, where abouts did you meet Yim?"

"O-On the streets outside of a restaurant," the boy replied, rubbing the ridge under his nose. "I saw that she was in trouble and helped her out, because the manager was being mean to her."

"Boy, you really are a helpful type."

"I-It's just the way I am. I think I mentioned this to you a couple of weeks ago, but I did say that I liked helping people."

"Heh. Yeah. I remember you saying that. It's quite an interesting habit. Though other villagers may think differently about what you do and have mixed opinions, I'd say it's nice that you do help people out a lot. It shows that you can commit yourself to a cause whenever one arises."

"It comes with being a ninja," Naruto held up a hand with a thumbs-up on it and his back still turned. "As a ninja of Konoha, you must protect its villagers and its ideals! I believe it's something called… the _will __of __fire_? Iruka-sensei told me about it. Meh? I could be wrong, but there you go."

"This village really means a lot to you, huh? Not saying that it means little to me, but… you have very unique ways of showing how much you care."

"Konoha is my home… the only home I have…" Memories of reading up on his clan came back to him and Naruto's face fell somewhat at those thoughts shortly afterwards.

Well, that sort of dampened his mood.

Still, that thought did possess a great amount of truth. He was born and raised in this village, so therefore it was his home. Even though he didn't have a blood-related family here, he still had responsibilities to uphold.

"I have to protect my home. I guess that also means that I want to make sure everybody in it is happy, which is why I work so hard."

"How noble," Tenten was quite amused and taken in by his response. Hell, not once, but twice had she learned that he had helped out a complete stranger and gotten to know them on a names basis. Of course, his run in with Ran, _The __Wandering __Female __Ronin_, had her herself in their presence where the kunoichi was able to catch a glimpse of him in action on how he presented himself towards other people. He had a distinctive yet likable way of going about it and she admired that spirit.

"_He's innocent and sweet. Is there any kind of ninja out there like that?"_

Finally undoing one of her hair buns, Tenten then moved onto the other, "How long have you and Yim known each other?"

"Uhh… a little under a month."

"Oh. Is that a young relationship I spy? Well, who am I to judge? This is only our second meeting, after all."

"And… a very awkward one at that. Heh." Naruto frowned at the fact that all three of them were sharing the same spring and the same space. The pressure of being naked with two members of the opposite sex was starting to get to him again. _"__Yim-chan__… __I __think __I__'__m __okay __with __now__… __but __Tenten-chan __too?__I __hardly __even __know __her! __Dammit!__"_

"No kidding. My teacher and his mini doppelganger are jamming on _Training __Field __Five_, and my other teammate headed home some time ago. I was hoping to have a quiet bath alone after working up a sweat at training, but I was surprised to find _you_here," Tenten chuckled, "What a small village, huh?"

"Yeah, even though it looks so big from on top of the monument. Just goes to show that you can run into anybody around here." Naruto snickered. How many times had he bumped into Sasuke on his walks, Choji at the ramen stand or Sakura and Ino bickering in the middle of the street? He'd lost count ages ago.

"No fooling. Still, a bath is a bath, no matter the chance meetings. I can still enjoy it and as long as you're here I guess we can have a friendly chat as well," Tenten smiled. "Get to know each other a little better, yeah?" She saw Naruto sputter a bit, look away shyly, and press his fists together anxiously.

"Uhh… umm…t-talk? In the bath? Together?"

"I'll leave you two alone," Yim spoke up, picking up her tray of tea and towels from the bank. Keeping her upper body submerged she waded over to the other side of the springs, making sure there was enough room for the pair to correlate. "I enjoyed our conversation today, Naruto-kun. We can continue when we get back home, okay. So have fun."

"Thanks," Tenten exclaimed with a wave.

The whole deal left Naruto to debate over the idea of a new conversation partner.

However, he had little time to mule these thoughts over when he looked over at Tenten to see her undo her last bun and wave her hair out. It was quite a head turner. Her hair was surprisingly long, longer then he first anticipated with the ends stopping just above her shoulders. But that wasn't the only surprise for the day. When she flung her head back, her hair caught on the wind like a tangible stream in the air. The silky brown strands shone in whatever light there was and Naruto became captivated in how lavish her locks actually were.

"Oh, wow."

"Hmm," Pulling them back, Tenten glanced down at him. "Did you say something?"

"Ugh-aah… nothing… nothing," Naruto quickly spun around and waved meekly over his shoulder, "You just… get ready. I'll be… staring at that plant over there."

Bamboo.

Nice.

Perfect distraction.

Shrugging, Tenten made sure her hair was properly done up and let down for the bath, before sliding in. She folded up her towel and after placing her hair bands on top of it laid back against the side of the spring and allowed herself to sink in.

The kunoichi sighed in relief, "That's the stuff." Cracking her eyes open, she then looked over at Naruto to see him staring at her nervously, shoulders up and head hunched low. The way he was so deeply immersed in the water indicated that he wasn't really that comfortable to be in her shadow.

Of course, who wouldn't be? He obviously hadn't had a mixed bath before. Yim was probably his first.

Okay… wrong way of putting it, but you get the gist of it.

"_He__'__s __so __childish,__"_ Tenten waved him over, "Come on. I won't bite."

"It's not the biting part I'm worried about," Naruto murmured. The girl laughed at him.

"I'm not like other girls who'd just squeal and run off or scream and punch," She patted the space beside her. "Don't be such a wimp. It's no fun talking to somebody who's several feet away from you and looking like they'd just been caught with the curtains down."

She was insistent, as indicated by her vocal tone. This had the jinchuriki gulp uneasily.

Hesitant at first, Naruto looked about to see if anybody was watching.

Assured of that fact, as well as of the fact that there were really only three people in the open bath including him to begin with, he then slowly inched his way over to Tenten and settled on the stones beside her. Despite her openness of allowing him to share her space, he was still incredibly weary of pretty much everything going on around him and left as big of a gap between himself and her as he did with Yim.

Tenten smiled and rested back. With her shoulders just above the water, perfectly level with her nervous friend's, she then opened up the floor by addressing him in open dialogue exchange. "So… are you looking forward to the Chunin exams coming up?"

"T-The Chunin exams?" Naruto looked at her in surprise, seeing her nod in response.

"Yeah. I mean… sure it's like over half a year away and we've still got a bucket ton of missions needing to be completed, our teacher insisted that he would be signing me and my team up to participate in it as early as possible," Tenten grinned, splashing water over her face and rubbing her cheeks clean. "We've been training real hard for it. It's supposed to be one of the biggest events this year as well, with the big five shinobi nations participating. Man, I'm excited." She then met his curious expression with an inquisitive one of her own, "What about you? Are you and your team participating?"

"Oh… uhh …well… about that," Naruto chuckled nervously and looked up at the kunoichi with a timid grin. "You see… I'm… still… in the academy."

"The academy?" Tenten blinked in surprise. "You're still an academy student? Seriously?"

"Y-Yeah." Boy, did he feel exceedingly small right now. Not only did he still have two exams to get through, he wasn't even a Genin yet. This girl was already a seasoned, low-class shinobi and already aiming for Chunin. "I'm… still workin' on the whole… ninja, experience, outside of the village concept… yeah. But hey!" He made a lame-ass punching motion that even he thought wasn't convincingly showing off his enthusiasm over the situation. "I'm getting there!"

Tenten stared at him for a few moments and then grinned. She reached out and patted him on the head.

If that wasn't bad enough, she followed up that affectionate gesture by pinching him on the cheek, "Aww, we're still just a baby academy student, aren't we? Well, Naruto-chan, you've got a long road ahead of you. So I suggest you buckle down and shape up, because it'll only get harder from here."

"Grrr… I said I'm still working on it," Naruto grumbled and gently pulled her hand away from his face. Rubbing his sore cheek, he gave her a light scowl. "Besides, I've gotten much stronger then what I was last time. I'm not as easy going as you might think."

"Oh really?" Tenten smirked at him and folded her arms, "Are you saying that you could kick my butt?"

"If you're asking for a butt-kicking, then yeah," Naruto jabbed the air a few times, not really showing off but more of making an illustrative reading suggestion. "Hey! Are you egging me on to challenge you?"

"Maybe," Tenten narrowed her eyes at him, but kept the smirk up. "What about you?"

"Maybe," Naruto grinned back. "I've got a ton of tricks up my sleeve and more. Hell, even though I'm still just an academy student being warmed up for the big leagues, I'm pretty sure that I can lap you a few times on the track, no problem."

"Okay, now that _**is**_ a challenge." The brown haired girl flung her hair around and pointed at him, "Tell yah what, give me your address and I'll come on over some time to ask you for a spar. On that day, we'll see if you can match those words of yours with action, Naruto-chan."

"Okay then, Tenten-_chan_," Naruto added a bit of grit at the end, "You want my number, you'll get it. But first… we enjoy ourselves. Agreed?"

"Agreed." With that said and done, Tenten splashed him. The blonde yelped in surprise and splashed her back with more power behind the pool's surface, earning a surprised yelp from the kunoichi in kind. The two then began exchanging waves, splashes, and flicks of water, with both sides turning the friendly duel into a full-out, taijutsu-hot-water fight.

The hot bath quickly became their grounds and laughter soon filled the air.

"Hey! I'll get you for that, Naruto!" Tenten giggled, skimming her hand over the spring's surface and skipping hot droplets into his face, making him wince in good humor. "_Water __Bullet __Volley_! Take that!"

"Oh yeah? Take this!" the jinchuriki shouted back and tossed water at her in a scooping motion. That move definitely made its mark and she laughed out in surprise.

"Hey! No fair!"

What can you say?

Though they were ninja and ninja in training, you cannot argue the fact that they were still kids.

Yim smiled as she watched the pair from the safety of her end of the springs. Seeing them frolic around in good fun and that it wouldn't escalate beyond that, she took another sip of her tea, relaxed, and delighted in the show and the beverage she had on hand.

"_Ahh… to be young again…"_

XXX

**A week later…**

Due to there being only one student, Yim had a lot of time to practice sparring with Naruto face-to-face. She pretty much covered everything involved, from chi control in all its forms of practice to his physical conditioning, correcting arm movements and teaching him which way to react based on the type of punches the opponent was executing.

Telegraphing attacks from opponents and working on his defenses was something Naruto was eager to learn, as he wanted to develop a system which he could effectively use to analyze an opponent's mode of attack and break it down, so that he could counter it.

He also went through hours upon hours of sessions with clones, working on pads to get a better feel for actually hitting a solid target.

There was also one notable, shining aspect of his past sessions with an additional stroke of luck added to the equation, which all began with him entering the Academy Grounds during school period, and while his clone took his place in his class, he broke into the equipment shed and 'borrowed' one of the training dummies he had seen in use down in _Training __Field __2_. It suited his and Yim's purposes nicely and while he nearly got away unscathed, it unfortunately resulted in him being set upon by the local guard dogs and chased around Konoha for a good hour before he lost the Chunin.

When he returned to his apartment, his warm-up for that particular day was over and done with.

Running around the village while piggy-backing a normally planted taijutsu item was no joke…

Using the training dummy he had swiped, Yim showed him how to use it to work with her style. It was really convenient, as it was incredibly similar to the wooden posts she used to practice with back home.

While it didn't require brute force to actually work on the 'wooden man', the entire purpose of the dummy was to help maintain and improve his technique. She showed him the method and steps that would enable him to preserve form, at the same time emphasizing fluid motion and a balanced flow of strikes. She explained this to him while he worked away on the stump with arms.

Naruto picked the arts of her fighting style up fairly quickly, and while using his clones to accelerate his training did work in the group sparring sessions out on the lawn, he felt that it was best for him to work on the wooden man on his own.

By the end of the weeks of his training, Yim said that he was ready for his exam and that to that point; he had far exceeded her expectations.

This next session they were currently undergoing was implementing controlled power to technique. Even though she congratulated him for his completion of each stage of his training that didn't mean that he could clock off and relax. He still had a lot of work to do.

After several hours since four o'clock in the morning Naruto was put through his paces and right now, to put it simply, he was knackered.

Wiping his chin, the jinchuriki assumed a stance again and watched his teacher slide into one once again. A smile remained plastered on her face.

"Do not stop. You're doing really well," Yim exclaimed, her eyes closing as her expression brightened some more. "The mountain still needs to be conquered, after all."

Naruto huffed and approached slowly, getting into range and unleashing a flurry of punches. He immediately resorted to simultaneous blocking and attacking when his teacher retaliated in kind, meeting his fists with hers. Both of them locked in a fury of heated exchanges, with the blonde gradually backing down at the speed his teacher lashed out at him with.

It became apparent, even from the very beginning, that after forcing to take a kick and a few hits to the chest that he needed much more practice. All the same, he still wasn't going to let up.

Blocking his sensei's attacks he then sprang forward with a few more punches, at the same time blocking her incoming fists and retaliating quickly. He attempted to get her body in a lock and grapple in close with her, only she didn't give him that opportunity when her hands hooked around and got him first.

Knowing it would be all over if she followed through, Naruto quickly responded, attempting to jab and elbow her in the stomach to knock enough wind out of her to break loose.

She blocked the attempted body shots, including the kick he threw at her thighs. He then used the brief window of distraction and pushed off with a double hit to her guard and she released him. He literally slid back along the grass at the changed direction of energy and balled his fists, taking the defensive and switching sides in his stance once he skidded to a stop.

His lawn was really taking a lot of punishment, as indicated by the numerous foot prints and skid marks crisscrossing all over the place.

Yim smiled and brought her hands around casually, as if the scuffle hadn't worn her out in the least.

Naruto on the other hand, was both worn out and hurting all over. His body had practically been used as a punching bag by the woman and even had he been wearing full-pad, the hits still would have wound up hurting like the bitch they were.

He bit back the pain, ignored the pulsating bruises on his face and the bleeding lip, and kept his gaze trained on the woman.

"You countered my lock before I could flip you. Very good," Yim stated with an affirmative nod. "Let's see you try and get _me_ in one."

The jinchuriki responded with a smirk and went in for another engagement.

Meanwhile, sitting on the sidelines and arranged into a group, like a pack of kindergarteners, sat about a dozen or so clones, who were all watching the entire confrontation with great interest. Just as the original had been watching the Chunin spar out on _Training __Field __2_, they were watching and analyzing both fighters to make corrections for the original based on their observations and experience.

With such a multitude of many eyes glued onto the makeshift ring in front of them, it was impossible for them to miss anything.

While that particular group watched, another group was once again hanging back reading the books on basic and advanced chakra control from the library.

Over the week Naruto made it a standing point to be extremely thorough about what he learned and what he allowed himself to read. He was definitely not acting like his old self, flaunting about the streets of Konoha and pulling pranks every twenty yards, which ended in catastrophe and anguish for everyone around him.

When people weren't glowering at him for whatever reason there was, the villagers would cower away in fear of being set upon by his practical jokes. They were swift, they were silent, and they were by any stretch of the imagination, deadly. DEFCON was set to four whenever he was around and set to three when people saw him looking in their direction. This meant he was either A, scouting the place, or B, he had already rigged up his traps in and around the establishment, and they didn't know it.

That was how dangerous his prank skills were.

…

However, the past few weeks have been relatively quiet.

Not a whisper, not a sound, just a whole lot of quiet and nothing.

It seemed as though the young troublemaker that all of the villagers have come to fear for two completely different reasons, had been effectively silenced.

Right?

Of course, Naruto couldn't really care less about his life outside of the academy and during free periods at this point, since he was currently preoccupied with more important stuff…

Like overcoming his damn teacher in a simple spar!

So to summarize the present situation: yes, Naruto was being hammered into the ground, yes his clones were in prolonged practice and yes, he was being excruciatingly _thorough_.

The shadow doppelgangers doing the reading fell into standard procedures, where some of them meditated on control while a handful of the group got to their feet and started trying to scale the walls of the apartment complex. They did this by trying to keep their feet planted to the surface with only their chakra.

Instead of focusing chakra through use of hand seals, Naruto had successfully managed to push himself beyond that method to a point where he didn't need to use any hand seals to manipulate certain amounts of chakra through his body whatsoever. All that 'jerking around' over the past month on his bookwork, his incessant drills, his sitting around and all that hand seal shit, really paid off for him in the end.

Now all he needed to do was train hard enough for it to occur naturally to him.

While the clones that had managed to climb the side of the building were scuffling with each other over some petty matter, the rest of the doppelganger crowd below ignored them and chose to watch the original's battle.

The blonde was definitely in a close quarter, heated engagement; fists lashing out and hands weaving through the air, blocking and attempting to lock his opponent up. However, because both their attacks were lucid and relaxed, it made it difficult for either one of them to actually bring down the other. While one was purposely holding back most of her strength to make it easier for her student, Naruto was concentrating to the sweating stage and attempting to accomplish a successful lock.

This was proving most difficult. Even landing an effective hit on his target was impossible.

However, just as the fight seemed to be tipping in the teacher's favor, one of the clones sitting on the sidelines saw an opening in the opponent's defenses and instantly dispelled itself.

The information was relayed to the original at light speed and Naruto quickly responded.

Capitalizing on the clone's angle he blocked the next incoming attacks. He swiped them across and down, catching a fist. He struck the arm and aimed a swift body shot at his opponent's side.

Yim, caught by surprise at the outside attack, blocked the hit and retaliated. She stopped her follow up but left her center open for a series of straight punches uncorked by her student when he ducked in.

Taking just one of the hits Naruto opened up with, Yim blocked the rest of them with her arm before batting the last aside with a swift elbow. Naruto exploited that and aimed a side kick for her thigh the moment she aimed to counter. The woman attacked and defended: striking with a straight punch and blocking with a leg.

The jinchuriki dodged, the force he put behind his kick actually causing his opponent to slide backwards across the grass instead of him.

Yim looked up at Naruto in mild amazement to see him return to a defensive stance.

"YES! My first successful hit, dattebayo!" the jinchuriki grinned triumphantly. "Finally! After three whole days of sparring, I finally got you!"

Realizing what had happened, the then woman chuckled and brought her hands together in front of her. She quietly resumed a normal standing position as she directed her gaze towards her student, "My… you're right. We _have_ been sparring for quite a while." Her eyes briefly trailed over the clones sitting close by on the lawn, before looking back at the original, "That was a good call, Naruto-kun. You're an incredibly fast learner."

"Thanks, Yim-chan… oh…" Naruto stepped back and bowed to her respectfully with a big smile on his face, "Yim-sensei."

"Please… you don't need to be so formal," the woman exclaimed, waving away his kind gestures and approaching him. "I prefer Yim-chan. Let's keep it that way." The blonde saw her concern over it twinkling in her eyes and grinned back at her happily.

"That's cool. If it makes you happy, I'm fine with it."

"So now that you've finally managed to hit me let's see your techniques on their own. I want you to practice in full form, right now." The woman stepped away several paces and placed her hands behind her.

Naruto saw his friend shooting an intense stare in his direction, giving indication that she wanted to see him in practice, no questions asked and no arguments.

Upon reading her expression, Naruto nodded quickly and backed away in preparation. Taking to the open area for better mobility he assumed the _Spring__Chant_ stance and focused.

Relaxed, yet retaining the required structured form; firm but flexible, rooted but yielding like bamboo, he then began moving through the motions. He let loose combinations like he was shadow sparring, utilizing strikes and combinations he had practiced under the guidance of Yim.

The raven haired woman watched closely as he paced across the lawn, unleashing chain and straight punch, kick and parry combinations.

His hands and feet moved swiftly and thanks to the use of correct and refined execution of each step, his style was held proper.

While he was still performing a series of combos Yim approached him and extended a hand. Naruto retaliated almost instantly to her 'Asking Hand' and lashed out. He blocked her follow-through and swung around with another punch and kick. She blocked his attacks then struck out again. The blonde redirected and parried the next one that followed, and slammed both hands to her chest before chain punching and watching her fall back.

Shuffling away, Yim smiled proudly and nodded to him.

"Excellent. With continued training you'll definitely become a master of this style in no time," the raven haired woman commented and watched Naruto drop out of his stance. "You still have much to learn. I haven't even gotten to chi blocking yet. Nevertheless, you've passed all of my preliminary tests thus far and are ready to face your academy trials."

The boy tested himself a bit by skipping on his feet, looking down at his body to take further note of any differences that had occurred over the past few weeks.

Blinking as he flexed his hands, he then spared a glance over at his clones observing him from the sidelines, as well as the ones still practicing basic chakra exercises and reading up on more advanced ones. After several moments of careful thought, he then looked back over at his older friend with a puzzled expression in play.

"My shadow clone technique doesn't transmit muscle mass, only experience, knowledge and memory. But my body still feels a little bit… _different_," Naruto stated, hopping around on his feet some more before taking a very unusual stance with one hand held up and the other held a little lower forward, palms opened. His whole body relaxed into a less tense state and assumed a stance with his dominant side facing forward. "I feel much lighter, flexible… _faster_…"

"Your clones memorized perfect technique, which transmitted onto your body and subconscious. This means that the style and the focus gained from your lessons can occur naturally to you now. However, after working on your physical body in the style through vigorous exercises and one-on-one sessions with me, you have altered and changed the structure of your muscles," Yim smiled with a shrug. "That means you've physically and mentally become adapted for a completely different way of fighting. Why don't you try it out?"

"Simultaneous defense and attack…" Naruto murmured and skipped around on the spot some more, testing out his newly acquired lightness. He threw a series of punches, moving around the area swiftly.

Much to his surprise, he discovered that his body responded incredibly well. Since the style of attacks he executed came out so fluently with every jab and kick, his first thought was that his chakra was actually contributing to his enhanced mobility. However, he knew his own body well enough to know that this fact wasn't true.

When it came to practicing this new taijutsu style he was currently manufacturing with this shadow sparring, attacks and defenses just came so naturally now based merely on disciplined, physical exertion. Naruto let out a laugh and danced around, with Yim watching his body blur out of focus slightly from the speed he ended up achieving. He practiced combos, displaying a cross between fighting styles he had learned from days prior combined with _Fist __of __Eternal __Spring_ elements.

In reality, he was completely cutting loose all restraints of any known style patterns and was letting free a minimum amount of sophisticated movement as opposed to Wing Chun, and simply expressed himself through his body. Maximum effort with extreme speed; a revelation he was undergoing and now executing as he hopped around the back lawn.

He was light on his toes and totally relaxed. No rigid movement whatsoever.

It was a whole other feeling.

Open palm to enclosed fist, he grinned and struck out some, unleashing a chain punch system while still being able to move without restraint. Yim also saw how spontaneous he became with his movements.

"Be like bamboo," Naruto silently parroted from his earlier lessons, breathing out again and allowing his body's movements to gently roll to a stop. "Taking _that_ principle into consideration, I feel more like water then anything else. This is _great_!"

"Congratulations," Yim exclaimed, seeing the boy turn towards her at his addressable. The raven haired woman just smiled when she saw his head cock to the side out of curiousness and nodded to him in confirmation to his unasked question, "You've just developed your very own fighting style."

"Huh? Just like _that_? Awesome!"

"Like I said… you're a fast learner…"

Naruto hopped about some more and threw a few more punches, before with much poise returned to planet earth. Still grinning excitedly from ear to ear, he balled his fists and gave the clear impression that he was ready to start jumping around some more, to announce to the world his amazing new discovery. However, upon fully realizing his newfound abilities and strength acquired from his training he came to an abrupt stop. A picture of confusion and deep thought crossed his face.

Keeping silent for a few seconds, he then turned towards his friend and mentor. She saw his confusion run deep making her also look on him with concern.

Of course, the whole situation would just turn out to be simple trivia in the end.

"What should I call it?"

"Pardon?"

"What should I call my new fighting style? It's gotta have a cool name, doesn't it? Like a jutsu… or something," Naruto hopped about some more and threw a few swift punches, followed by a well executed kick, which blurred through the air and cut it like butter. "To be like water? If _Fist __of __Eternal __Spring_ is simultaneous defense and attack, and attack while defending, then maybe I should call mine the _Art __of __the __Blocking __Fist_? That's pretty bad ass."

"A very interesting name," Yim smiled brightly. "With the styles of fighting you've already accumulated, I believe it is a suitable title. All you have to do now is patent it as _your_ style."

"How should I do that?" Naruto asked with a shrug. To be honest, he was not a business person. Heck, the only business he knew was buying and purchasing goods, and that what he bought was his from that point n. Not to mention he had little knowledge of negotiating or bartering. That was as far as his experience went in terms of commerce.

He reminded himself to read up more about it in the future.

Yim however, already had an easy solution planned out for him. "All you have to do is advertise it in your next bout. You don't have to use its name unless somebody asks for it and you don't have to teach it if it is not your intention for it to be taught. Just _express_ it through your techniques. However, if you instead wish to be conservative about it, then I will not argue against it."

There were easier things to understand, but if Naruto could learn through practice then it was no stretch to say that it wouldn't be hard for others to see what he could do through action.

But there was a catch.

Due to the differences in fighting styles between his homeland and those of Yim's homeland, he was certain that people wouldn't be able to break his new form of combat down so easily. This was proven from the amount of work he actually had to go through to be able to perform even a single technique from it properly. Unless people were like him, their bodies would need a lot of time to adapt to use it.

It was much like the _Kage __Bunshin __no __Jutsu_. People could see it, people could read it, and they could probably copy it. But in truth, without the experience, strength or correct bodily structure or makeup, they wouldn't be able to produce the jutsu successfully.

Nevertheless, he still wasn't going to go out and randomly pick a fight with somebody just to promote his new fighting style. That would have seemed like a petty and desperate experiment. He wasn't that hard up.

A thought then clicked inside of his head after some careful debate and the blonde grinned over at his clones. The audience's main body made entirely out of him all nodded in agreement, seeing that they too had come to the same conclusion. They all looked towards Yim, who noticed that they all had something to say in light of her wisdom.

"There's a time and place for everything," Naruto stated, slipping his hands into his pockets. The smile never left his face. "I can show my teacher how much I've improved in my taijutsu at the next exam…"

* * *

><p><strong>The very next day…<strong>

**After morning lectures…**

"Nice work, Ino," Iruka exclaimed, ticking off the Yamanaka's name from the list after watching her practically topple one of the other, less fortunate male students of his class. "A bit more practice on your grappling, Nobuo. But all in all, good work." The teacher also marked off the other and watched both combatants fall out of their stances.

The girl who had virtually beaten her classmate into the ground bowed to him upon the end of the engagement, before walking out of the dirt pit rubbing her sore wrist from an improper block executed earlier in the spar. She didn't even bother helping her opponent to his feet, but she did share the symbol of 'harmony' with him when he eventually exited the ring, locking fingers between each other as a sign of respect for the other's skills. The defeated then dusted his clothes down before limping back into the crowd. He tried to keep his gaze low, not wanting to look the other academy students in the eye from his rather embarrassing defeat.

All the same, it was a lesson well learned.

Never underestimate your opponent or give them any kind of leeway no matter who they are or what they look like.

Upon seeing the teenagers step out of the square Iruka took a moment to check his list before calling up the next random contestant for the trail. He figured a non-conformed approach to the usual proceedings was beneficial for the development of his students in terms of formal and informal combat. Not to mention it presented them with somewhat of a surprise and difference to their routines, as the ninja world was unpredictable in its picking between either selective or startling, in a manner of speaking. However, there was an addition to this role. Combatants that were called up also had the right to choose who they wanted to fight, the choice including those who have already gone.

This meant friendly competition was encouraged amongst their ranks.

'_Join __the __Konoha __Shinobi __Forces: __Where __bonds __are __formed, __discipline __is __the __key __and __proper __conduct __is __absolute_.'

It was a hell of a lot better then the last banner: '_Train, __fight __and __die __for __your __village__… __oh __yeah, __but __kill __the __other __guys __first__'_.

Already, a good chunk of the 27 academy students have already gone through and sparred against one another. There were many others who have yet to fight but there was still plenty of time. Those who had yet to fight were eager to go, whereas those who have already fought were looking forward to the prospects of a second round for additional points or to reclaim their honor in some way. In spite of being handicapped with a fight beforehand the students who had been kicked around by those stronger or more versed in the styles of taijutsu they were accustomed to, there was still a chance. There was always a chance.

"Kiba Inuzuka, you're up," Iruka said, waving for the teen to step forward.

Pulling his hood down, the addressed individual set Akamaru down on the side of the ring and stepped out, grinning widely and cracking his knuckles. When he made it to the center where a fine line was drawn dividing one part of the ring from the other, the spiky haired hotrod with the fang marks on his cheeks took his position on one end and smirked over at the proctor.

The scar-faced Chunin looked at Kiba after reviewing his past performances recorded on his documents with a stern look, "Alright kid, remember to go easy on your opponent this time. The last person you had a friendly joust with ended up in hospital with deep lacerations. Try to hold yourself back."

Kiba grinned and stretched his hands out, his eyes turning towards the crowd watching from the sidelines, "No problem. I'll fight them with one arm tied behind my back." The expressions on a few of the boys faces turned from patient to fearful, as the teen's narrowed eyes scanned the lot of them.

Youngsters like Shikamaru and Choji tried to look less noticeable by turning away, occupying themselves with some other activities or trying to look like they were asleep standing up. Ino and Sakura looked more than nervous, Hinata was unchanged, and Shino didn't show any signs whatsoever of either looking forward to the prospects of a fight or looking anxious from stress. Kiba was actually quite tempted to pick Sasuke to wipe the smugness off of his face by the way he seemed to stare at the field with a slight twitch in his lips.

However, the Inuzuka had already made his mark some time ago.

It was set on the blonde haired boy standing at the very edge of the crowd with his nose in what looked to be a magazine.

Ignoring the blonde's detachment from the world around him, Kiba grinned and pointed at him. "I pick Naruto…"

Iruka nodded and looked over at the challenged individual, "Naruto Uzumaki, you're up."

Of course, the blonde didn't respond immediately. He simply turned the page in the magazine and shook his head. "Oh come on… two flavors in one? I beg to differ. I've tried almost every single item on oji-san's menu and I can say, with absolute confidence, that there is _**no**_ ramen out there in the known universe that has two flavors in one! It's scientifically impossible!" He looked up with a scrunched up expression and rubbed the side of his head. "Well… this is from a subjective, ramen lover's point of view…"

The academy students staring at him from the audience sweat dropped, Kiba gave him a dead panned look while his arm and finger were still outstretched and frozen in his direction and Iruka face-palmed. With the latter emitting a sigh, the Chunin glared up at the boy with greater intensity in his eyes to see if he could stir his most enigmatic and simple-minded student from his self-constructed universe.

"Naruto…"

The boy turned to the next page of his magazine. That next section opened up into a triple spread, extending the series of illustrations on it. The teen shivered when his stare fell on the central pictures laid out before him.

"Oh Kami… she's showing how they make the noodles in the back room…" Naruto hid the page from view and looked about nervously, "Can they do that?"

"NARUTO!" Iruka shouted with a red face. This roused the boy from his reading time and caused him to look over at his fuming teacher who then pointed at the ringside area across from an annoyed looking Kiba, "You've been challenged! Come on!"

"Oh… okay," Naruto grinned and leapt to his feet. Walking down the line of perplexed and bemused children of his class he dropped his magazine in front of one of them, who caught the article out of reflex, "Hold this for me would you Shino?"

The jinchuriki passed the aforementioned, stoic Aburame, who watched him walk down the range before turning to the magazine he was leant. When he opened it up he too became engrossed in the illustration Naruto had been reading earlier. His attention however wasn't fixed on the pictures that showed the steps of how the ramen noodles were made, but the half naked girl that was actually making them.

"She can do that?" Shino murmured, his high collar hiding a trickle of blood running down from his nose.

When Naruto eventually took position in front of Kiba, Iruka stood between them and looked at each combatant. The teen with the jagged edges and ruff personality was visibly raring to go, whereas the other kid with noodle broth coursing through his veins chose to pick his ears and flick away the wax. He added to these actions with a yawn, which caused his opponent's eyebrow to twitch.

"Pay attention you moron," Kiba barked and pointed at him. "Don't forget, I still have to pay you back for that little stunt you pulled on the stairwell."

"So? It's not like we're going to kill each other, dog boy," Naruto mused, sliding his hands into his pockets. "It's just to see who's got the most skill in this area."

"Heh," Kiba grinned even wider. "I've got the best taijutsu out of this entire class and I'm gonna prove it to yah." He rounded on the Chunin with a harsh glare, "Come on! Start the clock!"

"In a moment. I still need to remind you two of the rules since obviously one of you wasn't paying attention," Iruka frowned at the blonde troublemaker, who just smiled sheepishly back at him. "Remember: no weapons and no jutsu. I'm grading on taijutsu technique and the number of hits each individual is able to land clean on the other, so be as economic as you wish with your combinations." At this, Kiba scoffed.

"Naruto will be lucky to even touch me," the Inuzuka barked and cracked his neck. "Well…?"

"Fine… just don't kill each other," Iruka shot back, raising his hand in the air. "Two falls out of three decides the match." He saw both combatants form the single-handed seal of 'combat' towards the other, one with a feral grin and the other with a smirk. However, this would be the only moment of peace shared between them for some time, as their hands quickly dropped back to their sides.

With a quick, last second look between the young pair the proctor nodded his head in conformation of the correct proceedings and dropped his extended arm.

"Begin!"

Iruka leapt out of the way to put himself a safe distance from the scuffle that was about to open up.

When the teacher retreated to the safety of the sidelines, those students watching from their spots saw Kiba assume his signature fighting stance and prep himself for battle. However, at this stage of the exam period a lot of the candidates for graduation couldn't care less about this next fight. Having watched Kiba and Naruto face off many times before in the past it was clear to all of them who would eventually come out on top. The traditional pattern was that one of them ended up groveling on the floor while the other one was barking at the fallen several feet away.

To all those observing, they knew that it would be Kiba who would claim victory here today.

"There's no way the dead-last will win," a random boy commented, earning a series of outcalls of agreement from his companions.

"You said it."

Hinata pushed her fingers together nervously while she watched the two teenagers glare each other down. Even though she had great confidence in the both of them she was incredibly worried about Naruto, who seemed to be taking his turn way too much in stride.

"N-Naruto-kun…" the purple haired girl gulped. _"__W-What __is __he __doing? __He__… __He__'__s __not__… __he__'__s __not __readying __himself?__"_ Whether the boy was overly confident in himself or he actually didn't have to prepare himself for battle she didn't know. All she knew was that he was not in the correct position yet to fight and if Kiba were to spring at him then and there, he was screwed.

"This should be quick," Ino chuckled, earning a head turn from both Sakura and Hinata, who looked at her with varying expressions, "Naruto's gonna get his slacker butt handed to him."

The pink haired kunoichi next to her nodded in agreement and smirked at the ring, "No matter how hard he tries to improve himself he'll never be able to beat Kiba. I mean… I've seen the guy in action. He's a pro."

"Yeah. But not as good as _Sasuke-kun_," Ino exclaimed. Her rival couldn't argue with that.

The raven haired boy in question wasn't really paying attention to the field either and was simply looking away with his arms folded. Several of the others fellas flanking him were sort of doing the same, but Shikamaru seemed to be taking just as much interest in the stand off as Hinata was by how Naruto was actually approaching it.

Kiba frowned when he saw his opponent pull his hands out of his pockets ever so slowly and drop into a comfortable standing position. He was certainly taking his sweet time readying himself and it was starting to tick the Inuzuka teen off.

The nail was driven even deeper into the skin when he saw Naruto casually roll back his sleeves.

"Are you going to fight or just jerk around for the next five minutes? Come on!" Kiba barked.

"Patience, dog chow," Naruto smirked.

The jinchuriki, amidst the tense atmosphere emitted by his opponent, then did something everybody else found awfully peculiar when he placed his right fist in his left hand and extended this gesture towards the Inuzuka. This really got a few confused blinks from the combatant opposing him, as well as from the other kids watching from his right. "Naruto Uzumaki: Student of Wing-chun."

"What the hell is that supposed to be?" Kiba asked, having no clue as to what he was on about.

Naruto remained as he was with a friendly smile still on his face.

"It is common courtesy for fighters to introduce one another before every engagement," he replied in kind. Although this sense of respect did bring a smile to Iruka and raised more then a few positive remarks from the audience listening in, it got a completely different reaction from Kiba.

The feral looking teenager spat at the boy's bow and tightened his stance, switching from enclosed fist to clawed hands with a wider stance as his base. "You can cram your introduction up your ass for all I care, moron! Let's just fight already! Or are you just stalling because you're afraid of getting your ass whooped?"

Naruto took careful note of his opponent's immediate style change and made sure that his observations went on unnoticed.

"Fine… if you're so hard up about it." Not at all offended or put off by Kiba's backhand to his respectful gesture the blonde stepped towards the center. On instinct he moved his left foot forward and around in a circular motion till he rested comfortably into a narrow stance, before bringing his hands up and extending his left one forward.

Kiba was baffled by the incredibly stock straight posture his opponent assumed. He looked him from head to toe, "What kind of fighting stance is that?"

His loud inquiry brought some attention to the ring and when all eyes fell on Naruto's corner, brows became quirked in question. Even Iruka expressed great surprise when he saw the way his usually energetic student prepared himself for battle. Unlike all the other times, the stance Naruto took was so unlike his former, trademark rush-into battle technique or street-fighter like pretense. This one was completely alien to him.

"_Well__… __screw __waiting __around__…"_ Kiba frowned. _"__Whatever __he__'__s __planning, __he __can__'__t __beat __my __Inuzuka __Style __of __taijutsu, __even __if __I __**do **__hold __back. __He__'__s __finished.__"_ With these thoughts in mind, the feral teen didn't waste another second beating around bush and lunged in with a fury of wild lashes from his unique open palm strikes.

Naruto smiled and stepped backwards slowly, remaining calm as he observed the attacks fly in. Keeping barely out of reach of the claws the blonde easily blocked the incoming hits aimed for his neck and head by nudging the intended blows upwards, stepping away bit by bit and avoiding the return strikes that lashed down at him. The jinchuriki back stepped away from a spin kick aimed for his upper body and when it missed, he swiftly stepped back into range. This unexpectedly put Kiba's back to him.

The feral teen retaliated instantly with a clawed swipe when he continued on the follow-through, using the energy from his missed kick to rotate back around. Naruto easily stopped his opponent's pivot before he could even face him again, shoving Kiba in the back with his elbows and forearms. Since it was the same energy applied to stopping the strike, it caused the teen to stumble forward in shock with lost balance and at the force generated from the push.

Kiba recovered from his stumbling and returned with two clawed hooks. Naruto back stepped one after the other before catching a straight kick aimed at him. Trapping the leg between his arms, the jinchuriki then blocked an attempted jab aimed for his head.

Taking advantage of Kiba's vulnerable position and using all of his weight against him, Naruto swiftly ran the arm holding the leg down its length and struck him in the thigh, at the same time he slammed his opponent in the chest, easily throwing the aggressive teen through the air. The Inuzuka hit the ground a two second flight later, _hard_.

Panting, Kiba hurriedly sat up and looked up from his position on the floor in shock, where he saw his opponent looking down at him from several feet away.

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked, genuine concern lacing his expression and voice.

He received no reply.

Kiba was bewildered.

The crowd of students watching from the sidelines was effectively silenced. All eyes that had been previously averted in the opening sequences were immediately returned to the ring the moment the knowledge of Kiba getting tossed became prominent. Even Sasuke looked up with clear shock written on his face at the unexpected turn, yet didn't say a word or voice any opinion whatsoever.

Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, Sakura, hell… everybody was completely caught off guard by how Naruto was easily able to lay Kiba down after blocking such a vicious assault. He literally toppled the teen with relative ease. Even Iruka was silently looking on in astonishment.

"What the heck?" Ino choked out.

"How the hell did that happen?" Sakura exclaimed, shaking her head and wondering if this was a dream or something.

Hinata on the other hand, hid her smile behind enclosed hands and looked on the transpiring events with awe and admiration for her favorite blonde.

"_N-Naruto-kun… you're good…"_

Choji, in the middle of consuming a packet of prawn chips, stopped in the middle of chewing. His jaw hung open in surprise, "H-Hang on… did I miss something?"

Shikamaru, who had been silent at the beginning and staring with clear boredom advertised to the rest of the world, was now frowning deeply as he stared at Naruto. He carefully compared the image he was seeing now with ones previously captured in past taijutsu sessions

It took him but a moment to draw up a suitable conclusion on the situation.

"Kiba's had it…" the Nara murmured. Everyone who heard him turned in his direction.

Choji blinked, still gawking. "W-What do you mean, Shikamaru?"

The pineapple haired boy sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "It's not too soon to see. Trust me, he's lost. The next engagement I give Kiba approximately twenty seconds before he's on the ground again…"

Those who were listening in expressed mixed reactions. Some scoffed while others were perplexed by Shikamaru's math. However, those who knew him best took his words and judgment seriously and turned back to the field in front of them. The ongoing murmuring amongst the students left the normally sleeping teenager to think as he glared at the Uzumaki and his now rapidly climbing status. _"__What __special __training __have __you __been __put __through, __Naruto? __It__'__s __unreal.__"_

Kiba, hearing the comments and mutterings of the students, growled and clenched his fists angrily. Slamming a handful of dirt to the ground he then quickly clambered back to his feet and took another fighting stance. Claws and canines bearing he glared furiously across at the blonde who simply stood back and watched him reestablish his position.

"A lucky shot! But I'm not holding anything back this time, dead-last!" Kiba snapped, despite the beads of sweat now running down his face. His mind was in overdrive, trying to figure out how the hell his opponent managed to take him down so easily. "I'll get you this round."

Naruto, on the receiving end of the death glare, nodded in understanding and assumed another stance. This time he extended both hands forward, open palmed and with the right extended the furthest and the left hovering near the elbow.

"We'll see…" the jinchuriki murmured, with his thoughts taking him back to the words he had heard Shikamaru speak, _"__Twenty __seconds? __Heh. __Alright__… __twenty __seconds__…"_

Maintain control of the fight at every stage and in all aspects. That was his key.

Kiba growled and lunged forward with a fury of jabs and clawed strikes. However, those that were in range didn't even make it past two hits when Naruto shockingly caught them and got in close. Maintaining a firm grip as he locked up Kiba's arms the jinchuriki attacked with his defense and gently nudged, elbowed and struck out, as his opponent struggled to break the lock. Kiba growled in an attempted lash out, but his arms kept on getting blocked, caught and locked.

Naruto smiled in between each interval.

He caught a jab and in return struck low then up. "Hit!" Intercepted another attack and aimed a pressure point palm strike at Kiba's neck, but didn't make contact. "Hit!" Kiba attempted to grab him with his right, but Naruto took his arm, forcefully lowered his defense with the same arm and struck across the boy's neck with an elbow of his free arm twice, but reframed from making contact. "Hit! Hit!" He then caught another strike with the arm and twisted Kiba's limbs downwards and crossed them, locking them and completely lowering his upper defense. With that done, Naruto then slammed both fists into Kiba's lower body where the kidney was and just above the collar bone, pushing Kiba back with the double-hit. "Full hit!"

As Kiba was stumbling back Naruto grabbed his forearms and yanked him forward, slapping both hands over the Inuzuka's face and pressing his thumbs into his eyes. The teen growled and responded a second later, gripping the jinchuriki's wrists and pushing them down. However, this unintentionally lowered his defense again and Naruto capitalized on it by swiftly bringing his hands up and working a series of chain punches all over his opponent's chest.

Fortunately for Kiba they were light taps that would have been considered as a back massage rather than punches, otherwise his chest would have caved in had the strikes been executed at full tension. In the end, the number of punches Naruto landed was completely unaccounted for even by his teacher, which he worked up Kiba's upper body before he started slapping him all over his face. His opponent didn't respond throughout and was unable to until a dozen slaps later.

On the last hit Naruto shoved Kiba back, hand kept extended and a smile plastered on the jinchuriki's face.

Kiba, stunned from the attacks, shook his head to rid himself of the shock and dropped into an enclosed fist stance. Naruto recognized it as the _Academy __Style_ and smiled, deducing that his opponent was getting desperate in the last few seconds.

The Inuzuka drove home with a series of straight punches, but Naruto blocked them, caught the last one and pulled him forward while using his momentum against him. With the same arm he used to grab the limb he sent a light uppercut to Kiba's throat, grabbed both his arms, stepped back, front kicked him in the gut, then kneed him. After which he wrapped an arm around Kiba's head, grabbed his forehead and spun him over and lightly dropped him to the ground.

Like it were a demonstration, Naruto kept Kiba pinned under a knee, shadow jabbed him just above his kidney, before sending a series of punches at his head. He continued to hold back from landing a single hit, pausing on the last punch seconds later. By the time his roughly fifteen hit combo was finished Kiba was lying dazed on the ring floor.

When that realization came to him the Inuzuka looked up in shock to see Naruto smiling down at him, fist still extended towards his cheek.

"I enjoyed this fight, Kiba," the blonde exclaimed.

The jinchuriki then proceeded to help the flabbergasted boy back to his feet, even committing some of his valuable time to dust his opponent's jumper down.

During the time Naruto was tending to Kiba's wellbeing he failed to notice that the rest of his class was completely thunderstruck.

Iruka had dropped his pen the moment the procession ended. There were a many good reasons why the teacher was shocked at this point, paramount of which were the techniques Naruto used and the combinations he executed to bring down an opponent who was supposedly far superior in taijutsu then anyone else in the class. Sakura, Ino and Choji were staring silently in bewilderment, Hinata was mystified, Shino was shockingly also looking slightly astonished, and Sasuke's jaw had dropped.

The latter, raven haired boy quickly returned to his normal scowl when he realized what he was doing and focused his best glare on Naruto as the blonde finished shaking hands with his opponent.

"_I __couldn__'__t __read __his __style __at __all __and __I __could __barely __follow __his __movements,__" _the Uchiha thought, a bead of sweat running down the side of his face. _"__Had __he __allowed __the __fight __to __be __full __contact __on __his __end __he __could __have __killed __Kiba.__"_

Naruto grinned while he looked the silent Kiba in the face, with his hands set in his pockets and a reasonable space set between them that allowed the revelations of the past event to sink in. "Hey, Kiba. You okay?"

"Uhh… uhh… oh… y-yeah … I'm fine," the teen shook his head furiously and after some backtracking, let out a chuckle and pointed at him, "Y-You've got some good moves there, kid…"

"Kid?" Naruto laughed heartedly. "That's an odd thing to say to the guy who just floored you."

"Well… you can count this as _your_ victory today," Kiba exclaimed, a grin spreading across his face, "But don't think you've lapped me just yet. Wait till we go full out with jutsu, then I'll really show you some ass-kicking moves."

"Looking forward to it…" the blonde said.

Kiba smirked and extended a hand to him. It took the jinchuriki a few seconds to determine his intentions, but in the end he shook hands with the Inuzuka and let the white noise fall out. They also shared the symbol of 'harmony', as was the tradition encouraged by their teacher.

With that gesture of respect exchanged they then parted and headed back to the crowd. While Kiba wasn't physically limping thanks to his opponent's restraint and mercy, yet he was still limping in shock at what had happened. Even Akamaru, who was waiting patiently for him on the sidelines, barked out his opinion of the match when his owner swooped down to collect him.

"I know boy… I know…" Kiba chuckled and placed the pup on top of his head, "I got beat… it's no big deal. I can live with that…" The little dog yipped and wagged his tail happily. _"__Man__… __Naruto __was __tougher __then __I __thought. __The __brat __has __some __bite __added __to __his __bark __after __all__…"_

When Naruto walked passed, Iruka stepped over and stopped him by placing his hand on his shoulder. The academy student looked up at the taller man in surprise to see a big smile framing his face.

"Hey… good one, Naruto," Iruka grinned proudly, "You did extremely well."

"T-Thanks… sensei," the jinchuriki smiled back, "For everything…"

The teacher gave him one last pat on the shoulder and then sent him on his way so that he could continue with his duties.

While the match ups proceeded on to their next stages Naruto went over to Shino to recover his magazine from him. When the boy in the glasses held it out to him, the jinchuriki got a bit of a surprise when he didn't let it go on the first pull.

He didn't let go on the second or the third tugs either.

Naruto stopped and stared questionably up at the Aburame, during which time he also took note of the other eyes from students locked onto him, most notably from Ino, Sakura, Hinata and Ami. He looked between them all for a few seconds before settling on the boy in front of him still holding onto one end of his magazine.

"You've gotten stronger, Naruto," Shino said, his voice monotone as usual. "Stronger then you were weeks prior to this event. My bugs can tell…"

The blonde grinned uncertainly in return and rubbed his head nervously. "Y-Yeah… I… I guess. But… heh… it's _really_ nothing to brag about, you see-"

"I'm surprised," Shino interrupted, his sunglasses flashing as he tipped his head to the other teen politely. "Unfortunately, I have already had my match today. But if you and I should have a friendly spar sometime in the foreseeable future, know that I'll be looking forward to it with great enthusiasm."

Well, that was a real smack in the face.

Naruto had never been offered a standing challenge with anybody before. The other students just shrugged off whatever challenges he himself proposed on the off and immediately considered him an utter annoyance. But now, after witnessing his display he quickly realized from everyone's reactions that he had definitely turned a few heads and changed several peoples' opinions on him at the same time. So, surprised expression in play and jaw locked, he simply stared at Shino for a moment or so before responding with a smile and a head nod of his own.

The Aburame relinquished his hold on the magazine.

"Thanks Shino…"

He was then let on his way, with the students watching him stroll back to his former spot at the very edge of the crowd.

Ino, Sakura and Hinata stared after his retreating back, two of them in bewilderment and the other one out of curiosity. As he opened up his magazine to where he had previously been before, murmuring started up between the girls all at once.

"Do you ever get the feeling that… he's holding out on us?" Ino asked, looking over at Sakura standing right next to her. "I mean… he's unpredictable, yeah. But if he was or… _is_ strong like Sasuke-kun, do you think he would show it in the same way?"

"Don't know," Sakura shrugged back. "I don't really pay much attention to him. I think he just goes about conveying it differently."

"I-It's a different kind of cool," Hinata murmured, her cheeks reddening when the two girls standing beside her glanced at her. The scrutiny she was given had her turn away some more to hide her bashful response. "N-Naruto-kun… is also cool… _the __coolest__…_" When she mumbled off on the end the last part of her sentence went on unheard by her other classmates, who just stared at her oddly.

Ino looked back over at Naruto standing some ways out as he continued to read in silence. Sakura mirrored, with both of them ending up staring intently at the blonde. They were so engrossed in their analysis of him that they completely missed out on the next two contestants taking to the ring.

"I guess he's cool in his own way," Ino said with a small smile, while nudging Sakura next to her. "I mean… strong guys are my type."

"Yeah," Sakura sort of shrugged. "Silent ones too."

"Mmm…" the platinum blonde murmured and scratched her head. "I guess for Naruto, it sort of balances out."

"Yeah…"

"But you can't deny it, he's definitely improved a lot since last month," Ino stated, folding her arms at her chest. _"__I__'__m __willing __to __admit __that __now __and __I __am __not __ashamed __of __it. __The __whole __class __is __here, __everyone __saw __what __he __did, __so __what __harm __is __there? __It __just __shows __that __he__'__s __finally __getting __serious __about __his __career.__"_ The blonde spared a few glances over at the jinchuriki in question, but didn't maintain her gaze.

The Yamanaka's brow narrowed suspiciously.

"_Still… how did he manage to go from zero to hero in just over a month? How did he get so strong? What's his secret?"_

XXX

When all of the students had finally had their fun out on the field and their fights were done and marked for the day, Iruka then began herding the whole of the class back into their room. Waving his arms like a shepherd he maneuvered them towards the building and continued to do so despite their lack of sense of urgency or anything remotely towards their schooling hours. They all left in twos, fours and what not, hands in their pockets or rubbing their bruises taken from scuffles with others.

While the class marched along, with some comments being tossed about the previous matches between individuals, Naruto walked along just as slowly as everybody else. He hung out at the back of the pack, even behind his teacher who decided to go on ahead to start class.

Hands in his pockets, he kicked at the ground.

Thoughts of his little duels went through his mind and how his technique and fighting fitness had allowed him to win each and every one. Following Kiba's battle, several of the other guys looking to prove themselves in front of everybody else called him out onto the ring. Though it was all in good fun, Naruto was distracted from his reading time.

But after recapping on his fights, the jinchuriki then began thinking of ways to improve himself in his styles, since it was a great form of practice and exercise.

He had never thought to have progressed this far in just a month.

"_Technique. __Strength. __Training. __It__'__s __**all **__important,__"_ the blonde looked up and scratched his head. _"__Maybe __I __can __learn __more __then __one __style __after __all. __That__'__d __be __so __cool. __I __can __throw __my __opponents __off __if __I __change __the __direction __and __form __of __my __attack __instead __of __just __sticking __to __the __one. __Then __again, __I __can __just __make __do __with __the __erratic __movements __of __my __Blocking __Fist__… __or __another. __Hmm__… __perhaps __I __can __build __up__on __my __style __with __other __techniques, __any __really__…"_

Before he could dabble on, Naruto noticed someone waiting for him up ahead.

Attentiveness returning to the present, the jinchuriki unexpectedly saw Sasuke standing in the middle of the path leading back to the school, his own hands in his pockets and his hawk-like eyes glaring in his direction intently. The sight of him had the now passive troublemaker stop in his tracks, "What do you want, Sasuke-teme?" Reasonable question. Why the hell would the so-called top kid in class want anything to do with a lowly, dead-last?

Naruto always spat on those words, but in terms of genuine social status it was sort of true. He made a note to himself to mend that constant outlook on him by doing better in the future.

From this day forward, he wasn't going to be the last in the class at everything anymore. It was time for a regime change.

Sasuke just continued to glare at him with his charcoal black eyes, despite the simple question being asked. It started to mess with the orange boy something fierce; silent treatment and everything. In the end though, the Uchiha did speak, "It just occurred to me that you and I didn't get a chance to fight, dobe."

Naruto turned his head away, but kept his eyes fixated on the teen suspiciously. "Yeah… and…?"

"I want to spar with you… later." Sasuke gave him a small smirk, "I want to see if all of your accomplishments today weren't mere flukes. Perhaps… after school?"

Naruto blinked.

Interesting. Another challenge? Actually, in his world it was quite a perplexing turn of events. It wasn't just surprising for the fact that the raven haired boy was _requesting_ for a one-on-one fight with him personally, it was surprising because it was normally _him_ who challenged the teme, not the other way around.

It was strange. Every fight that he wound up committing with the Uchiha ended up with him being beaten and quite literally grounded, and over the years the black haired teen gradually lost more and more interest in his efforts. By the time of his second year at the academy, Naruto's threats and challenges turned out to have as little meaning to the teme as a girl's proposal.

However, upon thinking this through for several moments Naruto then abruptly remembered what Shino had said to him after his fight with Kiba; that _he_ was looking forward to a spar with him in the future as well. Of course, this realization took some seconds of thought for him to get a complete grasp of, but then when that period eventually passed him by, the jinchuriki became fully aware of the situation developing around him and smirked.

Boy, this was becoming _really_ interesting. Not only was he being challenged by Kiba and Shino, but by the local mope as well? Now he had _four_ fights he would have to hold out for.

Tenten was the first to make reservations with him.

Fact of the matter was that Sasuke's interest in his abilities had been rekindled, so to speak, after watching Kiba get kicked around in front of the entire class. What a golden opportunity. Fighting against Sasuke would be the best test he could possibly ask for in terms of how he was moving along in the combat department.

But then again, was that such a good idea?

Now that he thought about it some more, it was sort pushing it…

Naruto didn't want to tackle Sasuke just yet, not until he was completely sure he had covered all of the essentials. He was still in the process of cleaning up his act after all; therefore he needed to make sure he graduated this year first before getting around to any of his promised fights.

There were also several things he wanted to find out before facing off against any of them and they were important.

These 'responsibilities' kind of weighed out the favor of a good duel at the end of the debate.

Shaking his head, Naruto strolled up to him, "If you're still interested by the end of the month, meet me at my place when you're free. Come alone." The boy stopped beside the Uchiha, who continued to stare at him unflinchingly.

Sasuke smirked even wider, "Afraid of getting beaten badly in front of your friends?"

"Whatever, it's not like I have anything to worry about. It's _your_ game," Naruto exclaimed and continued walking back to class. The raven haired teen followed after him, both of them mirroring the other as they had their hands in their pockets respectively. It was kind of funny seeing them stride alongside one another, like actual friends.

What an effective illusion.

"By the way…" Sasuke began again, glancing at the blonde with an inquisitive expression in play. "Where did you learn how to fight like that?"

"Like _that_?" Naruto shrugged but couldn't hide the beaming smile on his face as he averted his gaze skywards, "A very close friend showed me how. She's really strong… I'd say the strongest person I've ever met."

"Hmph…"

_**TO BE CONTINUED…**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Please excuse any spelling mistakes, cause the file gets messed up whenever I make a transfer._

_Anyhow, this chapter. Man was it a stretch. It was fun though._

_Anyway, I'm making sure that I cover Naruto's training thoroughly. Obviously, you'd need to see the pain and torment he actually goes through learning his new style of fighting from Yim and how his progress ended with such startling results. Training is training, it isn't easy._

_Half a month with clones, definitely enough time for him to work. Still, he's having one problem after the other using chi and will continue to have problems with it. Rince and repeat. It's gonna get interesting as well._

_Personally, I'm looking forward to writing the first C-Rank mission and the Wave Arc. lol_


	6. Academy Arc: Just Warming Up

**NARUTO**

**The Art of Appropriation**

_Just Warming Up_

**Three days later…**

During lunch break at the academy all the students from the various classes scattered themselves throughout the entire quad to catch their breath. They had taken a whole day of grilling from their teachers, particularly the ones from Iruka's class. In spite of the fact that they had already completed ninety percent of the exams so far, their teacher wanted to make sure that all of the work he had put behind them had been thorough, and made sure of this by tirelessly putting them through their paces not only on the practice courses but also in the bookwork. The majority of the study for this particular day was on Bunshin, this being the final exam required for them to graduate and become shinobi.

But it was still some days away…

Every able student was looking forward to the final test with an equal amount of confidence flowing through all of them.

The only individual, who wasn't taking it easy though, was using whatever time he had on hand to pump some iron, so to speak.

Naruto had called Yim over to meet up with him at the school during his break so that they could continue on with the next task she had planned for him, which was learning how to use the _Long __Pole_.

The traveling martial artist had noted earlier that her apprentice had passed all of her preliminary tests; everything to do with technique and form of _Spring __Chant_. These were the foundation stones required for him to then build upon through, not only continued practice, but improvement. By using what he was taught he could then grow stronger and faster, and this could be achieved through the correct; daily exercises, sparring sessions, chi control and muscle work and all of that. She had taught him all she could on the open hand primary style, now all she needed to do was teach him how to grow stronger through it, use the weapons associated with the style, and the advanced chi techniques.

The latter would be his toughest trials yet, but those could wait.

Since he was now able to generate the right force through the hands in the style alone, he was now able to progress to the more concrete material. Yim stated that Naruto now needed to transmit the force he was able to produce through his limbs into weapons, effectively making it a 'physical' extension of his body as opposed to the familiar 'metaphysical' aspects he had been learning through chi. The _Butterfly __Knives_ were a step up from his present stage, but the teacher felt that the jinchuriki was adequately experienced enough at using blades to understand the concept of extending his style through them.

The _Long __Pole_ however was different. As opposed to the duel blades, the single staff required a lot of control, a lot of focus, and a significant amount of strength in the arms. The traditional weapon was around eight to thirteen feet, and normally bamboo; flexible and rigid. However, instead of just practicing it in terms of close and medium range aspects, Yim wanted her student to transform the traditional medium range style into a long range style. This meant stepping up his usual training regime.

Out behind the wooded areas of the training grounds, around the area of the academy supply shed, Yim had taken a clearing for Naruto and his clones to occupy so that they could go through the steps.

At this point, absorbing techniques into his consciousness and subconscious was easy for the jinchuriki. The shadow clones could read through visual cues and demonstrations much like the illustrations they had been taking in from the books the boy had been reading. But because this was a far more advanced form of training, it would make it much harder for the naturalization to occur in transition from the clones to the original host.

Hence, they would be working for the next month or so primarily on staffed weapons.

Yim set the clones working on technique with the short staffs and the long staffs, two classes of about twenty taking up different sides of the clearing.

As they batted away, the woman set the original Naruto his own task.

Strength building.

The clones could handle the memorization and execution of the techniques associated with the sticks. It was the main body that needed to focus on strengthening itself physically.

Yim smiled as she dropped a thin, strong yet flexible bamboo pole in front of the boy, about twenty feet long with a iron club tied and secured at the end of it. The boy wearing just his spandex pants and sandals looked down at it with a deadpanned expression before glancing back up at his teacher standing in the very middle of the clearing.

"Uhh… Yim-chan?"

"Don't underestimate this training. After all, it's for your own benefit if you wish to eventually master the ability of hitting an opponent with a staff fifty meters away?" Yim exclaimed, seeing his jaw drop the moment she said that. "Don't worry; the leap to that stage will not be immediate. For something like this, it'll take time and energy…"

"B-But… fifty meters away?" Naruto stepped forward, throwing his hands up in resignation. "That's impossible!"

"For one who focuses solely on close range techniques; _yes_," Yim said, gesturing towards him with a gentle hand wave. "However, by practicing with the long pole you are stepping beyond that limitation. _Spring __Chant_ is exclusively based around close range attacks, something with which you can apply your knife techniques with and make it a true force to be reckoned with. I recommend that you find a weapon suited for that purpose. Additionally though, this creates a disadvantage."

"A disadvantage?"

"Every technique, no matter how powerful it is, has a weakness. There are opponents who could use bows, weapons or energy based abilities against you that will allow them to hit you from a range which you cannot reach with your open hand alone. Your chi techniques could make up for this, but at this stage they are too weak to reach great distances. Through practice you will be able to overcome this blunder. But as a method of enabling you to conserve energy through a prolonged confrontation with an opponent, there is another way." She then gestured to the staff at his feet. "Start from five meters and work your way up to fifty."

"H-How?"

"With the long pole, of course. You can only find weapons like this at about four to five meters long a piece. But, if you can master the mid-range aspect of it you will definitely be able to step up and master the long-range stage of the training," Yim pointed, nodding towards the clones using the stated-five meter weapons against each other all across the clearing. "Those alone can barely get into a mid-range fight. You'll need to improvise."

"So… I need a poled weapon of about…" Naruto shrugged suggestively, "_Fifty_ meters?"

"Even better," Yim said, kicking the pole with the weight on the end of it off of the ground and up at her student. Naruto caught it with an audible 'oof' and staggered back. "You can create a collection of ten, five-meter long poles that can link up with each other and transform it into a staff at about fifty meters in length. You'll need something to be able to carry all of these into battle, but that shouldn't be a problem for you. The point is, once you have mastered this technique you will be able to accomplish feats beyond that of any close-range opponent and you'll definitely surprise your targets from a distance. But this will take you close to half a year or more to master."

"Half a year? Seriously?"

"Don't worry. I'm confident that you'll be able to make it work. Why else would I have gotten you to start out like this?" Yim giggled, seeing his gawking expression directed at her but wiped it away. "Start from scratch. It always works out in the end."

"Oh. Okay." Though he didn't exactly sound convinced in his response, he actually was looking forward to kicking butt with a long-ass pole. Nevertheless, the training equipment he was holding at present did raise some questions. He held out said-pole with an inquisitive glance, "What the heck am I supposed to do with this then?"

"Strength building training," Yim directed him towards the tree at the edge of the clearing. "_That__'__s_ your target."

Naruto stepped over to it and his teacher followed. When he got within range of his stationary opponent, he looked back across the clearing which spread to about twenty meters. After a quick account, he then looked back at his friend when she came close to shadow him.

"So, am I supposed to hit the tree with this _thing_?"

"Exactly," Yim replied and nodded at the bamboo stick he was holding. The iron club at the end of the weapon shook up and down repetitively where it was suspended, "This one will do for now until you progress onto a lengthier staff. The hammer at the end is about ten kilos. On its own it's not so heavy. But through the pole its weight is increased ten times and more." The woman then walked over to the edge of the park space and sat on the bench, where she had prepped a pot of tea for herself. She sat down and smiled over at the boy, "Use one hand to grip one end and use the hammer end to hit the side of the tree repeatedly. In addition to this exercise, use the clones' clashing staffs as your intervals. For every _clap_ you hear from their weapons hitting against each other, _you_ hit the tree. It's that simple."

"That's it, huh? It doesn't seem so hard," Naruto smirked and decided to hold the pole with one hand. Since he was already carrying it around the center with both, it didn't seem like much. But as soon as he switched it to a single-handed grip and held it out, the hammer at the end dropped with a mighty thud. "Mother of-!" He attempted to lift it, but the multiplied weight made it exceedingly difficult.

"To use both hands makes the job easier, but with one hand the task becomes considerably overwhelming," Yim explained while pouring a cup of tea and letting it simmer. "You'll need to be able to hold it up with one hand and arm with ease if you're ever going to use the long pole weapon effectively. Practice until it's as natural as breathing. When you reach the very end, we'll extend it and keep up the pace. This task will be incredibly difficult for you to overcome."

Moving in a foot or so down the length, Naruto was able to pick up the block at the end and suspend it, albeit shaky limbs. Holding the club end close to the tree and letting it sway, he then looked back at his teacher. "B-But… what does this help me to accomplish, Yim-chan?"

"If you're going to wield the long pole staff of about fifty meters, the weight at either end through the weapon will be so great it will be impossible to use effectively in battle. Therefore, you must strengthen your body, your arms and your wrists to be able to use it. This exercise does precisely that." Yim pointed at the swinging hammer, "The practice amplifies the strength in your arms. The further down you go, the heavier it will get. Work on this task to the point you are able to hit this tree and make an impact at fifty or more meters away." She then gestured to the clearing where the copies were training. "When you reach the other end of this place we'll need a change of venues."

"I…I see…"

Yim smiled and looked back, picking up her tea and taking a sip. "Well, what are you waiting for? Begin."

Nodding in understanding, Naruto led the hammer back and rammed it into the side of the vessel that was his objective. The iron weight slammed into the wood with a crack, but didn't do much. This would only be the start of a long and arduous process, as the blonde haired jinchuriki continued hammering away at the side of the natural pillar in time with the clashes he could hear echoing from his clones in training. His body quivered, the hammer head and the pole he held shook uncontrollably, and his exposed skin quickly began to break out into a great sweat at the efforts he was exerting.

It only took just a little over a minute, but Naruto couldn't take anymore. His wrist gave out and he dropped the staff. He felt his body fall in line with this action and collapsed to his knee, gripping his forearm and biting back the pain as best as he could.

"G-God dammit!"

"Switch hands. Don't stop," Yim stated, crossing her legs as she sat on the bench. She took her tea cup into two hands and as soon as she passed that instruction on, she took another sip, prompting her student to quickly take up the pole again.

He wasn't going to disappoint. This was a technique he _had_ to learn. There was no way in all the shinobi nations he was going to be beaten by an exercise he just started.

The boy led on, ramming the hammer of the pole repeatedly into the tree with his other hand, albeit with great difficulty. It was all written on his face and by the way he telegraphed his stance. Unlike all the other exercises he had been put through; chi meditation, chi manipulation, balance, shadow sparring, form sessions, practice sessions directly with his teacher, chakra meditation, chakra control, clone training, strenuous workouts and taijutsu training, they were just stepping stones leading up to the bridge that was this task.

It didn't take long for muscle strain to kick into his next hand and he collapsed, clutching his stinging wrist.

Panting heavily, Naruto gritted his teeth and switched hands again, going back to the one that was already throbbing in pain.

Yim smiled as she watched her student continue at his exercise. She lowered her cup in order to better oversee his practice and the practice of his clones, _"This __will __keep __him __occupied __for __the __next __couple __of __months."_

XXX

**That afternoon...**

**Ichiraku's Ramen...**

"My wrists… my poor wrists…" Naruto whimpered, blowing on his aforementioned cuffs just below his hands while his hot bowl of miso ramen simmered away in front of him, untouched. Yim on the other hand was enjoying her meal, meticulously picking up delectable squid from her seafood flavored noodle dish and savoring every bite. The rosy red cheeks she wore indicated just how much she was enjoying her dinner.

While Teuchi and Ayame weren't entirely put off by the fact that their best customer wasn't diving into his ramen for obvious reasons, it was the fact that he looked so beaten up after a supposedly routine period at the academy. It was breaking into night now and he looked as though he had been through the worst day of his life. Never had they seen him come into their store looking the way he was.

And that wasn't even the worst part.

His complaining over his wrists hurting wasn't at all exaggerated. He had worked so much on his exercises the entire day with Yim that they had gone black like they were bruised.

It was a cringe worthy sight, no question.

Seeing him still crying on about his pretty useless limbs Teuchi decided to throw him a bone. Being the supportive restaurant owner that he was he dropped two bags of ice and a few bandages in front of him. The boy looked up in confusion when he saw the items deposited next to his meal.

"There you go, kiddo," the old man laughed, tipping his hat to him. "I can tell when a youngster like you has really been putting his foot down and by that I mean through hard work. Unlike all those other years I've seen you in here prior to the final exams at the academy I've never seen you like _this_. You must be working yourself to the bone."

Naruto grinned back, gently slipping one of the bags over his arm and sighing in relief, "Thanks a lot, jiji. It… It's really a big thing for me right now, you know. Really, I owe all of my good marks to my good friend Yim-chan." He grinned over at the woman, who smiled back while also gently patting him on the shoulder. Blushing at her affectionate gesture, the jinchuriki glanced back around at a beaming Teuchi and an 'aawing' Ayame, "She's been helping me out so much."

"All of that work, you did on your own, Naruto-kun," Yim replied, seeing the boy's eyes fall on her again. "You would have found your way even if I had been absent from your life."

"Don't say that Yim-chan," the jinchuriki grinned widely at her, showing her the brightness still radiating off of his tired face. "You were loads of help!"

"Thank you, Naruto-kun. But please, what I speak is the truth. My contribution to your development has been merely a means of leading you down a different path from everybody else and to give you encouragement. I'm sure all of your friends have been taught by close companions and relatives of their own, just like how I am instructing and guiding you."

"Yeah. I… I think you're right there, Yim-chan." The boy shrugged his shoulders and looked away, still smiling happily both outwardly and inwardly. Dawning on it, his friend did make a good point, _"Sasuke got loads of help from his family before they died. I heard from Kiba and Shikamaru that they always got grilled by their mums to do better, Choji says he hangs out with his dad a lot, and I bet Sakura-chan has friends and family that assist her at home whenever she's in trouble."_

They had their families to help them, and Naruto had Yim. Wait. Not just her. He had Iruka-sensei, Teuchi, Ayame, Shiho-chan, Shikamaru and Choji. Really, they were perhaps some of the only people he could think of that he could count on the most. He couldn't ask for anything more than that.

Oh yeah, and Tenten.

He was beginning to wonder when she was gonna call on him for that promised spar.

After wrapping the icepacks around his throbbing wrists, Naruto then decided to start on his dinner. He giggled excitedly, beginning at the soup and working his way down. The balance and consistency of his ramen had rarely changed over the course of his comings and goings of the restaurant over the years. Though Teuchi had surprised him many times by changing the broths ever so slightly to test his senses on certain occasions, he always appreciated the old man's hard work. Hell, he could definitely praise Ayame for her talents with the wok, board, spatula and basket whenever she made him her noodle specialties.

To him, they were both the best at their jobs.

"This is fantastic!" Naruto exclaimed, grinning up at the pair behind the counter gazing over at him. "There's nothing like a hot bowl of broth and noodle to brighten up my afternoon. You guys are awesome, dattebayo! I bet you treat this like an art form."

"It's just second nature," Teuchi chuckled at the boy, seeing him slurp up noodles like he was breathing air. "When you've been making ramen for as long as I have, you'll be able to recite every single recipe step-by-step from the top of your head and make it while blindfolded."

"You… don't do that… do you, jiji?" Naruto asked inquisitively, "Make ramen blindfolded."

"Nope. He doesn't," Ayame interjected, nudging her way past her father and gently elbowing him in the gut. The older man winced and rubbed his stomach area sheepishly, "I make sure of it. Last time he tried, while he was dicing fishcakes he ended up cutting the power cord to the grinder and electrocuted himself. Good thing a shinobi was in the bar at the time to resuscitate him when he lost consciousness."

"Not an event I was particularly proud of," Teuchi joked, still rubbing his stomach, "Ahh, but good times just the same. Next time I'll have to do blindfolded tasks in a classic kitchen space and not a contemporary one filled with appliances."

"It's good to learn from your mistakes," Naruto grinned, thumbing his chest. "I've learnt from all of my mistakes and I still do, because I make so many and they're different each and every time. But hey, life is an adventure. You're bound to hit potholes."

Now, what reason existed in this universe that he could possibly have to make him feel so proud of that statement? Well for one, it was the truth. Secondly, he has proven thus far in his life to always pick himself up even from his more stupid errors and he never allowed any of them to get to him. Thirdly, he'd learned a lot of what to do and what not to do depending on the type of situation he was presented with. It was this very fact that made him so good at a lot of things; pulling pranks on high-level shinobi and practical exercises.

Any objective that was meant to be primarily hands-on he could consider a triumph the moment he began pursuing it.

Then again, he really shouldn't be saying that so lightly. There was always a chance of failure.

"Now _that_ is perseverance," Ayame giggled, picking up the wok and taking it to the back for wash up. Hearing Naruto's positive statements always brought a smile to her face. He was so carefree, "Even if you go about it differently than anybody else, Naruto-kun, you have an incredibly strong resolve."

"Differently? I take it to the next level," Naruto fist pumped the air. "Never give up! That's my motto!"

"Something you so passionately wish to share with others. Keep at it," Teuchi nodded to him approvingly, "That attitude of yours can change the world."

Naruto returned to his meal with a wider smile brimming on his face. This time, he made sure to savor every bite and to thank his hosts for their exceptional work.

While he was in the middle of inhaling his second bowl of ramen, he was unexpectedly nudged in the side by Yim, whom he addressed with a focus change to see her smiling in his direction. The martial arts teacher gestured to him, then to the bowl of noodles in front of him, and then back towards the chefs behind the delicious master piece he was currently consuming. It took another couple of gestures for him to completely realize what her visual cues were entailing and as a result, he shook his head uncertainly.

"I… I don't really want to bother them too much, Yim-chan. They're… very busy people, you know. Besides I… don't think they'd have the time to deal with a troublesome kid like me."

"It's just another life skill you could use, Naruto-kun. That's all. If you really love this food so much and speak of it so openly without hesitation, then what harm could there be from learning how to make it for yourself?" she replied, tapping the side of his bowl with her chopsticks. "If you're fervent about something, then seize every opportunity you can to learn more about it."

Considering her words as well as the broth and contents steaming in front of him, the jinchuriki took several moments to mull things over. Tapping his fingers against the desk nervously, his mind all a whirl, he then sucked in a breath of air and rose to his feet. His actions caught the attention of the old man and his daughter, to whom he then bowed low towards with his eyes tightly shut.

He had to be prompt and presentable.

"Oji-san and Ayame-oneesan; please teach me how to make your delicious ramen!"

Silence immediately fell in the store.

It became so quiet in fact that you could literally hear the father and daughter team behind the counter blink in perfect sync with each other.

"_**Huh?"**_

XXX

**An hour later…**

"Ouch!"

Naruto winced when the back of his left hand was slapped just as he was about to push both of them through the lump of dough lying on the cutting board right in front of him. Quickly rubbing the appealing spatula mark away, he glanced up at the grinning Ayame standing right next to him.

"Uh-Uh-Uhh. Remember the cardinal rule of professional ramen chefs, Naruto-kun," the girl said while gently pushing him away so that they both stood perfectly together, side-by-side. She set down her makeshift cane and held both her hands out, showing the boy both sides in the process. "Always have clean hands. Wash properly before handling the dough. This consists of three simple steps: soap, rinse and dry. Also, please remember to conduct yourself along the introductory guidelines of a ramen chef as much as possible, starting with the noodles: keep your sleeves rolled up, all flour falls onto your apron and keep your arms clean."

"Arms clean?"

"That way people won't cringe when you hand them their orders at the end of the procedure," Ayame explained, poking him in the nose. "Would you want to eat food from a person with filthy arms?"

"Uhh… no…"

"Then there you go," Ayame explained, hurrying him towards the sink a couple of feet away and immediately putting them under the taps. She took a second to roll back his sleeves herself and lather them in soup while he showered them. "Remember, we have five minutes to make each order, three if you want to go for the professionals. This is a shinobi village after all so you have to be quick. Make sure you have all of the cleanliness covered within the first thirty seconds. Once that's done, move on!" She shut off the taps and allowed him but a moment to dry, before pulling him back towards the board.

Like Yim before her, Ayame physically yet encouragingly adjusted Naruto's stance at the desk and pulled his arms around.

"Narrow horse-riding stance, head up high, hands at the striking position and elbows in at the waist. This way you will be able to maneuver about a small kitchen with ease and grab the necessary ingredients quickly. All must be accessible," Ayame stated, pushing his stomach in when she saw him slouching. "Once you have assumed the correct position you can start on the dough. You've already seen how it was put together, so let's recap."

Naruto nodded and with a thoughtful stare, began recounting the instructions from the last thirty minutes of practical work, "The ingredients include two to three cups of flour, wheat flour if possible, three to four eggs, and a tasteful amount of salt and water, with kansui."

"Very good. Remember, it all depends on the type of noodles you wish to make and the number of people you are serving. Five to ten minutes is a long time between each dish, so we try to stretch out the one clump of dough for as many people as possible. Let's start with a group of about a dozen servings." Ayame brought their attention back to the cutting board. "We take the flour and salt, and put them together to form a hill in either a mixing bowl or a surface board. We then create a well at the center of the pile where we add the eggs and water. Combine until it comes together to form a nice pasta dough like the one you see before you."

"Uh-huh…" Naruto watched as his instructor pointed at him, her finger coming dangerously close to his nose.

"You _must_ make sure you mix the ingredients well. If you don't then the noodles won't have a consistent flavor and therefore will be outclassed by the soup. Knead it well and insure that the dough knows who's running this yahoo otherwise the noodles won't be firm." Ayame started on the kneading of the object they were facing, demonstrating the correct techniques and strength applications. She let the dough roll around her fingers and knuckles, presenting to her temporary apprentice just how thorough the massaging of the ingredients into one had to be.

It looked like quite a bit of work. The sight literally had Naruto come to appreciate how much effort both of his favorite chefs in the world put into their cooking.

"Once you have thoroughly kneaded the dough to evenly distribute the flavor throughout, you then pick it up and give it a good pulling," the young woman exclaimed, next showing the jinchuriki the following step by picking up the large lump and letting it stretch by itself. As he expected the young chef instructing him went through the procedure with little to no effort exerted whatsoever and treated it very much like a master piece, flexing out the noodles and drawing it out in mid-air in the most graceful performance imaginable. She literally defined its shape and texture of stretching, shaking and spinning in her own characteristic manner. It was one of the most amazing sights Naruto had ever born witness to. "It's important for you to get the noodles so that they are all equally thick. You don't want them to look different after you boil them!"

Ayame then moved on to the final techniques after literally throwing the dough about in the air between her hands, stretching it till it became taunt and dropping it with a heavy thud back onto the wooden board.

"Current chefs would normally let the noodles rest for the next thirty minutes before putting it through the angel hair fitting of the pasta disperser," she explained, seeing Naruto give her an intent and inquisitive stare. She then smirked and thumped the center of her chest proudly. "But we are chefs in a shinobi village. We don't have time for dawdling. That is why we have perfected our dough molding techniques so that we can skip that stage."

The blonde squinted in a distressed manner to her instructions.

Okay, now this was _really_ starting to get complicated. No joke. How did Teuchi and Ayame do this day in and day out?

"This is _hard_!" Naruto whined, his posture deflating.

"Stop whimpering you baby. We haven't even gotten to the _hard_ part yet," Ayame mused in a very motherly way. She collected the dough she had dropped and began twirling it. After going through a complex series of more stretches and twirls, she suddenly dispersed it through the air and pulled the dough out to its tightest. It became almost elastic like as she waved it about, with Naruto observing as the dough flipped, stretched, intertwined, and then suddenly separated itself into numerous strands in one strain.

He blinked in astonishment, "Whoa! You made all the noodles like that?"

The woman nodded affirmatively as she ran the collection of strands out over the wide board. She drew a cleaver and began to cut up the lengths of noodles into disconnected bunches. "My father sticks to traditional ramen making techniques, able to create the noodles without the use of a pasta machine. You will find that most restaurants out there import packaged ramen or make them through machinery, but not our store. We make our food fresh!"

"Okay… I see," Naruto replied, sweating nervously. _"__Everything __Ayame-oneesan __and __oji-san __make __in __this __kitchen __is __by __hand. __They__'__re __both __incredible, __nothing __like __shinobi __but __masters __in __their __own __profession. __They __are __so __passionate __about __their __work.__"_

Ayame then nested the noodles into balls, putting them all onto a tray and collecting them up. She led Naruto over to the oven standing by the wall and opened the top hatch. "In this bar we use a traditional fire oven. We flash fry the noodles and let them cool for a minute or so, plenty of time to get the other aspects of our orders down." She put the collection into the grill station and switched in on, with the jinchuriki watching from the sidelines as the base heated up and the walls of the chamber began to thoroughly cook the batches of twisted noodles. "Remember, every order is different. It takes another year on top of the dough molding techniques to learn how to perfect the dispersion of ingredients; therefore I'm just going to show you how to make miso and tonkotsu ramen tonight."

"R-Really?" Naruto gulped when he saw her smile. "T-This is gonna take a lot of effort."

"And _continuous_ effort," Teuchi laughed from his place by the doorway, having watched the entire commotion with much amusement. When he saw Ayame and Naruto turn to him he pointed over his shoulder. "After all, we have waves of customers coming and going every single day."

"What do you expect, Teuchi? Your stuff is the best," Naruto grinned at the manager watching him work, before turning back to face Ayame with a smile. "So… what's next?"

"I'm glad you asked, Naruto-kun," the young woman replied, rolling up her sleeves, "It's time to make the soup. This takes a lot of practice to perfect, but it shouldn't be too difficult to create as just a simple, home cooked meal. Since you're a shinobi and a fast learner, instead of a whole year, I'm gonna turn you into an adept ramen chef in just a few days."

"R-Really?"

"Yup! So let's get cooking!"

XXX

**Five Days later…**

**Academy Training Grounds…**

"Impressive…"

In all good conscience, Iruka had the right to feel proud of himself and his students as he stood on the sidelines and timed each individual's progress. He smiled as he watched Naruto literally hurdle every obstacle laid out before him of the course with ease and at a record breaking rate. To put it into words, the jinchuriki was literally letting his natural parkour side loose, kicking ass all the way through. While the rest of the class watched from the observer's space in stunned silence at how well and easily the blonde was negotiating every obstacle with his hands and feet alone, Naruto was having the time of his life.

Attacking the awkward and randomly spaced step-ladder that appeared before him, Naruto clambered up it and crouched on the top in a cat-like manner. Taking a leap of faith, he grabbed hold of the monkey bars and navigated across, performing a variety of flips along the way. Still not touching the ground, he then swung himself towards the rope and abseiled across, landing on the narrow platform and moving on. Step by step he crossed the pillars and then jumped towards the wall.

Using the grooves in the spaces of wood he clambered up and perched on the top, before leaping down to ground and barrel-rolling to cushion his impact. He continued on unhindered.

All those years of dodging ANBU, Chunin and people of all walks of like following every one of his various prank escapades had really paid off for him in the long run. Out of his entire class, Naruto was the fastest and most coordinated at tactical retreats, hiding and working out obstacles. He could perform all of these like the steps he took to walk. That was how easy it came to him.

It was one of the things he could really count on to save his life.

When he crossed the finish line seconds later after starting, Iruka timed him and looked down at the watch. He had to shake his head to confirm that he wasn't reading the numbers displayed to him incorrectly, at the same time a lightly panting Naruto came to stand alongside his instructor.

"So? How did I do, Iruka-sensei?" Naruto grinned, recovering quickly.

"Y-You finished a two minute obstacle course in less than half that time," the scarred adult exclaimed, looking down at the grinning jinchuriki. "Incredible. How the heck do you do that, Naruto?"

"It's all second nature to me," the boy exclaimed and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "You could call it a life choice."

A chibi version of him inside of his head gave the audience a cool style thumbs-up.

"Uh-huh. This was all because of you constantly running away from tuition officers, right?" Iruka shot him an amused grin, to which Naruto laughed at. The rest of the class gave him a dead-panned look.

How he could consider that a proud accomplishment no one knew.

Same old Naruto.

"You know me, I can never sit still," the jinchuriki snickered.

"Yes, I know. Past performances aside, I want to see you do that again," Iruka stated, recording Naruto's current time and filling out a blank slot specifically for him. Resetting the stopwatch, the Chunin then smirked at his student. "Get through the entire obstacle course and finish close to your already existing time, and I'll let you have the rest of the day off." The teacher looked over at the other teenagers crowding on their side of the field, all of them staring at the blonde incredulously. Even those who were more prone to keeping to themselves were giving him a challenging stare. "The others may need to touch up if you've set a new standard for a runner."

"Alright then, sensei. I accept your challenge," Naruto stated and adjusted his goggles slapped over his forehead. His sleeve slipped down his arm a little, allowing the Chunin a glance of a strange bruise ring around the boy's wrist.

At first the man felt about inquiring into the strange mark, but after the boy lowered his arm and it covered itself in his jacket sleeve once more he simply disregarded it. Iruka smiled at him and nodded the child back over to the starting line.

"Get ready."

"Right!" Naruto jogged on over, not wanting to waste anymore time then he had to.

Once he was prepped and ready at the gate, Iruka blew the whistle and the boy was off, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake. He definitely established a new way to start off a run of an obstacle course at the academy; getting down on his hands with his feet dug into the soil like an actual sprinter going for the hundred meters. The boy turned the whole thing into a game that only he found enjoyable.

The other students though were knackered by the time they got to the other end after running their whole thing full-pelt, including the normally emotionless Shino.

"He's not even tired _and_ he's going again," Ino shook her head as she watched Naruto expertly cross the tire pit. "He's such a stamina frea-whoa, now _that__'__s_ some fancy footwork."

"No kidding," Sakura exclaimed, seeing him now beginning to scale the tightrope. He was like an orange blur with a yellow top. This ordeal turned out to be as much of a head turner as his taijutsu examination. "Wow. He's fast."

"Yeah," Ino giggled when she saw the boy suddenly navigate the tightrope in his own, original way, performing a flip and conducting the rest of it on his hands. "What a show off. He's making this whole thing a walk in the park."

While Iruka was watching quietly from his end amidst the chatter and comments of the class, he felt a familiar presence join him at his side and turned to see Mizuki standing right next to him. The white haired man smiled at his fellow instructor as the activities went on.

"Yo, Iruka. What's up?"

"Hey, Mizuki. Not much. You skipping out on your teaching duties or do you have free period now?" the scarred Chunin asked, turning back to the field to refocus on his student. "I'd hate to think that you're purposefully skinning minutes off of your shifts because you're wasting away at that desk of yours and want to get out some more. Negligence like that won't look good on your record, you know."

His friend scoffed, "Yeah and _I__'__d_ hate to think that you're still not getting that paper cut on your face checked out. It won't heal if you don't stop picking at it."

"Ah, touché."

The two Chunin chuckled, eyes trailing after the youngster effortlessly bounding over every object laid out before him in his path all the way around the track. Progress aside, Naruto was really covering his challenges in the most stylish ways imaginable. If gracefulness in combat were incorporated into the curriculum then he'd definitely get first place for that too.

"You don't need to worry about me, mate. I just let the youngins have a lunch break from their lectures. Of course, I also wanted to come out here to see how my best friend was doing and to check up on my other students' progress," Mizuki exclaimed, placing his hands on his hips and nodding his head when he saw the jinchuriki execute an extremely versatile move on the scales-platform. The class emitted an impressed and audible chorus of murmurs at the sight whereas the newly arrived instructor whistled, "Not bad."

"Yes. He's very spry for a bean sprout," Iruka chuckled.

It was a well-known fact that Naruto Uzumaki, in spite of his age and lifestyle choices in contrast to many others, was at least an inch or so shorter then a lot of the other students in his class, particularly the boys. You couldn't argue against it, it was quite a noticeable trait.

Seconds after that brief interjection, Iruka and Mizuki followed the youngster across the finish line, with the overseer calling the time on the run. The Chunin smiled and rerecorded it as a footnote on his existing sheet. Out of curiosity, his companion craned his neck over to stack up the list himself and to check on the score that the blonde, bubbling ball of energy was able to achieve.

"Well?"

"Forty-five point twenty two seconds, that's really impressive," Iruka exclaimed, looking up at his now perplexed academy comrade. "He's actually setting new records for this generation and getting times I didn't think he would have been able to achieve without a few years worth of hard work."

"I thought you said the boy always failed these kinds of tests," Mizuki stated, not completely buying the whole 'overachieving' come about from a previously well-known 'underachiever'. "You wouldn't stop _bitching_ about it in the teacher's lounge. Accounting for the last two years he took the same exams, he barely got through them by the skin of his teeth each and every time, didn't he?"

"Yes, but now I know I'm seeing a major breakthrough in his development as a prospective shinobi candidate," Iruka grinned and looked over at his orange clad student. Panting with his hands on his thighs, Naruto was hunched over and catching his breath; the sprint having really taken a bit more out of him then the last one. "What can I say? I saw an opportunity I could use to get through that thick, trouble-making, wonderland filled head of his and I took it. Now, I don't know how, but he's seriously making big leaps in his learning and abilities."

"Is it… you know…?" Mizuki nudged his friend in the side, getting his attention. He then made some gestures towards his stomach and counted _nine_ on his fingers. "Because of his… _problem_?"

"Oh, hell no," the Chunin frowned and shook his head at the man. "As far as I can tell there are absolutely no signs of abnormalities in his personality, no physical changes, no malicious conduct or killing intent whatsoever. He's just…" Iruka looked back at the boy under discussion to see him grinning at his friends congratulating him from the crowd. Among those to approach him were Shikamaru, Choji, Hinata and Kiba, the former two patting him on the back while the other noogied him good-naturedly. The third party member just stood quietly to the side and pressed her fingers together in an admirable manner. At the same time the class instructor could hear the former slacker laughing away and thanking them for their praises, which brought about a smile on his face. "He's just the same, old Naruto."

"Well, you got me there," Mizuki smirked and folded his arms while looking over at the teen as well, seeing him mingle amongst his classmates. "Still, his fast-paced progress begs the question…"

"Don't harass the kid, Mizuki. He gets that enough from me," Iruka glanced back at the white haired shinobi and hit him in the arm with his clipboard, but spared a smirk. "Besides, I taught him everything important that he needs to know to survive out in the real world. He'll do fine."

"But Iruka, doesn't this seem a little bit strange to you?" Mizuki stepped into closer proximity with the other adult, the topic resulting in their voices dulling down to hushed verbal trades. "Naruto suddenly starts to do exceedingly well from out of the blue after a not-too-appealing track record of utter failings over a spread of two… _three_… whatever years? Doesn't that strike you as a little bit suspicious?"

"As instructors of the academy we are only meant to teach the students material that are the foundation blocks of their futures, encourage them to pursue specific career paths as shinobi, and promote self-improvement in their daily routines. We are _not_ investigators," Iruka shot back, his eyes meeting his friend's. "Stuff like that is left up to the ANBU."

"But… Iruka," Mizuki sighed and rubbed his forehead nervously. "His academic history…"

"What counts are the final scores achieved by the students during the exam period, all of which ultimately decides their suitability for positions as potential Genin candidates. It is during this period the students are free to show what they have learned over their years at the school and what they have practiced in their off time, and will determine their competence as shinobi," Iruka replied, his eyes narrowing. He found this conversation very irritating as his friend seemed to be taking a very biased approach to it concerning only one of his students. "If you have a problem with it then I'll talk to Naruto myself. You don't need to get yourself involved in his life if it troubles you so much. But whatever the case may be, I'm still going to pass him."

Mizuki frowned and looked away, "I still think that is a bad idea."

"Don't underestimate him, Mizuki. Believe me, I've done that myself more than once and over the past month it's come to bite me back in the face," Iruka replied, smirking over at the crowd of students whom Naruto had rejoined and was mingling with his four friends. "Look, he's earned enough credit from the previous exams to pass anyway, even if he fails the _Bunshin __Test_. He's gotten top marks in the _Taijutsu __Exam,_ the _Henge __Exam,_ and the _Kawarimi __Exam,_ and has passed the _Written __Exam_ with high distinction, which I found incredibly surprising. He finished ten minutes before the allotted time and earned a place as one of the top five students in the class in the process. That sounds like definite shinobi material to me."

Mizuki looked at Iruka with a rather disbelieving look at first. However, after glimpsing the proud smile and twinkle in the man's eyes upon saying all of that, the secondary instructor slowly looked back towards the academy students. His eyes fixated on a laughing Naruto, who had previously been chatting-it-up with Sakura and failing miserably, and had moved on to instead trade pleasantries with Choji and Hinata respectively.

This display seemed to strike a negative chord with Mizuki, but he hid his expressions well enough to force a convincing yet small smile.

"_Damn that brat. Things aren't going as planned at all. I'll need to report this…"_

The white haired Chunin left shortly after to return to his class, while Iruka stayed behind and carried on with the extra curriculum exercises, calling up the next student to negotiate the course. At the same time, the teacher let Naruto be on his way, with the boy immediately rushing off to _Ichiraku__'__s __Ramen_ for his primary fuel source.

As far as everybody in the group was concerned, they had nothing to worry about…

XXX

**The following day…**

**Late afternoon…**

As per the usual routine, to take a much needed break from his shifts between the academy, his training with Yim, and his now part-time apprenticeship under Ayame at _Ichiraku__'__s __Ramen __Bar_, Naruto had gone back around to his balcony perch overlooking _Training __Field __2 _to watch his all-time favorite performance. Though Konoha had an _Entertainment __District_ and a not-too frequently mentioned _Red __Light __District_ strictly for adults in the backstreets, the jinchuriki found watching shinobi railing on each other down in the ring far more amusing then any puppet show or Kabuki play.

Although some Kabuki performances did possess a certain flare he enjoyed every once in a while, at heart he was still a hot-blooded male growing up as a shinobi.

A healthy dosage of violence every so often away from other practiced arts was good for that particular mindset to be developed.

The blonde was presently indulging in an instant cup of ramen and a nice pot of tea on the side, as he watched the shinobi down in the field grapple and throw each other around. Sure some of the other sights, like the jutsu being performed in the area nearby, were slightly more impressive and could definitely deal greater than the necessary amount of damage; he was far more interested in the techniques and executions shown through close combat.

Martial arts wouldn't be called such if it didn't possess forms, styles and movements bearing any relation to the word. It was spectacular watching combatants engage one another in a flurry of actions and maneuvers that simply could not be witnessed in normal, civilized societies. To Naruto, this exhibition was in a league of its own.

He wasn't alone to appreciate this however.

On his left he had Yim sitting next to him, appreciating a nice cup of tea as well, and observing the shinobi practicing at the stumps. On his right, the jinchuriki had also invited a very special guest along to get a feel for the environment that he was so often exposed to in times of deep meditation and silent contemplation; Shiho.

The Genin with the swirl-pattern glasses who only left the library once in a while for non-related missions, lunch breaks and the rare girls-night-outs had been ecstatic to be asked out by a friend to somewhere in the village he claimed to be an 'exclusive' spot for shinobi. Heck, as a prelude to the main event he took her out to the shops, bought her dinner, then had them walk through the central park. It was almost like a date, but with extra company.

You could also say that Shiho was quite surprised when she eventually saw the place the boy had planned on taking her to from the get go to spend their afternoon: a balcony often associated with contemporary romance and fluff films, under a setting sun and outside of a training field.

Really, could you call this a date with three people? Two girls and a guy?

Hell, give the kid a high five and bonus points for being a player (if you want). But this was strictly friends only.

Actually, looking more carefully at the scene right now, it appeared that Naruto had decided to take the first two people whom he really considered as close friends for the first time in years out on the town to show him the places he liked to hang out.

Regardless of the scenario, the three of them were still having a good time. While Naruto enjoyed the art form of bloodless violence on the field, Yim took this as a chance to contemplate, observe how combat was practiced and conducted within the village, and Shiho considered the live performances as another educational stepping stone for all of them.

Naruto grinned as he watched a Chunin tackle his opponent to the ground and get him into a strangle hold, using the arm as leverage with the man's neck wrapped tightly between his legs. "Hey, isn't that judo? I recognize the technique."

"Yeah! Good eye," Shiho exclaimed, pointing down towards the dominating opponent in the ring. "You saw how he purposefully redirected the other's attacks, right? Well, he needed to get in close enough without getting hit to administer the move, which was why he worked it so patiently and observantly around the other's combinations. Note how he's incorporated the triangle choke technique into his style of taijutsu. It's obviously an adopted form he added to his style to surprise his opponents."

"With patience like that I bet he could beat anyone," Naruto rubbed his chin with a smile. "It's all a matter of timing."

"In a fight, you have plenty of it," Yim smiled, blowing on her tea and taking another sip. "If your opponent is too aggressive in their attacks, they will easily make a mistake. Use that as an advantage to swiftly move in or around to deliver a staggering blow. It is best to fight conservatively then excessively, a method which can gradually turn an impossible fight in your favor."

"But isn't it good to go all out as well, Yim-chan?" Naruto asked, looking over at his older friend curiously. "You can overwhelm your opponent with brute force and superior speed if it's one-on-one. It might be a good strategy too; to defeat your opponent as quickly as possible."

"True, but you must be sure you are able to pull it off. If so, then _routinely_," Yim stated, setting her cup aside and turning to the boy. "With your body, you can adapt. You have the potential to fight at any degree. But it is best that you assess your situation first before taking action. Test your opponent and look out for weaknesses."

"Well, that's my plan," Naruto smiled and nodded his head. "I'll use free, unpredictable and constantly changing movement, speed and technique to surprise my opponents. Mix things up a little."

"Reasonable. Experiment with it next time you get the chance," Yim exclaimed, patting him on the shoulder.

Naruto grinned back and looked over at Shiho to see her smiling at him too. Seeing that her tea cup was empty the jinchuriki refilled it for her, ensuring that she didn't go for the rest of the afternoon without. After which all three of them held up their drinks, clicked them together in a toast and drank. All the while they kept close watch of the field, waiting for any interesting events to take place to spice up the atmosphere.

"What in the fuck is this?" A woman's voice suddenly railed out over the entire field.

"Oh… this just got interesting," Shiho giggled, earning a puzzled glance from her companions sitting right next to her.

"Interesting?" Naruto murmured.

The blonde haired girl adjusted her glasses and pointed in the direction they suspected the rather free use of the f-word contained within a question came from, "The _Alpha __Dog_ has just arrived."

Naruto, Yim and Shiho carefully watched the crowd of Chunin standing at the side of the fighting pit suddenly part rather violently when a very angry looking lady pushed her way through. At first the jinchuriki of the three witnesses had to shake his head in disbelief, wondering whether or not he was hallucinating or something. However, upon closer inspection of the kunoichi who just appeared out of nowhere and onto the field the boy saw that it wasn't Kiba at all.

Indeed, the woman was very feral looking, had long brown spiky hair, vertical slit-like pupils, elongated canine teeth and nails. She also had red fang markings on her cheeks, markings over her eyes and purple lipstick. She was also wearing the standard Konoha shinobi outfit Naruto noted as common among all Chunin and Jonin of the village's task forces, including those that were training down on the field below only they didn't have their vests. The kunoichi did.

The woman was also accompanied by a large dog. A very big dog in fact, one that Naruto almost mistook for a wolf on first glance. However, looking at it closely the dog trailing beside the scary individual was a large husky, with black fur and a white underside. It was missing a left ear and was also wearing an eyepatch over its right eye, a very unusual item for a house pet.

Upon looking at the two thoroughly for a minute or so, the jinchuriki deduced that they definitely weren't like any ordinary shinobi team.

"Who is that?" Naruto asked, with Yim also taking interest in the new character.

"That is Tsume Inuzuka, the temporary Head of the _Inuzuka __Clan_ and one of the most well-known specialist Tokubetsu Jonin ranked shinobi of Konohagakure," Shiho exclaimed with a smirk, looking over at her friend. "If you've ever heard of the phrase _don__'__t __judge __your __opponent__'__s __character __by __their __appearance_, I think you can make a bit of an exception for her. On the battlefield, she is _as_ vicious as she appears."

"N-No kidding," the blonde gulped, looking back at Shiho with a nervous glimmer. "She kind of reminds me of my baka classmate Kiba."

"Well, I wouldn't be surprised. Try not to be alarmed or anything, but that's actually your classmate's mother down there."

"SHE…_that_?" Naruto choked, pointing down at the canine duo, "_That_… _she_ is Kiba's mum?"

"Yup."

It was at this the boy grinned rather cheekily, "Which one; the bipedal one or the four-legged one?"

The library girl giggled in light of his joke. Even Yim choked on her tea when it suddenly went the wrong way. It was at this Shiho promptly punched the boy lightly in the shoulder. "If she heard you say that, which she probably did from this distance… she'd kill you. But… seeing as that she's preoccupied with her students I think you're safe for now. She has a bit of a soft spot for certain individuals with good character. Oh yeah, and when I meant by 'a _bit_ of an exception', I meant that you should treat Tsume as both a serious and respectful woman. She can be pretty nice when she wants to be."

"I see. And… that dog?"

"Her battle companion; Kuromaru. Dogs are the clan's trademark animal, fighting summons, partners and the animal their fighting style is based around. Though they're lethal fighters on their own, they're even more deadly when with their fighting partners."

"Okay. So that's why Kiba always has that puppy with him," the jinchuriki scratched his head, recalling the white mongrel often perched on the teen's head or poking out of his jacket collar. "I always thought the idiot had a soft spot for animals, but I've been wrong before."

"Don't think it's a contract deal. Clan members treat dogs like one of their own. Not only can they communicate with them, but living amongst them for so many generations has given each individual Inuzuka heightened senses of awareness, smell and hearing. That's why they're the best trackers in the village. If one of them gets your scent, you can't lose them… unless you know some stupid space-time ninjutsu, but anyone possessing those abilities are a long way off in this day and age," Shiho waved a hand, giggling.

"Yeah, and I bet if an Inuzuka corners you they will tear you to shreds. When I fought Kiba about five months ago during taijutsu practice he roughed me up quite a bit, but even back then it was close to dead-even. It's not that easy to bring me down," Naruto groaned and rubbed his shoulder. "But damn. That last clawed strike he caught me with really cost me. Those scars didn't heal for days."

At least he got him back in the exam. He could consider that a noteworthy accomplishment.

"You should be careful. There are many clans in this village who have deadly fighting styles you ought to keep your distance from, the Inuzuka in particular. Out of this entire village their clan has the most aggressive fighting style."

"So I've noticed before."

"If we're lucky enough, we might even be able to see Ms Tsume in action tonight," Shiho stated, her glasses flashing when she turned back to watch as the clan's temporary head scolded several of the Chunin frozen at attention around her. _"__Not __to __mention __a __platoon __of __medic-nin __if __she __starts __establishing __herself __as __the __Alpha__… __again__…"_

Naruto grinned excitedly, "Man. This might turn out to be a great show after all!"

Yim smiled, still holding her tea up to her lips.

"_Interesting. This may be a good opportunity to observe some more of the skills the warriors of this continent possesses. What a fascinating excursion."_

OOO

"You are all just a bunch of wimps; can't handle drawing a tiny bit of blood during a sparring match! I hope that you are all aware that _**your**_ enemies outside of this village's walls won't show the exact same courtesy when they're out to kill you," Tsume shouted, roughly pushing one of the Chunin in her way aside and marching right into the middle of the square.

With her battle companion coming to sit patiently amongst the observing crowds at her orders, the squads present watched with held breath as the kunoichi took her stand and turned in their direction, arms folded. "If you want to get tougher, if you want to get faster, and if you want to get stronger, you have to fight to the point that you're forcing your opponent to fight for their lives. I expect all of you to do just that against each other. Do you maggots understand me!"

"_**Yes, sensei!"**_

"Bullshit! I can't hear you! Sound off like you got a pair!"

"_**YES, SENSEI!"**_

"Out-fucking-standing! Let's see if any of you have any bite to go with those barks of yours!" Tsume yelled, her two hands stretching out their fingers the moment she finished. Every able Chunin nearby flinched when they heard the joints in her fingers audibly crack, even Naruto, who also caught onto it from his sitting distance. "For the next few minutes I'll be your sparring partner, your enemy, and your _worst_ nightmare! I'll take you dick-wads on three at a time! Any volunteers?"

"…"

"…"

The Chunin shuffled and looked amongst each other nervously, all two dozen of them feeling incredibly small amongst their ranks upon the conclusion of her threats. Clearly, Tsume's theatrics had so much energy put behind every single one of the words she uttered that it literally had everybody scared stiff. Even with the proposition being three on one, several of the more seasoned shinobi amongst the heads present weren't feeling up to an imminent clash with a woman with claws. There were easier ways for them to get killed.

After more than a minute's worth of notable hesitation shared amongst the multitude of shinobi, the Inuzuka leader began to think that she had broken them with her harsh declarations alone.

But just as she was about to call up for a couple of volunteers herself, two people unexpectedly stepped out from the back and into view.

The Tokubetsu Jonin's narrow eyes immediately locked onto them.

OOO

Naruto blinked, setting down his tea the moment he saw the first answers to the Inuzuka's challenge. The reason for his immediate leap in interest of the situation was that he recognized the two Chunin, "Kotetsu-sensei and Izumo-sensei!"

"You know them?" Yim asked curiously, earning a nod from her student.

"Yeah. They hang out at the village gates on duty most of the time. I remember them because I bumped into them at Ichiraku's a few weeks ago and we all talked," the jinchuriki smiled and looked over at the woman perched next to him. "They were pretty cool guys. I bet they'll do well here."

"Perhaps. That remains to be seen," Shiho exclaimed. A small, nervous smile crossed her face, _"__It__'__s __already __decided. __Those __two __have __just __signed __their __death __warrants.__"_

OOO

To join Kotetsu and Izumo on the field a third Chunin followed them in, a man with brown spiky hair. Side by side, the three men walked further into the ring, took positions on the competitor's side and lined up. Assuming stances at attention, they bowed low in respect to their instructor, before straightening up and quickly dropping into their characteristic fighting forms. Tsume was delighted to see that she had challengers willing enough to take her on, but at the same time couldn't help smirking at their boldness.

They may have been the first to step up yet they still showed clear signs of nervousness.

"Shakers huh? Don't," Tsume stated, hands on her hips. "Fear may heighten your senses in the midst of battle, but as consequence it decreases the quality of your techniques. You'll attack out of haste to bring your opponent down quickly. However, you are more than likely to make mistakes and leave your defenses wide open in the process." She gave them the sign of confrontation, head tilting to the side. "Don't disappoint."

Kotetsu and Izumo glanced at one another. Nodding in acknowledgement, the two of them suddenly split with their third partner, Tsuzumi, deciding to instead go direct. The plan from that point on for them was simple: break up their formation to throw their opponent off, circle around on both sides while one attacks directly as a false-decoy. It was a method to probe at an opponent's defenses and find out their true capabilities if not take them out altogether.

It seemed flawless in their heads.

However, what they didn't account for was that they weren't fighting against some meager Chunin of their level. This was a kunoichi on a whole other level.

Tsume smirked and rushed forward in a low, swift advance to meet Tsuzumi attacking from in front. He attempted a combination of a parry followed up by a straight hit to break her assault, but the woman swiftly kicked out at him with a front kick instead when she stopped directly in his path. The Chunin had the wind knocked out of his lungs as he was thrown back across the entire ring, before landing on the white boundary line with a loud thud.

Kotetsu and Izumo closed in on both her flanks seconds later, using what Naruto noted as the _Konoha __Fist __Style_ of taijutsu, one of the most common styles taught to Chunin as an advanced form above that of the Senju based _Academy __Style_. However, as they closed in punches first, Tsume intercepted both of their initial attacks, swiftly switching between both males with an array of parries. Her clawed palm strikes hit them in the arms and chest, blocking and knocking away all of their attacks.

She grabbed Kotetsu's hook and twisted, holding him steady in a limp position before spinning back to meet Izumo on her left and batting away his incoming punch. A moment later, she elbowed the other Chunin in the face, releasing his wrist at the same time for leverage. With both her opponents staggered the woman suddenly leapt straight into the air. Spinning twice in mid-jump, she followed up her fluent maneuver by striking with both her feet out in a split-action, kicking both men in the chests. She sent Kotetsu and Izumo tumbling to the floor, winding them and knocking some fighting situation sense back into their heads.

When she landed, Tsume watched as the three men groveled on the dirt for about a minute, trying to regain their bearings following the serious beat down she individually handed to them. Waiting patiently, she gave them all the time they needed to recover and stagger back to their feet, groaning.

"D-Damn, such complex combinations…" Izumo murmured, wiping his lip. _"__What __a __solid __defense. __I __didn__'__t __even __see __that __coming.__"_

"She's so fast I couldn't count the number of strikes she landed on us. She used post reflex movements to break our guards," Kotetsu shook his head, trying to refocus on the kunoichi, but not knowing which one. He was seeing three of her at the moment, "She's _insanely_ quick."

"Heh. I can see why she's our instructor today," Tsuzumi grinned, agreeing with his allies' comments. _"__Inuzuka __Style __combat __utilizes __aggressive __and __unorthodox __movements __to __overwhelm __an __opponent. __A __firm __attack __also __functions __as __a __perfect __defense, __which __is __why __we __couldn__'__t __get __her.__"_

Tsume looked from one cringing face to the next, having expected something more than just ten seconds of engagement. She cracked her neck to the side, "Stop licking your wounds and come at me again. I'm not even close to warming up."

Quickly recovering, Tsuzumi was the first to rise up and reengage at her word. He charged in, quickly followed by Kotetsu and Izumo flanking him on both sides. The Inuzuka stepped back a few for breathing space with the forward attacker coming in with a few straight hits to drive her off. She then suddenly stepped frontward and kicked him in the thigh when he approached with a punch, stopping him in a stagger. She followed up with a swing around to his right and lashed at Izumo with an elbow, slamming him across the face before alternating back with the same arm, throwing him the other way.

Kotetsu came in with a hook, which she ducked and backed off, blocking a roundhouse kick followed by a few straight hits. Just as he came in with another hook, Tsume unexpectedly ducked it and spun around at waist height till she was back to back with the Chunin, who lost sight of her completely.

He had no idea what was coming till he was hit with it.

"What in the fuu-UUUUUUUUCCKK!" The man got a shocking surprise when the kunoichi suddenly grabbed the back of his right knee and literally flipped him from his stance. She kicked his leg out from under at the same time to disrupt his balance, spinning him through the air as a result. A split second later he hit the ground face first.

Tsume rose back up to her feet with a grin, backing up sharply when Tsuzumi suddenly swung in with another attack from a supposed blind spot with a straight jab followed by an upper cut. Unfortunately, the Inuzuka's blind spots were compensated for heightened senses of hearing and smell, allowing her to hear his fist sailing through the air towards her and think up a counter before he even had a chance to land a hit. She blocked his onslaught of punches before switching to Izumo spinning at her with a kick from the other side. The specialist Jonin exchanged opponents from left to right, trading parries with both attackers, before lashing out at Izumo with a clawed strike, ripping through his vest in a single stroke.

Her opponent stumbled, allowing her to then focus solely on Tsuzumi. The Inuzuka immediately caught his incoming fist with a firm clawed palm and, upon getting close to him, bent his arm at an angle it did not normally bend in. The man shouted in pain when all mobility in his limbs ceased, which she then finished off by striking him at the base of the throat with an open palm and knocked him out, throwing him to the floor when he was gone.

Turning around Tsume reacted in time to Izumo lunging in retaliation at her with a jab, ducking right under it and the user himself. She rolled on the floor between his legs, catching the man off guard, while at the same time jabbing him in the crotch. All the male Chunin watching visibly cringed when the man staggered forward, crying out in agony and clutching his jewels, before he was suddenly thrown onto his back by Tsume coming back around on the outside and swiping at the rear of his thigh with a well-placed, clawed hook.

He was left suspended in the air for a full worry free second of sky gazing before he eventually hit the dirt, _hard_. This left the poor guy rolling around on the ground for the rest of that match, if you could have called it that in the first place.

Kotetsu, far from giving up at this stage, managed to kick start himself back into gear after a spectacular throw and crash landing, and began lashing out at the woman with a variety of wild attacks. The kunoichi smirked at him as she retreated from his excessive punching and kicking. Judging his rhythm, she then caught his forearm with a swift palm and twisted it. After which she stepped in close to him and wrapped his own limb around his neck. Jabbing him in the stomach three times she followed up by taking his weight and tossing him over her shoulder, straight to the ground and onto his back.

This placed her directly over her opponent, with the Chunin getting a very appealing yet brief view of her squatting over him.

_Now_… all _three_ Chunin were officially out of the little game.

Tsuzumi was luckily no longer unconscious but still in daze, Izumo was on the ground holding his nuts, and Kotetsu was sprawled out on the dirt, body shaken from getting tossed around so much.

Upon assessing the condition of each of her wounded opponents, Tsume then rose to her feet and dusted her arms down. With that she marched back over to the crowd where her companion was waiting for her, with those who had been watching parting out of fear. This was more than enough for her to determine the fighting values of each of them as a group and immediately dismissed the opportunity for a workout herself.

When she reached the edge of the arena, a couple of the Chunin waiting close by went to check on their comrades while Tsume turned to all of them with a smirk.

She had to admit, she was more than impressed.

"You guys are doing well. Keep up the good work." Making a clicking noise, she bade Kuromaru to follow after her and together with her partner, they left the ring altogether to check on the other training sites. This gave enough time for the class to reflect on the battle they had witnessed or experienced, and to recover for whatever reasons there were for their afflictions.

OOO

Naruto blinked, "Whoa."

"I know."

"D-Did you see that?" the jinchuriki looked between both girls, astonishment written all over his face. "She broke down their attack patterns so easily and took them out so quickly."

"She's good, isn't she?" Shiho smiled, with her blonde friend nodding vigorously in response.

"She is _really_ good! I can see why Kiba is so afraid of her."

"Well, now you know why she is also considered one of the best in this village. She can take on Jonin at her current level, but she hasn't been promoted yet because she doesn't want to be," Shiho shrugged, smiling over at the baffled blonde, "I guess she's happy with where she is. Tsume already has enough responsibilities back at the clan compound, so it's understandable why she doesn't want to stack on even more work on top of what she already has."

"I guess being a ninja means you're always really busy," Naruto said, leaning back on his hands and smiling down at the training field. He could see the Chunin gathering themselves up once again for more practice, with the three casualties taking a break and the others going about their usual routine. They had a lot of training to get through if they were ever going to clash fists with another shinobi of Tsume's caliber again. "But man that was a good fight. I've got a long way to go yet if I'm ever going to become Hokage."

"Keep at it. You'll get there eventually," Shiho smiled, patting him on the back, "Just keep working hard and remember; there is much more to gain from a loss then there is to gain from a victory. We learn more from our mistakes then we do from success alone."

"Yeah. I know that much," Naruto raised a fist. "No matter what, never give up and always pick yourself up whenever you are knocked down."

"That's the spirit."

While the pair interacted, Yim sat off quietly to the side with an intrigued look on her face. With her tea still in hand, she continued to observe the Chunin training away. At the same time she kept in mind the level of skill the one Inuzuka had displayed against her squad of charge for the afternoon. While the kunoichi was not nearly at her level, she did receive more than a few surprises from the match, starting with the techniques the woman executed.

"_Fascinating. __Those __attacks __she __used __resemble __the __techniques __associated __with __Lau __Gar __Kuen __back __in __my __country,__" _Yim smiled and leant forward a little in thought. _"__This __place __has __a __very __interesting __system __of __fighting. __There __are __so __many __similarities __between __our __cultures __yet, __at __the __same __time, __there __are __so __many __differences.__"_

XXX

**A Week Later…**

**Ichiraku's Ramen…**

Naruto sweated nervously as he distributed the food to their proper places over the counter. He had been at this for quite some time now, with only one or two errors shown in his work progress. But so far his determination was paying off.

Heck, both Teuchi and Ayame were impressed at his progress, so he _had_ to be doing something right, right?

Having another apprentice hanging around the restaurant warranted different responses from all of those present. While one of them was showing their gladness outwardly, the other one was still trying to pass off as a disciplined instructor even as an observer. Even though it was true that the daughter of the ramen bar owner was a kind, happy and friendly individual who had no problems whatsoever with connecting with their customers like her 'boss', it was also apparent that she was a pretty rough teacher.

Naruto knew strict and disciplined when he saw it. Take his words to heart. He'd been drilled by a kung fu instructor and knocked to the floor more times than he could count for about two months now. He had the bruises to prove it.

Upon finishing dicing up the kamaboko, the jinchuriki tossed it into the bowl and let out a relieved sigh. Quickly disposing of the skins on the chopping board, he then walked over to the desk opposite him and placed the two bowls of miso ramen he made down for evaluation. He summed up his work as a whole for himself, before any further judgment could be passed on it. It was hot, it certainly smelled good, and from his years of showing up to eat at _Ichiraku__'__s_, Naruto noted that it looked exactly like how he had been having it all that time.

However, the looks weren't what counted to his final score. What really counted for ramen was the taste.

"This was the best I could do," Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry if it's not as good as I'm hoping it is."

"That's okay, Naruto-kun. At least you did your best. Let's just hope it wasn't like last time," Ayame exclaimed, but inwardly shivered at that particularly memory from a few days ago. The very thought of it even had Teuchi and Naruto pale outwardly, reminding themselves never to eat a miso contents that looked that kind of green ever again.

"_I __pretty __much __ruined __Ayame-oneesan__'__s __dinner,__" _Naruto thought unfortunately to himself.

Bracing themselves for the likely, the chef pair picked up the bowls assigned to them for a taste test, chopsticks and soup spoons already dipped and ready for use.

One of the rules the jinchuriki had come to learn over his brief apprenticeship under the father-daughter pair was that he was forbidden under chef-to-customer law to taste his own work until it was confirmed to be edible by another party. It was very much like the academy exams or a prolonged situation in which he had to learn steps instinctively to get it right. He had to have his work judged like an art piece before sampling it for himself, which was why he had been coming to _Ichiraku__'__s_ every night to practice and not at home.

Still, that didn't mean he didn't have plenty of homework to do. Teuchi leant him three cook books for him to study, all three of which were on just making two particular dishes. His clones definitely enjoyed those hours alongside the training Yim was putting him through.

It gave them something to do other then work themselves to death.

Speaking of which his, wrists still had those dark marks around them. Though they made everybody else cringe at the thought of what his activities were really putting him through, he had pretty much gotten used to it.

Side-by-side, Teuchi and Ayame prepared themselves. Saying their final prayers and hoping for the best, they finally started the examination. Spoons first, the two of them slowly scooped them into the broth and had their first taste of the boy's dishes.

Expecting swamp mix, the chef's assistant got a pleasant surprise when she didn't find herself immediately running towards the bathroom. What actually filled her mouth was a delightful tangy taste mixed with the telltale ingredients all blended together beautifully, accompanied by that heavenly aroma of the ramen itself. It filled her with a mild tingly sensation that was good and not bad. Teuchi had the exact same reaction when the soup touched his tongue and he looked down at the bowl in front of him in surprise.

They both waved a hand in front of their faces to check that they didn't go blind or had fainted by slapping themselves in the cheek. It was an unusual display, but all the same necessary.

Naruto stood rooted to the floor before them, holding his hands and looking incredibly uneasy. It was his first descent solo batch that he was able to make _within_ the time limit. He was hoping it had come out good.

He had the natural process down in his head and everything.

The judging wasn't over yet though. Not by a long shot. They next had to evaluate the noodles, the vegetables, and then any meat swimming around in the broth. The whole process was dealt with in that order, each and every time when deciding the quality of an individual dish. They had to cover everything before summing up each stage in the concluding statements. During which time the judges would remain silent throughout.

No words could be spared by them. Not for ramen.

Nodding approving, over the next minute or so the chefs tested every aspect, every little detail, and every item visible. It was then they were allowed to indulge as much as they want. However, seeing as that Naruto was literally dying from anxiousness, they decided to spare him the agony of patience and set aside their bowls. Wiping their lips and mouths with serviettes, they crossed their arms and inhaled deeply.

The suspense drawled on from that point…

…until the moment one of them snapped.

"Oh, come on!" Naruto shouted, throwing his arms out, "It doesn't take that long to talk about a person's food! It's easy! Say something like 'awesome' or 'great ramen' or 'this food is fantastic!' Something like that! Stop tormenting me!" The blonde slumped over, animated tears streaming out of his eyes as he played the distraught card.

Ayame giggled and stepped forward, ruffling his hair, "It was good, Naruto-kun."

The blonde sobbed for a few seconds, long enough for her words to sink in before eventually pulling him out of his emotional downpour. He straightened up and looked up at the slightly taller girl with a surprised look in his eyes, seeing her giving him a kind stare in return.

Baffled at her evaluation, he then looked over at Teuchi to see him smiling proudly at him as well. Nodding the man gave him a clear 'O.K' sign, indicated by a circle formed by his thumb and fingers. A few more checks of their facial expressions, confirming the results of his examination, the boy then suddenly grinned and leapt into the air, punching the atmosphere above him excitedly.

"YAHOO! Alright!" Naruto exclaimed, dropping to his knees and almost pulling off the full soccer-goal celebratory routine. Were it not for the confined space he was in, he would have ripped off his apron and twirled it around. "Yes! Awesome!"

"Now, now, Naruto-kun," Ayame laughed, helping him back to his feet and planting him on the floorboards where he was standing before, just so he didn't run around singing his success too much. "You did great. But if you wish to perfect your art and to continue learning how to cook, then I recommend you continue working on your skills at home. If you do, then I'm sure you'll make the girl you end up with a very happy wife."

"Huh? Wife?" Naruto blinked, his naivety picking its spot on time as usual.

"Oh, don't play coy with me, you little runt," Ayame pinched his cheek, earning a groan of discomfort from him as he tried to fend her off. "I'm sure you'll want a girlfriend one of these days. A man who can provide and cook will definitely get you to _that_ stage much faster than looks and charm alone."

"That?"

"You'll find out for yourself soon enough," Ayame said, patting him on the shoulder and straightening up. She then looked at her father standing behind her to see him smile and nod affirmatively in her direction. Confirming the situation at hand, she then turned back to the blonde and placed her hands on her hips. "By the way, Naruto-kun, _you_ have customers."

"Me? Customers?"

The jinchuriki blinked in a perplexed state.

Dropping the strange topic he was having with Ayame, he quickly hurried over to the door to assess that particular statement, and upon sticking his head through the curtains his eyes widened in surprise when he saw four very familiar people sitting outside at the front counter.

Yim-chan, who had accompanied him to Ichiraku's that afternoon, was waiting exactly where he remembered she was with a patient smile on her face. This was no surprise at all. What _did_ surprise him though, was that she was no longer alone. Not only was his kung fu trainer there, but so was Sasuke Uchiha, Hinata Hyuuga and, from a couple of weeks ago, Naruto spotted Ran Tsukikage occupying the seat beside Yim. He nearly face-faulted, but reframed from doing so and continued to eye the row of new guests inside the bar.

"Y-You guys?" Naruto shouted, "W-W-W-What are you all doing here?" It was clear he was singling out the new three, whose eyes all fell on him at their address.

Hinata pressed her fingers together and looked away with red on her cheeks, "I-I heard you were at _Ichiraku__'__s __Ramen_, N-N-Naruto-kun. S-So I came by to say hello. I… I didn't know you were working here with Teuchi and Ayame-chan as well." The purple haired Hyuuga smiled up at her crush, who was still giving her an incredibly owlish expression. "H-Hello."

"No kidding," the blonde murmured.

Sasuke, sitting with arms folded at the other end, smirked and looked up at the stunted orange wearing troublemaker with a cocky gleam in his eye. "I sure hope you make food as good as you fight dobe. Don't disappoint me."

"What the heck are YOU doing here, then?" Naruto pointed, grinding his teeth at the Uchiha staring him down with that challenging gaze of his.

"I heard a commotion that sounded remotely like you coming from this venue and simply came by to investigate," the raven haired boy replied calmly and closed his eyes, looking away. "Besides, I haven't had dinner yet. So now seems like a good enough time to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak."

"You just came here to watch me suffer you miserable…!" Naruto shook his fist at the teen, but was promptly muzzled from any more provocative words when Ayame came up behind him and returned him to his post in the backroom. Kicking and flipping the bird at the Uchiha as he disappeared into the kitchen earned a laugh from Teuchi and a chuckling chorus from both Yim and Ran.

The samurai woman giggled and looked over at the martial artist she was sitting next to. "I knew I felt like noodles tonight, but I didn't know I'd be getting a performance as well," Ran promptly spoke up while smiling at her company, who nodded in agreement.

"Good things come in small packages. Let us hope his hard work today pays off," the foreign master replied, earning an approving smile from the equally friendly wanderer.

Seeing the commotion settle out back when Ayame prepared to go through whatever orders Naruto's clientele were going to ask of him, Teuchi then approached his dining room guests with a notepad and pencil in hand. He flipped the small book open to begin jotting down their individual meals.

"So, what can I get you four tonight?"

Hinata smiled up at the restaurant owner, "O-One serving of miso ramen please… _Naruto_ size…"

"I'll have a beef one with extra fish cakes," Sasuke stated in monotone, with Teuchi nodding at them before moving on to the adults having a conversation with one another at the other end of the counter.

"I'll have a serving of miso, please," Yim said when she saw the manager arrive, raising a hand, "And a pot of green tea."

"And for me I'll have a tonkotsu with your best bottle of sake on the side," Ran smiled, also making a pointed gesture.

"Excellent choices," Teuchi exclaimed, scribbling down the orders before walking over to the viewing window of the kitchen. He clipped the paper up on the string, and watched for a moment as Ayame woman-handled the blonde with the separate ingredients spread out over the chopping boards. He rang the bell on the kitchen-counter shelf, "Two number ones, a number two and a number five with extra diced fish cakes!"

"On it!" Ayame replied, quickly showing Naruto the cutting techniques of the ingredients required for the separate soups, before watching him dump them into the boiling pots on the side. She then let him alone in order for him carry out the orders, starting from point A with his existing material and working his way up as quickly as he could.

For the assistant chef, it was business as usual.

For Naruto, it was torture in itself.

"Remember, you can make up time by performing various tasks at the desk simultaneously. After some more years of practice you'll be able to develop the innate ability to immediately tell what another person would like to have before they even say so," Ayame exclaimed, watching Naruto carry the tray of fresh noodles from the ovens and throw the individual balls into strainers. He then hung them in a separate boiling pot of water, with his mentor nodding in an impressed manner. "Remember, _broth_ goes first into the bowl. The soup for every type of order must be boiled in separate pots, which is why we have two out so that we can fulfill three different orders. Miso and Tonkotsu broths are similar; you just need to add more to the miso. Beef however uses oily chicken and vegetables separate from them. The additional ingredients at the end make up the defining aspects of each item."

(_A.U: __I __don__'__t __know __that __much __about __cooking, __so __no __comment_)

"Got it," Naruto said with an affirmative nod. "Separate orders with minimum effort."

"Excellent. You catch onto the point fairly quickly…" Ayame folded her arms and grinned, "For a _novice_."

Naruto could immediately tell that this was gonna be a very long night…

XXX

It was not surprising that the jinchuriki was able to complete his little challenge in a short while after it had began, depositing the bowls of noodles on the window for Teuchi to hand out to the customers.

The restaurant owner sat each dish in front of their respective patrons and waited with held breath as they sniffed and tasted their meals in accordance to their usual 'pre-flight' checks. Needless to say, Naruto was also hanging on by his fingertips; with hands pressed together like he was praying and visibly shuffling about nervously.

"_So __this __is __what __being __a __new __chef __is __like,__"_ Naruto thought to himself, rubbing his teeth together. _"__Damn. __How __do __Teuchi __and __Ayame __put __up __with __this __all __the __time? __They __have __to __have __hearts __of __steel __to __deal __with __all __the __judgment __and __critiques. __Well, __I __guess __if __you__'__re __good __at __something __you __do __it, __but __if __you__'__re __not __good __you __teach. __Or __is __that __the __other __way __around? __Ah, __forget __it. __At __least __I __know __now __I __won__'__t __be __taking __a __job __like __this __sometime __in __the __foreseeable __future, __unless __my __life __depended __on-__"_

"Delicious!"

"_Oh. __Maybe __I __spoke __too __soon,__"_ Naruto concluded, his head perking up at his first review.

This one had come from Ran, who was quite literally diving spoon and chop-sticks first into the bowl of soup in front of her. Watching her consume the noodles and other ingredients by the second, the jinchuriki knew her words were honest to truth as indicated by the beaming smile on her face and sparkling eyes.

"Wow… t-this is amazing!" Ran stated, looking over at the ninja standing on the other side of the wall and gazing through the window. "Your first time? Hell, this doesn't taste like a first."

"Well… you know," Naruto smiled smugly, sniffed and ran his finger under his nose as he leant against the kitchen counter frame. "I'm just awesome." The moment he said that, a butcher's knife planted itself right between the fingers of the hand he had laid down. With owlish eyes he looked at the sheer size of the cutlery piece before glancing over at Ayame standing some feet away.

She was smiling sweetly at him. Well, when he saw sweetly at first turned out to be the devil in disguise a second later. Naruto paled when he glimpsed black flames rising off of her shoulders and horns just sprout out of her head like daisies. In spite of the kind, closed-eyed stare she was giving him, the blonde literally felt like he was treading on death's doorstep and immediately proceeded to correct himself on his self indulging comment.

"I… I mean… Ayame-oneesan is awesome! Y-Yeah… that's right," Naruto grinned nervously over at the ronin samurai still looking intently in his direction. What followed up after this he said both forcefully and robotically, "Yes! Ayame-oneesan is the best! She taught me everything I know and everything I will need to know. She is my master and my mentor. I am just a worm toiling away at the soil and looking for roots! Ayame is the captain of my ship…" In his mind he had already committed Seppuku at least a dozen times.

Every word he spoke killed him that much more. He quite literally looked down towards the floor with bad weather metaphorically floating all around him.

"_Why am I such a coward? Why am I such a sucker for punishment? Why are all the girls I know trying to kill me… as slowly as possible?"_

"Well, it certainly is a lovely meal," Ran moved back and continued to consume her order. At the exact same time, the other three restaurant patrons were also passing judgment on the noodle soup.

Yim was greatly appreciating her miso ramen with an incredibly satisfied look on her face, almost mirroring the smile and delight Hinata also wore just a couple seats down. Since they both had the same order they both wore the same reactions, not to mention their hearts were set in the right place. The only one who wasn't really expressing that much emotion in this situation was Sasuke. Out of the four of them, he went about eating his noodles with as little enthusiasm as possible.

Even in culinary, he wouldn't admit defeat that easily.

But _God_ were these noodles good!

"Exemplary," Yim exclaimed, pulling up a spoonful of soup and drinking it. Her tongue ran across her upper lip, "The balance and consistency of the ramen is reasonable. The soup compliments the noodles so well and the ingredients add more to the bite." She smiled over at the boy, "Naruto-kun; you are a _natural_."

"T-Thank you, Yim-chan," Naruto grinned and rubbed the back of his head. _"__Oh __well. __I __can __always __stand __and __take __whatever __is __thrown __at __me, __no __matter __how __scary __or __how __good __natured __the __projectiles __are.__"_

"M-My compliments to the chef," Hinata exclaimed, her face red as she addressed the blonde standing by the kitchen window. "I… I really like the noodles, Naruto-kun."

"Well, that's three down," Teuchi exclaimed brightly. Both he and Ayame then looked in the direction of the silent Uchiha, still passively gorging on his meal without so much of a word or a glance in their direction. Silence fell within the bar and all eyes fell on the raven-haired boy.

The presence of eyes laid on the back of his head didn't at all deter the so-called protégé from his meal. In fact, after taking so much attention throughout most of his life and ignoring a great majority of it, a few stares locked onto him wasn't much of a bother. However, it did make the situation feel a little more awkward then it actually was. Nevertheless, instead of responding to the audience Sasuke continued to feast, drinking up spoonfuls of soup to level with the contents of his slowly emptying bowl. Between gaps in his slurps he would switch to the tea before once again continuing to eat.

He was going through it rather quickly, which pleased Naruto somewhat.

However, he had yet to deliver his verdict.

After several minutes and upon finishing the soup, right down to the small puddle lying at the base of the bowl that he unceremoniously drank by using the dish as a cup, the Uchiha then placed his chopsticks across it, rose to his feet, and deposited the necessary funds next to the empty dishes.

Without so much of a glance, he slipped his hands into his pockets, turned and left.

However, just as he was about to completely vacate the restaurant with all eyes still watching his back, he stopped at the entrance and turned around. Looking between all individuals present, he then looked back at his empty bowl lying on the counter.

Inconspicuously licking his lips, he glanced up at Naruto staring at him from the kitchen.

"Needs more salt," the Uchiha smirked and disappeared under the canvas.

"THAT MISERABLE, UNGRATEFUL, SOULLESS, ARROGANT, STAIN ON MY SANDAL, SNIDE, LITTLE…" Naruto screamed as he hurdled the kitchen window and then the front counter. It was a magnificent display of fury, in spite of the fact that all he wanted to do now was to strangle the cheeky fuck that had just left him in the dust.

However, just as the jinchuriki was barreling over the final desk, he was unexpectedly stopped by Ran who stuck her sheathed sword out with one arm and caught him by the chest and under his arms, preventing him from moving any further.

Fuming, the boy perched on the tabletop glanced over at the samurai, who was currently sipping a glass of sake while blindly and effortlessly holding him back.

Letting out a sigh, the ronin focused on the wall ahead of her. "Anger doesn't suit a kind soul like you. Do not sully your good name by performing any heinous acts of retaliation against stupidity or good-natured teasing. It is unnecessary."

Breathing hard, Naruto considered her words carefully. Of course, his anger quickly subsided when he realized just how unreasonable he was acting towards a little taunt, and simply resigned himself to his previous position. He deflated where he hung over the outstretched sword.

"T-Thank you…"

"Good…" Ran withdrew her weapon.

"GAH!"_**THUD!**_ Naruto hit the floor chest first with a melody that would make a sack of flour proud. This earned a chuckle from an amused Teuchi and a giggle from Ayame, both of whom were peering over the counter to see if the boy was okay. Hinata also smiled in good humor as she looked down at the crumpled heap of the young teen splayed out across the tiles.

Yim giggled when she saw the boy's eyes crack open and glare ahead of him, his goggles lopsided on his forehead and clothes disheveled.

She had to admit, it was a pretty common sight seeing her student on the ground, all for completely different reasons.

"_So childish…"_

"You did well tonight," Ran commented with a smile, uncaring of how disgruntled Naruto was now on the cold floor. "But consider this the first step to learning something greater. You passed the culinary test with only a moderate skill set, inexperience and hope. That is exemplary effort in its own right. But it's time to put that into practice."

"R-Right…" Naruto groaned. _"__I__'__m __gonna __die.__"_

XXX

**Early next morning…**

Yim awoke to a very dark and what she presumed to be a very early start to a day. Having taken Naruto's bed the previous night at his insistence since they were on a rotation basis, also at his insistence, she had been having a few pretty comfortable nights on his memory foam mattress. At first she didn't want to get up upon being roused into the conscious realm once again, but she couldn't go back to sleep either because of the sounds of loud thuds echoing throughout the apartment.

She sat up, the blankets rolling off of her and revealing her to be wearing a blue robe and by the way it seemed to slink down her shoulder, _just_ a blue robe. Hair messy and looking a bit groggy, the young woman slid out of bed fully and walked out towards the back balcony.

Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she looked down over the railing towards the backyard, where she unexpectedly saw Naruto with his top off and working on the wooden dummy on his own.

The boy was sweating up a storm already, going through the combinations he had learned and repeating them twice over. The sound of his hands hitting the wood was loud and they were moving so swiftly from an observer's perspective, in, out, around and direct. Though stationed directly in front, he would often step in and around the dummy, slamming his palms and arms into its side, rattling the structure to its core.

It was clear who he wanted to establish as boss here.

Yim blinked as she watched him work, smiling a moment later and taking to leaning on the balcony barrier to better monitor his progress. No mistakes, no flaws, no break in his combinations and no injuries. Granted he had been working on using the long pole for most of the time now, she could see he was getting that much stronger.

Naruto grunted as he thrust his palms into the center of the dummy, the arms and legs rattling as he relocked with its supposed limbs, stepping in and side-kicking it at the joint where the knee was supposed to be. He then moved back in, working the neck and body, stepping around to the other side and striking at the middle and head. He followed this up with a sound retreat.

"_Focus__…" _the boy thought, stepping forward and thrusting at the core, one palm and then the other, working on breaking his 'opponent's' limbs at the same time. _"__My __energy __is __an __extension __of __my __body!__"_

Striking the right arm, then the leg, Naruto thrust in with two hands, during which he emitted a chi wave.

There was a sudden gust of wind, the entire atmosphere of the garden unexpectedly picking up on a heavy breeze that blew through the area, with any unfixed objects rattling loudly. The force of Naruto's attack on the dummy caused it to shake violently and slide back about a foot, despite it being nailed into the ground.

When the boy reversed into a defensive stance, he was able to spot two handprints clearly laid in the solid surface of his target. Since the wooden dummy was made out of rock wood, a special tree grown on the Eastern Side of _Konohagakure_, it was pretty sturdy against unconventional attacks. Hell, this particular device was normally used as target practice for long range ninjutsu training. It could even withstand a _Fireball __Technique_ at close range and not even get scorched.

The fact that he was able to dent it told him he was getting somewhere.

Naruto breathed out and stepped back, earning a curious glance from Yim who didn't react beyond a raised eyebrow. She watched him wipe his head in an exhausted state.

"_Still __not __good __enough. __An __attack __like __that __keeps __draining __me __flat __out,__"_ Naruto thought, while breathing raggedly. _"__I__'__d __say __I __can __only __do __it __about __three __times __between __fights, __at __least. __That __means __I __need __to __get __stronger.__"_

He then collapsed onto the grass, sitting back on his hands and looking up at the imposing wooden obstacle. It looked like an opponent towering over him, but he ignored that image with a wave of his hand and crossed his legs for a more contemplative stance on the matter. He folded his arms and glared up at it.

"Well, what do you think I should do? Continue beating you up or move on to my long pole exercises-?"

"Do you know how to use a sword?" a new voice interjected.

Naruto stiffened and looked to his left. Coming around the side of the building through the backyard gate he saw Ran standing by with her hand at her side clutching her katana and her other hand thrown over her shoulder, holding a big jug of sake. Smiling in his direction, she gently closed the door behind her and approached with grace and elegance behind every step she took.

"R-Ran-chan? What are you doing here?"

"Well, before I answer that question, I learned from your good friend Yim-chan the address of your home and where she was staying at. She told me that she was currently residing at your place as a friend, roommate and teacher, which I found incredibly interesting. Of course, seeing as that I had nowhere else to go and nothing to do today, I decided to pay you a little visit," Ran smiled, watching him rise to his feet and stopping just short of a meter from him. It didn't even bother her he was only wearing a pair of pants, as it clearly looked like he was in the middle of working out. "So to answer your first question, I am simply here to pay off my debt."

"Y-Your debt?" Naruto blinked. It took him a bit to recall or figure out whether he owed anything to anybody or vice versa, but after looking back and remembering his first encounter with the samurai, the revelation suddenly popped into his head like a light bulb being switched on. "W-Wait… you think…?"

"I don't think. I _know_," Ran smiled at him. She stepped to her right and gently set the sake down on the patio before facing him completely, unrolling her arms from the sleeves of her robes. "But debt shouldn't have to be paid through meaningless material goods. It is easy to make money, there's plenty of it in this world."

Naruto blinked at her, "S-So…?"

"I'm sure you have heard of this proverb from your instructor before, as it has been used prominently in her people's teachings. _Give __a __man __a __fish __and __you __will __feed __him __for __a __day. __But __teach __a __man __how __to __fish __and __you __will __feed __him __for __a __life time_," Ran exclaimed. "The value of what you have given must be given in return. You saved my life; a gift that I shall value for the rest of it. Therefore, I shall pay my debt back to you in teachings that will last you for the rest of _your_ life and will help you save more."

The blonde gave her a deadpanned expression, "You… don't need to put it so theatrically… whatever it is you're saying…" To be honest, he couldn't quite follow what she was telling him. He only understood the beginning of her little speech and that was all.

Ran smiled at him, "I'm saying that I will teach you _my_ martial arts to repay you for the kindness and generosity you have given me." It was at this the jinchuriki looked at her in surprise, during which time she adjusted the position of the sword at her side. "Don't go thinking that using a katana is the only form of fighting I know. I haven't just mastered every single form of kenjutsu on this continent, I have also mastered jujutsu. I believe it is something that might come in handy with the forms of martial arts I assume you have already accumulated."

Naruto stared at her in silence, gob smacked at her offering.

Now, though people didn't think of him as such, Naruto was a man of _principle_. What he did, he did with good reason. No action he ever undertook was taken without just cause. He even had a mental list on hand for every occasion. The most prominent laws of which he abided by were; sleep well, work hard, never make debts either way, take baths regularly, never skip out on breakfast, _when __you __gotta __go __you __gotta __go_, never show your opponent your blind side, help out whoever you can no matter who they are, and don't kill unnecessarily. That last one was a while off, so he was pretty confident he could avoid it for as long as he could.

Now, it was established that he didn't feel like accepting another person's debt or set one to begin with. However, when he made this particular vow some time ago after a little run-in with some stranger, he made it under the assumption that all debts were dealt with in coins and not through good intentions. He was robbed blind before and he made sure never to make that mistake again.

Hence, there was a small loophole in which he could bypass safely with no repercussions.

He was thinking of combining these principles together into one perfect metaphor, only he wasn't able to come up with it yet.

Oh well, one step at a time.

"Well?" Ran murmured, giving him a knowing smile. "Will you accept me as your teacher as well? I can teach you jujutsu, and how to defend yourself barehanded against kenjutsu and weapon users. I know you are very busy with your shinobi training and kung fu, but I would very much like to be a part of your personal development, if you would permit me."

"S-Sure," Naruto grinned. Rubbing the back of his head in his characteristic manner, he then extended his fist towards the woman in a gesture of friendship.

He felt he gave the idea the necessary amount of thought, so what the heck.

"I… I accept your generosity, Ran-chan."

Ran gave him a nod and placed her fist against his. Though she found it to be a rather unconventional method of affirming a contract set between two partners, who was she to complain? This kid showed promise.

No one had ever shown so much interest to get her attention before and this was saying something. Other than that, she had nothing to lose.

"Oh, one other thing," the ronin continued, her fist still pressed up against his as the deal was made and solidified, "I… may need lodgings for the next few months or so in order to stay on hand to aid you in your training. If it isn't too much trouble for you, I would like to stay here for a while."

The blonde was a little bit surprised at her request, but he considered her words quickly and decided for it. After all, what harm was there in accepting another master into his household? Her presence felt clean to him, he felt no malicious intent whatsoever like with Yim, nothing.

"That's okay. There's plenty of room at my place. Stay as long as you want."

"I am grateful. Thank you very much."

As the two lowered their extended hands at the conclusion of their arrangements, Yim, who was still standing up on the balcony, smiled and shook her head good-naturedly. She then looked up towards the village when she spotted the sun poking up from over the horizon. Locking onto it as it rose from its hiding place behind the hills, she gave another pleasant smile, as if welcoming the day ahead.

At the same time, a light breeze ruffled at her hair, showing off that aura Naruto always saw about her, _"__I __am __looking __forward __to __this __future __with __great __enthusiasm.__"_

XXX

**Later that night…**

**Industrial District…**

Up on the rooftops outside of several supply houses, the shadow of a figure could be seen moving swiftly and silently across, leaping over wide spaces with little effort and climbing to the highest points available for the best views of his surroundings. Eventually, after traversing across the various factories and towers making up his path for several minutes, the figure then landed atop of the largest building in the area. It was topped with a couple of water towers and air-conditioning units, the easiest one to pick out from all the steel roofs and chimney stacks making up the others.

Upon setting his mark, the unknown figure then strolled over to the darkest side of the roof of the structure, making sure to be positioned out of view of any potential onlookers. This area happened to be underneath the shadow of one of the massive water towers where his rendezvous point was. It was cold and empty.

Perfect.

Immediately after arriving he strolled over to the edge of the complex and peered over the side of the fence barricade.

Assessing that nobody was nearby he turned around to wait. He wasn't expecting his contact to be here so soon, but then what could you expect from his master's lackeys. They were all unreliable.

Almost instantly upon doing so he came face to face with a pair of circular reflections peering at him from under the shadow of the water tower across from the one he was next to. The white haired man with his Konoha shinobi bandana wrapped securely around his head flinched in surprise, but smirked a moment later when he recognized the pair of spectacles, which flickered as the obscured figure approached him.

"You should consider getting contacts, Kabuto," Mizuki smirked, knowing exactly who it was he was conversing with.

"If I did then the people back home who have come to know my face wouldn't be able to recognize me, would they?" the mystery man replied, stepping out of the darkness to reveal an average male with glasses, grey hair and wearing a purple gi with a white undershirt. He also wore a Konoha headband, a necessity in order for him to pass off as a 'member' of the village. "Then again, I will take your suggestion under advisement."

"Indeed."

The man with the glasses frowned, "What is it that you wish to report, Mizuki? How goes your plan to steal the _Scroll __of __Seals_ for Orochimaru-sama?"

"I've hit a bit of a setback."

"Oh." The spy pretended to be surprised. "Do tell."

"Unfortunately, this little _hindrance_ that I have encountered has crippled my original plan to acquire the scroll from the Hokage's mansion the simplest and easiest way possible. It was convenient and basically eliminated a couple of problems for us at the same time," Mizuki replied, his hands tensing somewhat as he glared back at his ally. "But the situation has changed drastically."

"Well, it shouldn't be that difficult for you to fix, should it?" Kabuto replied, slipping his hands into his pockets and giving the man a cocky grin. "If it is such a big problem, then Orochimaru should have hired somebody with more skill then you to do _your_ job. Maybe he made a mistake when he sought you out…"

"He didn't," Mizuki snapped back, finding the pride of his Lord's right hand man quite frustrating. "Call it what you will, but this _needs _to be done."

"Hmm? And why does this particular thing _need_ to be done?" Kabuto smirked. He saw the other shinobi shift uncomfortably on the spot, his hands visibly clenching tightly as if he were debating over what he was about to say next.

"This is the point where I call on that favor you owe me."

The man frowned deeply in response, "I don't owe you anything."

"For this information, you do," Mizuki replied, his eyebrows narrowing. "I want a small team of shinobi to ambush and kill the Kyuubi's jinchuriki Naruto Uzumaki, and another team to distract the… _caretakers_ he's hanging around with. Preferably I want the best you have on hand for the latter job. I can take care of the scroll pilfering myself."

"That's a pretty big favor to ask," Kabuto said in a tone of feigned disgruntlement, "Why can't you do it yourself?"

"Because the people who are always close to that Kyuubi brat are powerful… more powerful than you can believe," Mizuki stated, his eyes overshadowing. "Before I give you this next piece of information I need you to agree to this request. I want that boy _dead_."

Kabuto sighed and rubbed the side of his head, "This is something personal, isn't it?"

"Call it 'pest control'," Mizuki smirked. "This way you can cripple the village by getting rid of a valuable asset of theirs and have _their_ fingers pointed in another direction, such as…Kumogakure or Iwagakure for example. Stir up something to get the village leaders roused to a 'threat'. I can leave that chore of pointing fingers to you."

The man with the glasses shook his head, "I've heard of this boy…Naruto. He's nothing special. Always wrecking unwarranted havoc across the entire village and always causing trouble for the locals." Pushing his glasses back up his nose, the Sound Village spy looked back up at the white haired Chunin awaiting his reply. "I think Orochimaru-sama may have a small Genin team hanging around in his back room that he can spare. They can chase up your little… _problem_ and have him dealt with quietly. It should be good sport, not to mention they can get some training out of it."

"So… are you interested or not?" the Chunin asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Alright then… you have a deal. Now tell me what you know."

Mizuki frowned and slipped his hands into his pockets, looking out across the village, "Now this is just a rumor… I haven't confirmed it yet, but I heard from some villagers that the demon brat is currently in the company of some foreigner named Yim Wing-chun and the wandering samurai named Ran Tsukikage."

It was at this Kabuto's eyes widened and he stepped forward abruptly, his gaze hardening, "Say that last name again…"

"Ran Tsukikage…"

The spy slinked back and removed his glasses. It was clear that he was distressed in the face of this news, which meant that he had more shit on his plate to deal with. Letting out an exasperated sigh and rubbing the bridge of his nose, he slid his spectacles back on and turned away. Deciding to face a more appealing area when contemplating the information he had just learned, he grounded his teeth together and folded his arms, "This is indeed problematic."

"What I don't know is why the hell that woman is in _Konohagakure_ in the first place," Mizuki stated with a scowl. "She never stays in one town for too long, she's always moving around from region to region. If she was outside of Konohagakure then our master's plans for this village could be carried out without impediment. The fact that she is here means we are bound to hit snags that will most likely cost us dearly."

"Out of all the samurai we know of, she is as powerful as they come," Kabuto informed while looking over at his associated, both of them looking visibly shaken. "Not even Orochimaru-sama would dare cross her path. Not for anything."

While it was true that their boss was no stranger to overwhelming power or shinobi he considered to be on par with himself, the reality was that he was only _one_ man. As strong as Orochimaru was, the knowledge was clear to everyone associated with him that there were even more shinobi out there who were even more powerful then he was and most of them he had made enemies out of thanks to his activities. That was why he rarely came out into the open.

While Mizuki knew of only two other ninja in the world who were possibly a threat to his master, which were Jiraiya and Tsunade of the Sannin, Kabuto knew a great deal more.

Orochimaru was once a part of a group called Akatsuki and each of its members were even more powerful than the snake Sannin respectively. That was quite a spine tingling thought.

But that wasn't the kicker. What was more concerning was while Orochimaru steered clear away from Akatsuki activities, the Akatsuki made sure to steer clear of Ran whenever she was sighted.

_That_ was the kicker.

"So… how do you propose we deal with these… _issues_?" Mizuki asked with great concern. "You know now as much as I do that any plan Orochimaru-sama executes against this village will ultimately fail if that woman is still within the vicinity. Do you know if there is anyone out there who can possibly handle someone like her?"

Silence fell.

Kabuto considered the possible outcomes of any of the operations Orochimaru had planned for Konoha, from subjugation plots to infiltration. Since he was closely associated with a great majority of his master's campaigns for the village itself and any schemes for dealing with its citizens, it took him a while to weigh out the chances of their forces coming into contact with the woman in question.

Ran was sharp. She was intelligent and wise. Top that off with Kage level strengths and you had one deadly enemy. Though he knew that the woman had a history of not wanting to get involved in any disputes, she always somehow managed to get dragged into them and anyone standing in her way was mercilessly cut down. She was the reason why the Yakuza are running and hiding, and they had _big_ connections… well… once.

Kabuto even had an unaccounted 'foreigner' that Mizuki was also worried about, but he ruled this threat out in favor of the samurai.

It looked pretty bleak.

"I'll try and deal with her myself. I need to assess her level of skill before making any drastic changes to our plans," Kabuto stated finally, glaring back over at Mizuki, "There are no other options available. The _Sound __Four_ are on a mission in Kirigakure, Guren is sulking, Jugo is indisposed, and Kimimaro is bedridden from his illness again. But I'm pretty sure I can deal with her on my own, or at least distract her long enough for you to make your move."

"You don't sound that confident," Mizuki smirked.

"In this case, _no_… I'm not…"

"Then we have a plan?"

"It's a stretch but I think we will be able to pull it off," Kabuto adjusted his glasses with a nod. "I will send word out to Orochimaru immediately and have him deploy a small team for you. They will be inside of the village by tomorrow night."

"Excellent," Mizuki nodded and gave the man a snide grin, "Just in time for the _Final __Graduation __Exam_ too. I'll let that brat have his moment, then cut him down swiftly…"

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

><p><strong>Author's<strong> **Note**:_ Please excuse any spelling or grammer mistakes. The documents are still encountering problems whenever I make transfers to this site._

_Additionally: No, Naruto will not use or have a katana or sword, that is done too often. Naruto will just be dressed and act as himself for the entire time. I'm only giving him life skills. lol. Also, I'm throwing Ran in as his instructor as well to make the story and his living conditions more interesting. I'm still at the beginning stages of the story so bare with me. It'll get better on the missions._

_Also, the beating Izumo and Kotetsu had by Tsume was not done because I hate them. I love those two. I just wanted to establish a scene Naruto was observing, and show how strong Tsume is in taijutsu only. I think she's pretty badass and vicious too, also explaining her militarized approach to coaching. She just seems like that kind of person. I originall ywanted Anko, but I used her enough times already. Don't worry, the two Chunin will have their spotlight in the next chapter._

_Coming up, graduation and assassination plot against Naruto. Stay tuned._


	7. Scroll of Seals Arc: Soundless

**NARUTO**

**The Art of Appropriation**

_Soundless_

**The next morning…**

**Out on the ocean…**

Onboard the _Mikasa_, the mood was set at a relative low for the entire crew and its passengers, with not a commotion to be seen or heard. For the iron hulled vessel itself, it was a completely quiet and calm path across the open seas.

They were about halfway to their destination and so far, there have been absolutely no dramas whatsoever to disrupt the routines aboard the ship, no battles going on to divert them away from their heading, and no technical problems with the ship itself to raise any sort of alarm. The route from the _Americas_ to the _Shinobi __Nations _thousands of miles away looked, for the most part, clear of any danger.

The oceans were calm, the sky was clear, and the sound of a flock of seagulls circling the masts of the pre-dreadnaught could be heard echoing all around, joining the sounds of the vessel lumbering across the wide open blue.

Captain Marquis Togo, on duty and prompt as usual, stood at his station on the bridge overlooking the ocean laid out before him alongside his officers running coordinates checks and condition reports. Since it was basically open water from their current point to the island village there really was no reason for him to be there, but he felt it necessary that he was present at certain intervals of the journey so that his crew knew he was there both physically and mentally. After all, if the ship could stretch its legs then he could afford to do the same.

With one of the bridge hands running beverages to those who requested, the Captain was soon approached with a cup of tea of his own without even having placed an order for one. Of course, he couldn't turn down a drink when it was offered to him, and took it with an appreciative smile and a nod.

As of right now, his day was complete.

"Thank you, Miles," Marquis exclaimed, stirring the cup's contents and looking out through the windows. "Slow us down a bit. We don't want to burn the old girl out."

"Aye, sir!"

All those who were present on the bridge were all that was needed to keep the ship on its intended course, including helmsmen, navigation officer, the captain and his first officer.

While all this was going on up in the commander's stand of the superstructure, out on the decks a handful of the crew was going about their usual duties and maintenance checks, mostly out of a sheer need to occupy themselves. But all the same, it was good to have an active and fit crew.

There were several hands on the task of mopping and scrubbing the various floors to keep their temporary floating home clean, another team checking on the condition of the lifeboats, and another squad of sailors cleaning out the big guns. At the same time, amidst the bustling of the ship's main staff, a large number of the mercenary squads of the battalion hired by Gato on board were running marching drills at the orders of their commanding officer.

While the handful of passengers sat idly by outside or inside their quarters, things seemed to be going as per the usual routine for the military dogs.

Even Lieutenant Polly Fairclough was keeping herself busy.

Walking along one of the upper, wraparound decks of the battleship's superstructure, the female boxing champion was presently reading up on the checklist she had just completed on the weapons and ammunition down in supply. Her hand casually grazed the railing as she went along, making sure to double check the numbers.

"Hmph. No abnormalities. That's good," Polly mumbled to herself. _"__The __Colonel __will __definitely __be __pleased__… __I __think.__"_

It was the routine of the routine. She hated doing stuff like this, especially when the men weren't doing much target practice, even after a while of being out at sea.

The entire trip was taking longer than earlier anticipated. This had Polly worry about their ultimate deadline.

While she was passing by one of the smaller storage areas around the rear bridge of the vessel under the stern mast, she heard a loud banging noise coming from inside the steel chamber.

Deciding to investigate the strange phenomenon, she turned in the sound's direction, pushed open the door and ducked in. She immediately found herself in the dimly lit packaging room with all of the crates shoved over to the side walls.

Apparently, under the noses of both herself and the crew, her commanding officer Corbett had transformed the area into a personal training facility for himself. His gear was here, his drying clothes, and so was a fold-out bed he had laid out in the corner. It wasn't as spacious as he had liked it to be but the lieutenant could see that he had gone out of his way to get in as much exercise, despite his conditions, into his daily schedule as much as possible.

Consider this as his _alone_ time.

Polly stood in the doorway and watched as the man worked. Dressed in just a white singlet, his trousers, gauze wrapped around his hands, and boots, he was pretty much set for a full day of pumping iron. He was also all set and prepared with the necessary equipment.

Not only had he set up a stretching and shadow-sparring floor, he also had a bench press machine, cable weights and dumbbells. There were plenty of railings and pipelines overhead, so the setup seemed perfect for him. Right now, he was working on a heavy bag hanging from the ceiling; hammering into it with punches like there was no tomorrow.

At least, that was the lieutenant's first impression.

Aside from his unique boxing techniques and superb form, Corbett was also displaying insane amounts of strength Polly had rarely seen in another champion before. By the look on his face, it appeared as though he wasn't even trying, just simply cutting himself loose for an adequate warm-up session with fists and sweat flying through the air all at once.

Still, it was nothing short of impressive.

His hand movements a blur and in the middle of a series of combinations, the man suddenly felt a presence nearby and turned to see his lieutenant standing at the entrance. He caught the swinging bag and straightened up, giving his comrade his abrupt, undivided attention.

"What are you doing here, lieutenant?"

Polly, shaking herself out of her daze, walked further into the 'training temple' with manifest in hand, "Sorry sir. I was just heading up to the bridge to log this report, but I got distracted." She trailed off when she looked around the chamber some more, taking a further interested glance of all of the weight equipment the man had deposited around the place. "How did you get all of this stuff on board?"

"I passed it by the Captain and he gave me permission to set it up in this room. Sure, it's a hell of a lot more gloomier and cramped then the lounge I use in my apartment, but at least it does its job," Corbett replied, cracking his neck to the side with a sigh. "If I don't train regularly, I'll go soft. A boxer must assert himself to his profession if he is to become better then himself."

"You've been in the army for too long, sir," Polly smiled in amusement. "I can tell that you miss your bare-knuckle bouts in the ring.

The man grumbled and folded his arms, looking away with a childish scowl. After which he then continued making more aggravated gestures with free use of his hands, "It's completely unacceptable. The whole boxing world has been going pear shaped ever since the federation decided that it's 'safer' for the competitors to wear gloves. You just can't beat the feeling of tackling an opponent bigger then you, head-to-head, bare-knuckled and in the ring fo- HEY!" He froze. Seconds later, the large man spun back around to face the officer standing in front of him with a narrowed grimace on his face. "Who gave you permission to speak, lieutenant?"

The brown haired woman shook her head with a smile and marched over to a nearby crate. As she strode along at her own leisure, Corbett followed her with his eyes as she set her manifest down, removed her jacket and, upon checking to make sure her gauntlets were secured tightly around her wrists, walked over to the heavy bag he had been working on moments before.

"May I?" she inquired, pointing at the swinging sack of sand.

Still looking a bit flustered, the tall, stoic officer cleared his throat and recomposed himself, choosing to set aside his rather unprofessional outbursts.

He nodded approvingly, giving her permission through actions rather then words.

At his admission, Polly took position. Rolling her shoulders, the woman breathed out and focused on her 'opponent' hanging steadily in front of her. Feet spread comfortably and shadow cast, she readied herself as if she were preparing for an actual match.

Clearly, the moment she assumed her fighting stance, Corbett noticed that it was significantly different in contrast to his own.

He recognized it immediately, noting that while he consciously had his feet set slightly wider apart and his fists held out further rather than close to his face, hers was more controlled and packed. Apparently, Fairclough chose the conventional way of boxing instead of the old method developed over the past century or so.

As soon as she assumed her natural fighting stance and after a few seconds of deadly stand-off time between herself and the punching bag, the woman then exploded into action, unleashing a barrage of punches upon the object.

She hit the target's core with more hits then what could possibly be counted as merely professional and with greater speeds then what her commander previously displayed.

However, it quickly became obvious that she was purposefully holding back.

In the minutes that passed, she allowed herself to cut loose and relax; her combinations flowing fluently as she pummeled the sack of sand with blunt fury.

Corbett stood off to the side with his arms folded, smiling in admiration while he watched the woman work herself. She moved from left to right in a blurring motion, as if wearing down an opponent's defenses from the outside-in.

"_Cheeky __thing. __She__'__s __trying __to __copy __my __method __of __fighting __through __increased __footwork __and __speed.__" _He grinned to himself. _"__She __has __explosive __movement __to __match__… __and __a __good __eye __for __technique.__"_

Satisfied with the few combinations she managed to execute in successive, unyielding fashion, she ended with a powerful hook that had the two-hundred pound bag swinging violently from side to side, rattling the chains and rafters. Polly dropped out of her stance soon after and forcibly stopped her 'opponent' from swaying, before looking back over at her commanding officer.

The way she threw her hair over a slowly rolling shoulder suggested something other, as she gave the man a sly smile.

"Well?"

Corbett disregarded her mischievous gaze and approached, arms still crossed.

"You move well and your combos appear to be much more aggressive than mine. Not to mention your speed is incredible. I'm assuming because you've loosened yourself up to a greater degree in order to implement a particular method of boxing," Corbett stated, placing his hand against the bag while grinning down at his right-hand ma-…_woman_, "The girl who readily takes on male heavyweight champions and beats them to a bloody pulp. People seriously underestimate your abilities."

"With all due respect sir, I think I can teach you a thing or two about punching," Polly smirked confidently.

She was immediately countered in kind, "Oh yeah? Well… show me what you've got, lieutenant."

"Gladly." Hand up to her cheek, she struck directly from the guard position with little effort, not even worrying about the fact that her superior was leaning against the training equipment.

Her fist's impact with the heavy bag left a deep indent and sent it undulating violently, even more so then her last hook. When it stopped rattling, Corbett chuckled and watched her step away from the plate, to which she then offered him the floor for a demonstration.

Cracking his knuckles, the Colonel took her previous spot and raised his guard to his cheeks.

"Don't blink, sir," Polly exclaimed.

"If this is a punching contest, then I win this one hands down," the officer replied, hopping on the spot. Setting his target and lining up his sights, his fist suddenly shot out like a bolt with a force equivalent to that of a mule's kick behind it.

Though Polly before him had hit the target with extreme energy and little effort, Corbett took it a step further with a heavy power-hit, enough to have the thing spinning circles… or so he thought.

_This_ may have been a bit of an understatement.

A mule's kick?

Try cannon fire.

The moment his fist made contact, it not only created a loud 'whip-crack' sound through the air as if his attack were breaking through the sound barrier, the force also traveled straight through the punching bag, ripped the heavy thing from its railing and sent it hurling into the wall on the other side of the room.

Actually…

Rephrase that: _through_ the wall.

The two-layered, three inch thick iron surface of the ship was blasted open and outwards when the deft, sand filled bag went flying out across the deck, over the side and into the ocean. It was a record breaking distance, covering about twenty five meters even with the wall taking most of its impact.

The resounding splash at the end had both Corbett and Polly blink in unison at the now gaping outlet in front of them, with the heavyweight who had executed the punch frozen in his outstretched position.

"Oops…"

"Colonel Corbett, you BASTARD!" an angry roar echoed from down the way, seconds before Captain Marquis himself arrived and stopped in full view of the newly made 'doorway'. Looking over his ship's wrecked barriers and all the other damage caused by the flying sack of sand, the old man fumed and glared daggers at the person responsible for the debacle.

Teeth grinding and face red, you could really see the angry thunderclouds forming over his head, which prompted nearby crewmembers that had come to investigate to stay well away from him.

The two boxers immediately stood at attention upon seeing the glare locked onto them, hands crossed in front and both of them petrified with fear.

"H-Hi, sir…" Polly squeaked.

"Y-You… YOU RUFFIANS!" The Captain grabbed his hat and threw it at the ground, before angrily pointing at the two of them. "Know that _this_ will be coming out of your paychecks!"

"_**Yes, **__**sir**__**…"**_ both Corbett and Polly replied together, heads lowering in shame.

Well, this was certainly looking to be a delightful closing scene to the rest of the voyage…

XXX

**Meanwhile…**

**Back in Konoha…**

"What's the big idea, Sasuke?" Kiba shouted, leaping back to avoid a spin kick from his opponent cutting through the air, which ended with the Inuzuka making sure to keep a good spread of distance between himself, and his opponent standing on the other side of the street.

The brief bout resulted in a split between the feral looking teen and his pup on one side while the Uchiha prodigy stood on the other side, dropped in a relaxed stance and raring to go.

People walking by in the market place paid little mind to the scuffle going on several feet away and went about their usual business. At the same time, those who were aware of the fight taking place made the smart decision to keep as far away from the clashing pair for their own safety.

This was obviously a personal matter.

"Listen man, I don't know what's gotten into you, but you need to calm down!" Kiba said again, holding a hand out in an attempt to halt the other boy's unexpected attack on him. "We can't fight now. We've got school to get to!"

"I am well aware of that," Sasuke replied, smirking a second later, "So the sooner you start fighting back the sooner we can get to the academy. Now either you attack me or I start stomping you into the ground."

The boy with arrowhead eyes gave his raven haired classmate a deadpanned look, "You're not serious?"

"For your information Kiba, I'm both calm _and_ serious," the Uchiha stated, his hands opening and closing in a flexing motion. "So… are we gonna do this or not?"

"N-Now wait just a moment!" the Inuzuka tried to reason with the teen again, only to see him charging at him a second later. Dodging a deliberate wide shot, Kiba was forced to barrel roll out of the way and make a hasty retreat. He swung out to Sasuke's left and backed away, with his opponent giving quick pursuit with a series of loose punches, hooks and spin kicks.

The attacks flew out one after the other, driving the other teen back. Eventually the Inuzuka was chased to the other side of the road where Sasuke previously stood, forcing him to take the defensive.

Another right punch came slicing through the air, which Kiba caught and held tightly in his right, clawed palm. Gritting their teeth, both combatants glared at one another. Their bodies trembled as they held their positions, with one attempting to withdraw his hand while the other one opted to hold it in place. The grappling situation presented the Inuzuka with another brief window of opportunity to trade words with his persistent opponent.

"Come on, Sasuke! Knock it off already!" Kiba growled, "Why do you want to fight with me all of a sudden, huh?"

Sasuke responded with a hook with his free arm. Kiba countered with an elbow to the incoming fist. The collision of both attacks forced the two of them apart, giving both of them the necessary breathing space to face each other down for a second time from a broken engagement. Now not only was the Uchiha ready for another confrontation but so was the Inuzuka, only he was more inclined to keep defending the swift assault he was having so much trouble blocking.

Locking horns with one of the best in the academy wasn't exactly what Kiba had planned for today.

"It appears you're starting to get into it," Sasuke smiled.

The boy in the hood growled, "Of course I'm getting into it! You're attacking me!"

"It's necessary. After all, how else am I going to rouse any sort of response from you? I know it takes a lot to get you worked up in a fight, even against me. Besides," the Uchiha frowned, clenching his fists. "Neither of us has yet to even begin fighting at our fullest, so I suggest you hit me back otherwise this next attack will send you straight into the window behind you. I can guarantee it."

"Damn… bastard," Kiba hissed, his hands tensing as he assumed the stance of his Inuzuka Style taijutsu.

Sasuke was aiming to knock him out or inflict any sort of damage on him. The teen knew that when the brooder made a threat, he meant it, and would carry it out no matter what. Though it wasn't something he did so often, whenever he asserted himself to a particular goal, the Uchiha had always proven time and again to follow through with it. He was as stubborn as Naruto.

The only differences were that he didn't let it show what his main intentions were most of the time and he certainly wasn't as flashy about it.

This got Kiba thinking…

"_Sasuke __has __never __challenged __me __to __a __fight __from __out __of __the __blue __before. __In__fact__… __he__'__s __never __challenged __**anyone **__to __a __fight __from __out __of __the __blue __before. __Every__time __there __were __any __practice __spars __or __contests __held __during __academy __lessons __he __always __had __the __teacher __decide __his __opponents __for __him,__"_ the Inuzuka thought, a bead of sweat running down his forehead as he attempted to figure out this little mystery as to why the Uchiha was suddenly so riled up about a morning workout. _"__He __never __gave __his __opponents __any __sort __of __thought __whatsoever, __even __before __a __matchup __was __decided. __What__'__s __his __deal?__"_

Kiba looked the other boy up and down, taking note of the confidence as well as the significant effort he was exerting holding that fighting stance of his. Out of all of the small bouts he had seen Sasuke partake in, the prodigy had never faced his challenger or adversary down while at the same time radiated such unflinching raw power and intent to hurt before, since there were very few who could actually go toe-to-toe with him.

Although his stance now was sort of reminiscent of how he and Sasuke had fought before in the past, this time he appeared to be much more serious about it.

It wasn't like he was out for blood. It was like he was out to prove something. But what?

All of a sudden, after about a minute ticked by and nothing happened, Sasuke bared his teeth at his opponent and snarled, "Well? Come on! What are you waiting for?"

Kiba gritted his jaw nervously and shuffled a bit to his right, watching as Sasuke circled as well to keep his dominant side on him. _"__Attack __him __first, __geez! __He __really __wants __to __get __this __thing __rolling. __What __does __he __want __to __try __to __do, __attack __while __I__'__m __attacking? __I __haven__'__t __seen __anyone __this __hyped __up __to __start __brawling __it __out __since __Naru__… __hang __on!__"_ The Inuzuka lowered his guard a little, eyes widening a bit when his mind started revolving around that name.

Now that he thought about it, ever since that time when the entire class saw Naruto fight back during the taijutsu exam, Sasuke had started acting really strangely.

Sure the boy continued acting his usual brooding self, but the Inuzuka could have sworn he'd seen the Uchiha recently been keeping a closer eye on the idiot blonde. During lectures, during tests, during refresh sessions, his eyes would always trail towards the Uzumaki at random intervals.

Could it be…?

"Sasuke… are you… _worried_ that Naruto… has become stronger than you?"

Sasuke flinched, shifting the position of his arms. "No."

Kiba's hands dropped to his sides as he stared at the Uchiha with his jaw hanging wide open. This expression then transformed into a smirking one and he pointed at the raven haired brood with wide eyes. "Holy crap, you are! You're worried that you've been outclassed by the dead-last!"

The Uchiha sneered, "I'm not worried… not in the slightest!"

"A-ha! You hesitated! Don't try to hide it. You're bothered by the fact that he was able to beat _me_ in a taijutsu match while all those other times you and I ever fought, we always ended up drawing," Kiba grinned widely, pointing a finger at the now seething young male while Akamaru barked out from his partner's collar. "You're thinking that if you can beat _me_, you'd have nothing to worry about?"

When it looked like the prodigy was about to pop a cork, he eventually calmed himself and grinned cockily at the Inuzuka. "Well… I'm surprised that _you__'__re_ not just as concerned about his phenomenal improvement as I am, Kiba. After all, the 'dead-last' did kick your ass pretty badly, didn't he?"

Okay, now _that_ was a low blow.

Kiba furrowed his brow at the smirking teen. "Watch it, duck-butt."

"Nice comeba-wait," Sasuke dropped out of his stance with a confused blink, "Duck butt?"

Kiba face palmed before pointing at the teen, "You mean you've never noticed? You have hair shaped like the tail feathers at the end of a goose."

The teen stiffened with an additional blush, while placing his hands on the back of his head to try and press his locks down, but all he ended up accomplishing was making his hair messy and look even weirder. "Take a bath!"

"Oh-ho…'nice' comeback," Kiba replied sarcastically while grinning, their back-and-forth over their taijutsu skills boiling down to a name-calling competition. "At least Naruto's banter is better than yours when it comes to throwing insults. After all those times you've shrugged off his loud and well rehearsed threats in the past, you've never had the time to practice your own words. Come up with something original…"

"What on earth are you guys doing?"

Both Sasuke and Kiba turned and stared over to the side in response to the new voice, where they both saw Naruto standing several feet from them in the middle of the road. He was dressed in his usual and looked exactly the same as always, but with a supplementary perplexed expression in play as he glanced between his two classmates apparently facing off. This is what it looked like to him from his angle of the situation, as well as from the positions of several other bystanders looking on from a couple of the windows around them and the café across the way.

The jinchuriki blinked and smiled, looking from one mildly surprised face to the next, "Play fighting this early in the morning? You should really be doing this at the academy training grounds, not on a busy highway."

Their surprised expressions still fixated on the yellow haired child, the two teens looked back at one another. Then, after a brief exchange of mental agreements and whatever other contracts were involved in the code of chivalry amongst shinobi, both of them frowned, nodded heads and glared back at the blonde.

In complete theatrical fashion, both of them stepped towards Naruto and, with fists held high, roared at him, _**"**__**Fight **__**with **__**us, **__**dead-last/dobe!**__**"**_

Naruto leaned back a tad, since they were so 'upfront' with their demand. Having two guys' nose in your business wasn't something he was all too comfortable about. After all, who would like the Uchiha prodigy and a baby Inuzuka giving you a death-stare?

Well… Sakura and Ino maybe, but that was something else entirely.

Registering to their shouting about a few seconds later, Naruto frowned at them.

Shutting his eyes, slipping his hands behind his head and sticking his nose proudly into the air, he walked right on by them, using the space between the two hyped up youngsters that they had provided for him in the closing sequences of their confrontation to make a hasty retreat.

"Pass…"

Sasuke and Kiba stood frozen and staring at an empty space once occupied by their target for the next minute, while Naruto just kept right on marching.

It took them a bit, but the words eventually sunk in.

That was _ballsy_…

Ballsy and _cool_… they just couldn't believe it.

Glaring over their shoulders, they saw their classmate's silhouette way off in the distance, following the next rise of the road he was on without a single skip in his beat. From their point of view he was barely an orange speck with a mop of yellow hair on top.

It was eventually after snapping out of their stunned reveries did they realize how long their states of shock had been prolonged for. The two academy students quickly gave chase, leaving behind a large cloud of dust in their wake.

"_**We're not through with you yet! Get back here!"**_

Picking up the trail Naruto had so graciously left for them, Sasuke and Kiba pressed on to catch up to him, their voices ringing out across the entire neighborhood with all words they spoke demanding a challenge from him.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the two teenagers, they had both left Sakura and Ino standing on the same street several feet away from them. The two girls, who had just been about to pounce on the Uchiha moments before Naruto so unexpectedly butted in, were now looking on with utter bewilderment framed on their faces.

Blinking in unison, the girls looked between each other briefly and then back a second later, attempting to assess the situation for themselves amongst the silence of the local area and the crowd of onlookers.

The dust cloud faded moments after all three boys had vanished from sight.

"Sasuke… -kun…?" Sakura murmured slowly, confusion and disbelief etched in her voice.

Right on cue, Ino started pouring animated streams of tears from her eyes while her entire body visibly slumped, "That was so _uncool_…"

XXX

**Half an hour later…**

**Over at the school…**

"Well done to all of you for making it this far!" Iruka exclaimed, looking up at the rows of students seated before and with their eyes pasted solely on him.

This was good.

It was exactly what he wanted from them; _focus_. "I know that the exams up to this point have been tough on all of you. The challenges set out were grueling and the multitude of questions asked was more than enough to put your heads into a spin. But believe me when I say this; it is all necessary for your future development as shinobi. These tests are but the first of many you are going to encounter."

This announcement had several of those attentive listeners in the audience groan in annoyance and disbelief. Sure they were expecting to have it tough as shinobi of Konohagakure when they finally got out of this hellhole, but what their teacher was saying was that their everyday lives would only get much worse.

What they didn't know however was that the trials out there in the real world, were far different from the ones they had already overcome.

The only kids who seemed to take this information in stride was Sasuke out of not caring, Shino out of lack of any emotional response whatsoever, Shikamaru who was currently sleeping, and Naruto who was too caught up in his almanac on taijutsu to even bother paying attention. The rest of the kids in the class either looked buggered, worried or annoyed at their future prospects.

This brought a smile to Iruka's face.

"Rather than bore you with the details of my first days as a Genin," Iruka smirked at all of them, "I'm going to instead deal out your final test as an academy student. In order for you to pass successfully with the highest marks possible, you will need to perform a successful _Bunshin __no __Jutsu_. This will be your graduation exam. So when your name is called out over the intercom, come into the next room. Both myself and Mizuki will be making the assessment."

Seeing the silent, mixed looks of discontent now being directed at him, the teacher smiled, nodded affirmatively, and moved on with his duties. Collecting the necessary documents from his desk, he started towards the door, pulling it open and drawing out the roster he had on hand.

Inspecting it, Iruka looked back up towards the rows from the entryway, "We'll be doing this alphabetically. Shino Aburame, you're up first."

The boy with the sunglasses and high collar jacket rose from his seat and, with his hands slipped comfortably in his pockets, slowly marched his way down the flight of stairs. When he arrived at ground zero he followed his teacher into the next classroom, where the final test all academy students were expected to face awaited him. This pretty much left everybody else waiting in the homeroom for their turn, all of them conveying varying levels of anxiety and dread.

Anticipation was the real killer here, a virus that took its toll out on all of them, causing sweats to break out on their brows and feet or hands to tap nervously on whatever surface they were laid on.

Sakura, with her fingers laced together, tightened her grip as she stared down at the blackboard, "This is it! The final hurdle! After I pass this exam, I'm home free." Her eyes darted nervously around her from her rival Ino sitting in the chair next to her, who looked just as anxious as everybody else, to Naruto who was sitting way up in the back row.

The pinkette's eyes fixed on the blonde troublemaker when she saw what he was actually doing and that he didn't look nervous at all. The look on his face made her do a complete double take.

Unlike the other students in the class, Naruto was smiling with his characteristic brightness as per normal and had his eyes hooked on the pages of a rather thick looking hardback spread out between his fingers. It was quite surprising to Sakura to see him in such a cool state of mind and body, and for good reason. For one he was completely composed, two he was focused on an uncharacteristic activity, and three he was acting like this was a regular thing for him.

Summing up her observations, the pink haired teen concluded that she had every right to believe that Naruto, in all good conscience, shouldn't be the way he was, as she had learned from her other classmates and their teacher that he had failed this last part of the exams two times before in the past.

Though this wouldn't worry any other academy student with sound knowledge of the proceedings since the success rate for the average student in these exams was eighty-seven percent, seeing that guys like Kiba and Choji were on edge, gave her inclination enough to feel discouraged as well.

Why wasn't Naruto?

"_I __guess__… __he __knows __he __has __nothing __to __worry __about __at __all,__"_ Sakura blinked, intrigued by Naruto's absolute collectiveness and attentiveness to his task. She watched him intently as he turned to the next page of his book, clearing his throat as his eyes skimmed over the pages with a concentration she would normally expect from Sasuke. This actually had her smile admirably, _"__He__'__s __acting __so __unlike __his __old, __clumsy, __troublemaking __self. __He__'__s __starting __to __look __pretty __cool __nowadays.__"_

While buried in deep thought, she suddenly saw Naruto look up towards the front of the classroom. Surprise blinking on his face, he then glanced in her direction. His response was clearly triggered from his sixth sense picking up on the intensity of the girl's stare, but the girl responsible for his distraction didn't register to this fact until she noticed that he was still staring at her after two minutes had passed between them.

Upon seeing her gazing up at him, Naruto smiled and waved towards her in greeting.

Sakura subconsciously smiled back and waved in kind, an unanticipated shade of red spreading over her cheeks.

It was _after_ she realized what she was doing that she was finally kicked back into reality and jumped in her seat. Stiffening, she turned back to glare at the front of the class, her lips crinkled in an embarrassed frown, and eyes wide and narrowed.

Ino noticed her friend's jerking movements, but didn't address them since she had other things to worry about.

"_Why __am __I __thinking __so __much __about__N aruto? __Of __all __people? __He__'__s __an __idiot!__"_ Sakura shook her head. _"__Yes! __Just __an __idiot! __I__'__ll __just__… __uhh__… __start __thinking __about __Sasuke-kun!__"_

"_What__'__s __up __with __Sakura-chan?__" _Naruto inquired quietly in his head, seeing the girl razzing a few flights down in her seat.

Thinking for a moment as to why she was acting abruptly the way she was, the boy then shrugged and turned back to his taijutsu manual. _"__Maybe __she__'__s __just __wondering __about __the __book __I__'__m __reading. __Ngh__… __nothing __important.__"_

He currently had his taijutsu almanac opened up in the _Hyuuga __Clan_ section. At the sound advice and suggestions given to him by his good friend Shiho a couple of days before, he was looking up taijutsu styles from Konohagakure that would be considered deadly in terms of their infliction upon other opponents. While the _Inuzuka __Style_ was a prime example of a fighting form that was physically imposing in terms of its practice, he saw that he had a bit more to worry about when it came to the Hyuuga's soft and internal styles of fighting. The _Gentle __Fist _in particular, from his adventures through its descriptions, showed that it had a profound effect against an opponent's insides, which really seemed uncomfortable to him on first glance of the information.

True he had practiced the style before and mastered it to a degree that he was able to implement internal styles to his _Blocking __Fist_ form, there was far more to the style than just agility, technique, precision and reflex.

The style, sort of like his _Spring __Chant_, aimed for specific and key points of the human body, both as a practice, and as a means of defense and attack. But this wasn't as primarily fixed on external muscles and joints as Yim so passionately explained to him, which required a certain amount of force to begin with. This was fixed mostly on the chakra network. While preliminary practice had the Hyuuga learn how to hit pressure points of the body without their doejutsu, the _Gentle __Fist_ style mainly focused on chakra specific locations. Using needle like precision and a series of elaborate combinations, they had the ability to cut off, severe and destroy the chakra network.

That was a pretty scary thought.

He didn't want to have his chakra network temporarily or permanently sealed off. While his taijutsu and kung fu alone was more than enough to maintain control over any fight he got into, he still needed his chakra to make his clones, perhaps the best jutsu he knew. He didn't want to lose _that_ ability if a Hyuuga got too close to him.

This was why he was so focused on the taijutsu book above all the others he had borrowed. He was a close-range fighter and always will be. He needed to learn how to get in close, stay close, and most importantly, stay safe up close. Covering all of his known weaknesses was the main reason why he was learning the _Gentle __Fist_ and its parent styles to know how to use them, how to counter them, how to break them down, and what to look out for.

Yim was quite insistent upon making his weaknesses strengths, which was why she putting him through some new practices alongside Ran's lessons.

Naruto had a long few months ahead of him, he could see that now.

He became so engrossed in his thoughts and his book that he actually missed out on seeing over half of the class file out of the homeroom to do their _Bunshin_ test in the room over. By the time he was called up, he was one of only three other kids left in the classroom. It was just him, Sasuke and Ino to go.

Shutting his book and adjusting the goggles on his head, the jinchuriki started his way down to the examination chamber to get his final test over and done with. He marched down the stairs, across the teaching floor, and down the hall at a labored pace, keeping his attention fixed firmly on his feet. All the while the only sounds he made were his surprisingly heavy footsteps.

It was quite a monotonous trek.

When he finally entered the room, he found that all of the chairs and tables had been pushed over to one side, with Iruka and Mizuki occupying the desk in front of the chalkboard.

On the tabletop sat the examination sheet in front of Iruka, with three headbands also lined up beside it. Naruto assumed that there had been many others, but that they had already been handed out to the students who had passed. The sight of the cloth with the gleaming metal attached to it bearing the symbol of his village made the blonde even more determined to earn one for himself. He just couldn't wait.

He literally sprang across the room and stopped in the empty space in front of his two teachers.

Iruka smiled when he saw the boy hop into position, hands behind his head and a cheerful grin across his face. As far as he was concerned, it was the same old cheerful Naruto ready to face off against his old nemesis the third year in a row; radiant, happy and cheerful as always, rain or shine.

"So," the scarred Chunin grinned, "Are you ready for this Naruto?"

"You bet!"

"Well, I hope you've been practicing, because you'll need to do this if you're going to graduate with high marks at the end," the instructor informed, while navigating his pen over the boy's name and over to the grading section provided. At the same time, Mizuki watched his companion's actions closely, his eyes shifting between both parties. "Remember, in order for you to pass this final with high distinction, you must be able to create at least _two_ clones. That means there has to be a total of three of you standing in front of me once you've executed all of the hand seals successfully. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yup!" Naruto grinned, although he was still a little bit concerned. _"__Crap! __I __hope __it__'__s __not __textbook __specific!__"_

"Do you have any questions before we start?" Iruka asked, going through the standard proceedings to ensure everything was covered. Immediately upon putting his question out the youngster's hand shot up into the air. Both Chunin shook their heads in amusement, with even Mizuki chuckling on the side, "Naruto, you're the only one here. What's up?"

"D-Does it _**have**_ to be the _Bunshin __no __Jutsu_?" Naruto asked, pressing his hands together and twiddling his thumbs nervously.

Iruka and Mizuki blinked. To them, it was a pretty vague question.

"You'll need to be more specific than that, Naruto," the white haired Chunin stated, seeing the boy rub the back of his neck.

Anxious and not completely certain of the full specifications of the task, the boy pointed at himself, "Well… I… uhh… you see, I can't do the regular _Bunshin_… but I _**can**_ do others."

"Others?" Iruka parroted, lowering his pen.

The notion of his student being able to perform a clone outside of the academy's standard curriculum spiked the man's interest. Naruto, who had been training in secrecy over the past couple of months outside of the academy, had already expanded upon the aggregate of all of the core techniques he had displayed thus far. This knowledge created an interesting prospect for Iruka to further look into.

Kids from other clans and families didn't normally practice Bunshin that much since it was such a simple technique and that it was a central topic learned at the academy. Therefore, it was seldom expanded upon outside of the school since the routines within the schedule always ensured success with the technique by the end of the training period. Sure the Aburame had the _Bug __Clone_ and the Inuzuka had the _Man-Beast __Clone_ that coincided with their taijutsu, the regular clone was standard for everyone.

The only one who couldn't do the regular Bunshin for some strange reason though was Naruto. So aside from his _Kawarimi_, _Henge_ and _Taijutsu_, what else had he been experimenting with?

What had Naruto picked up in his weeks of isolated training that wasn't within the regular program?

"W-Well… it's not that I _**can**__**'**__**t**_ do the _Bunshin_… I mean," Naruto stuttered, now rubbing the side of his face as he tried to composite a reply. "I've been practicing the regular clone technique… a lot. But since I kept on screwing up and wasn't able to make any descent ones, I started using other _Bunshin _techniques and they work just fine for me!"

"Really?" Iruka sprouted a small smile, "That sounds intriguing."

Mizuki raised an eyebrow and nudged his coworker in the arm, "Is that allowed?"

"The examination outline only says that the student _**must **_be able to create at least two clones by the end of the final semester. It doesn't say anything about what type," Iruka said, slapping his clipboard with the back of his hand. The other Chunin nodded his head in understanding before both of them glanced back at the boy waiting patiently for them. Iruka smiled over at his very nervous student, "What kind of clones can you create then, Naruto?"

The jinchuriki perked up at this with a wide grin and pulled out his notebook. Iruka and Mizuki sweat dropped when they saw him draw the diary and open it up, quickly flipping through the pages, "I-I've been brainstorming."

"No kidding," Iruka murmured, subconsciously slapping himself, _"__He__'__s __so __practical __minded. __Ugh__…"_

"Let's see…" Naruto stopped at the page he was looking for and ran his finger down the list inscribed, "So far, I can do: _Doton __Bunshin __no __Jutsu, __Doton __Kage __Bunshin, __Mizu __Bunshin __no __Jutsu, __Iwa __Bunshin __no __Jutsu, __Suna __Bunshin __no __Jutsu, __Konoha __Bunshin __no __Jutsu, __Kage __Bunshin __no __Jutsu __and__…"_ The boy grinned sheepishly and pocketed his book, "A few other useless ones. No biggy."

Inside his head though, he was saying something else that was completely different from his verbal response, _"__Yeah __right__… __those __are __my __secret __weapons __I__'__m __still __experimenting __with. __No __way __am __I __giving __away __my __trump __cards __so __early.__"_

Iruka stared at the boy with a slacked jaw. Even Mizuki was giving the youngster a look of bewilderment.

Of course, the teachers' baffled stares didn't last for too long, with Iruka coming around first with a quick head shake. After which he straightened out his vest and cleared his throat. The paralysis gone from his system, he threw his eager looking student a hard gaze, "Naruto…"

"Yeah!"

"Tell the truth; can you really perform all of those jutsu you've listed successfully?"

"Huh?"

"You're not pulling my leg, are you?" Iruka asked, with his eyebrows narrowing and creasing at the point where they met. He had good reason to be serious with him, "Some of those techniques you read out to us are rarely taught at Konoha. Hell, about two of them are considered extremely high level techniques and are dangerous if not used correctly."

"Wha?" Naruto blinked in confusion, raising a meek hand. "B-But…"

"Iruka, don't be so hard on him," Mizuki grinned and tapped his friend on the shoulder, getting the scolding Chunin to stare at him instead. "Listen, maybe he's just trying to convince himself that he can do all of those techniques because he can't perform the basic clone jutsu successfully. I mean… no ordinary academy student can use _that_ many techniques without some outside help or a lot of practice. The only ones who _do_ possess an arsenal of jutsu in that number from the graduating group are Sasuke Uchiha and Kiba Inuzuka, and they are both extremely talented individuals."

"I know, but what Naruto is talking about is one form of ninjutsu spread out over a wide range of different types and some of them are extremely difficult to master. That's different," Iruka sighed and looked back over at the blonde, who was back to being concerned about his situation and shuffling uncomfortably on the spot. The Chunin waved his pen at him, "Uhh… Naruto… do you think you can demonstrate some of these clone techniques for me? You know… just so I know you're telling the truth."

"What? You don't believe me?" Naruto replied, before a big smile appeared on his face. He cracked his knuckles and formed a hand seal. "Okay then! If that's what you want, I'll show you some techniques, Iruka-sensei! Let the exhibition begin!"

The Chunin being addressed looked down at the boy's hands to see them formed into a _Tiger __Seal_. It took him a few moments to deduce what he was trying to do, before his eyes widened somewhat.

"_Wait… that's…!"_

The next thing he knew were spouts of water shooting up and out of the floorboards on Naruto's left and right. The built in pipes underneath the building contributed to the teen's technique as two separate puddles formed and began rising up at the user's will. The masses took form and shape, before quickly transforming into exact copies of Naruto. The three copies mimicked each other's movements, right up to the point where they all gave the two Chunin the thumbs-up.

"_**How do you like that?"**_

Iruka blinked in shock, whereas Mizuki was giving the boy an astonished stare.

The original Naruto batted one of his copies on the head, giving his instructors a victorious smile, "They're both solid bodies of water and will stay this way so long as I keep it active." He then formed another hand seal which dismissed the technique, the two clones dispersing back into puddles and fading away.

Not done yet with his performance, the jinchuriki executed yet another three hand seals and ended on the _Ram __Seal_. The moment he finished the combination the floorboards next to him cracked and split, before clumps of dirt suddenly started pouring into the room. The earth rolled about and formed a small mound on the user's left, before gathering itself up, rising and taking shape right before the teachers' astonished eyes.

The earth shaped into the outline of the boy seconds before it took on its user's color and stood proudly beside the original jinchuriki, completed. Hands on their hips, the pair of them grinned in unison.

"That's two!" the original exclaimed.

The earth clone then formed a hand sign of its own, the fingers forming a cross-seal which was specific for the next jutsu, "I have enough chakra in me to do this! _Kage __Bunshin __no __Jutsu_!"

Clouds of white smoke exploded around the two Narutos, engulfing much of the room in white vapors. When it eventually cleared seconds later, and Iruka and Mizuki were able to wave the fumes wafting around them away, they saw to their collective amazement about four dozen Narutos standing in front of them on the floor space, arms folded and looking incredibly delighted at their success. They grinned at the Chunin, both of whom were completely gob smacked at the number of people now occupying the one classroom. Well, when they said people, they should have said the one teenager.

"_**What do you have to say about all of us, huh?"**_

Not only did they have _one_ Naruto now but many, and the two academy teachers were willing to venture a gamble that group-Naruto was a heck of a lot more difficult to deal with than the one, and the original was already a handful.

Iruka chuckled and rubbed his head, "Wow…Naruto… that's just… wow!" The young man let out a laugh and elbowed Mizuki in the side, who was still gawking at the crowd of copies filed up in front of them. "See. I told you he was full of surprises!"

"N-No kidding," Mizuki gulped.

"Want to see more?" one of the Narutos at the front exclaimed, raising a hand. "I've already shown three different _Bunshin_. It may be pushing it, but I think I can do six more different techniques if you want, Iruka-sensei!"

The clone formed another hand seal, but his examiner stopped him before he can take it any further, waving his hands in front to discontinue the show.

"Okay, Naruto! Okay! I'm convinced," Iruka laughed, placing his hand on the back of his head and collapsing back into his chair. "You've made your point. Man… you're really something else." The horde of doppelgangers chuckled all at once, which was kind of weird hearing it coming from a mob that was pretty much all one person. The two teachers though weren't too put off by the display since they've already had their share of utter weirdness over the years from a healthy dosage of their shinobi comrades. This was at least manageable.

The scar-faced instructor sitting on the right hand side of the desk folded his arms with a proud smile in play, "At the rate you're progressing at, I bet you'll become Konohagakure's number one _Bunshin __Specialist_ in just a couple of years or so!"

One of the clones in the crowd frowned outside of the rest of them, "That's what _I_ said…"

"Oh, shut up!" a second copy next to the one who spoke up replied, jabbing him in the side and earning an audible wince from the offender.

"Ow!"

Iruka breathed out in relief, "Well Naruto, you did well. After two long years of backbreaking labor on my part, dragging your stubborn butt around and over the hillsides, I guess it's finally safe for me to say at this point that… you pass!" The man threw his arms in the air when he saw the collection of clones all look up towards him with bright eyes and smiles. "Congratulations. You've earned this."

Picking up one of the headbands from the desk in front of him, the Chunin grinned mischievously and tossed it into the crowd of doppelgangers. The moment it landed in the grip of one of the waiting shadow clones in the center, a riot immediately fired up between the forty copies. All of them leapt at the catcher and began piling up on top of him to get at the trophy they had all won together.

It was quite hilarious when they all started brawling over the one head piece.

"It's mine! It's mine!"

"Give me that! Give!"

"Hey! No fair! It's mine!"

"No, it's mine!"

"Gimme! Gimme!"

"Get the hell off of me! I earned it!"

"I saw it first!"

While the clones battled it out in a stacked-up wrestling competition to see who had the right to wear it first, Iruka laughed outright from where he sat, picking up his pen and board, and scribbling down the results of the examination. The loud noises emitted from the horde of Narutos beating the snot out of one another went on ignored and unnoticed by the two Chunin, who began assessing the situation between one another with the homeroom teacher dealing out the final score his number one, knuckle-headed student had gotten.

"Quite a twist, huh?" Mizuki grinned, seeing the pile of copies roll about in a great heap, catching a one-second glimpse of the headband before it was suddenly buried under tons of bodies again. He snorted when one of the clones was kicked out of the pile and dispelled when it hit the hard floor, "Only the most stubborn child in your class could possibly have an argument with himself."

"You're telling me. I've tried disciplining him and the kid still managed to crack jokes and make arguments," Iruka sighed, outlining the jutsu he had witnessed under Naruto's name, as well as making a pointed reference towards other techniques he may have also accumulated. "He may be a nuisance, but he's still a good kid. I can see great things coming from him in the future."

"Granted he lasts longer than five minutes out there," Mizuki replied, folding his arms and leaning back in his chair. He could see more shadow clones bursting out of existence, the horde steadily growing smaller and smaller. Soon it became just a heated exchange between a dozen survivors.

Iruka smiled to himself, looking up to see the Naruto-doppelgangers assume different taijutsu stances and go at one another respectively. One of them got the upper hand against three of them through conservative use of the _Spring __Chant_ he had demonstrated to the class against Kiba, before he was unfortunately blind-sighted by another copy using _Inuzuka __Style_.

While the brawl became a bit more heated in the exchange, the scarred Chunin rubbed his chin in careful study of the situation while he looked from one clone to the next. The whole display with the various techniques still had an apparently overwhelming affect on him, _"Granted Naruto has a knack for setting and completing challenges for himself that are way above normal levels for someone of his age group, it still amazes me how he was able to learn all of these clone techniques in such a short amount of time. Did he get them all from books or did he get help from the outside?"_ He chuckled when he saw one Naruto effortlessly bat another aside, before a fist suddenly impaled him from behind and he crumbled into dust, marking the end of the earth clone. _"Regardless of where he learnt these techniques, it is, without a doubt, a phenomenal effort. I have to forward this to Lord Hokage. Maybe he will be able to change the rosters before team assignment next week."_

Eventually the clones were all beaten and out of the game, with the original Naruto left standing victories. The results from the epic battle with himself showed clearly on his person; a bleeding lip and a crumpled up outfit.

Panting heavily and feeling completely drained, the blonde then looked up towards his instructors, grinned, and held his headband out in triumph. The silver plate flashed in the light projected by the room.

"I did it!"

XXX

**An hour later…**

Following the graduation ceremony out in the quad, all the students who had passed the final exams celebrated their success with one another the only way they knew how. Being kids of course, what better way was there than to show off their shiny new headwear to their classmates and the parents who came by to collect them? It was an accomplishment worthy of all the praise in the world.

Well, the adults were certainly proud of their children, no arguments there.

While kids like Sasuke and Shino took their leave and headed on home immediately after the procession ended, either because they didn't have any parents coming around or they simply felt like going for a long walk, youngsters like Shikamaru, Ino and Choji decided to hang around for a bit longer to spend more time with their friends, marveling at their triumphs. It was a joyous occasion very few wanted to miss out on, with all those present talking endlessly about the prospects for the future their headbands meant for them. Even the Third Hokage, who had come down from his office to congratulate the graduating class, and Iruka mingled with the teenagers and adults gallivanting about.

Though it was a festive event for most, it did present someone with a little bit of a grievance, even though it was supposed to be one of the most memorable moments of his life.

With his goggles slapped over his forehead and his headband hanging around his neck, Naruto sat quietly on his swing just outside of the gathering, using his legs to swing himself back and forth in a melancholy manner. His hands wrapped around the rope as he straddled the wooden seat, he was able to clearly see from his lonely position under the shadow of the tree all of the students and parents hanging around in their respective groups.

His companions laughing and chatting animatedly away with one another, the adults hugging their kids and congratulating them, and how his classmates fit perfectly with their parents like pieces of a puzzle, the whole thing looked so wonderful.

But what about him?

…

The obvious reality that he had no parents or family whatsoever, pretty much set the tone for him…

No loving mother or father waiting at home for him, no loved ones or relatives expected to come by and congratulate him… no mother or father to say they were proud of him…

Fact was that in spite of it being one of the greatest days of his life, he didn't really have anyone to celebrate it with like everybody else. He was pretty sure Sasuke had it as bad as him, but at least he knew that he did have parents once who would have congratulated him for a job well done. Although… what he was feeling now was probably just as worse.

Naruto on the other hand, he didn't even know what his parents looked like. He didn't even know whether they loved him or not, or would have appreciated him enough to come by and congratulate him.

That was… a pretty gut wrenching line of thought.

Tapping the piece of metal and feeling the groove of the Konoha symbol etched into the plate beneath his finger tips, Naruto clutched the protector to him. Looking down at the grass at his feet for a few moments to contemplate on what else he could possibly do for the rest of the day, he decided that maybe he could go over to Ichiraku's and let them know how he did.

Anything to kill the negativity he was feeling…

If anyone else, at least Teuchi and Ayame would be happy for him for finally passing the exams and graduating. It was only sensible.

Iruka was caught up with his class, so was the Third and all of his other classmates… although… he could probably go and see Shiho later in the afternoon if she wasn't too busy at work. His mind revolved predominantly around these particular people in his life and what they meant to him, as he promptly resumed the rest of his day from the swing he was seated on.

Pushing himself to his feet and readjusting his goggles, Naruto was about to head out towards the entrance of the academy when he suddenly spotted somebody standing near the gates. It was a sight that had him stop just several feet away from the swing and made him look up in surprise.

Having first expected to see strangers or more parents arriving, his eyes widened significantly when he was able to make out the two familiar faces positioned on the edge of the school grounds, practically within running distance.

Yim and Ran.

While the former stood clearly in the center of the entrance with her hands laced in front of her and a beaming smile on her face, the samurai was leaning up against the side of the gateway with her katana at her side, a reed in her mouth and a welcoming smile of her own directed towards him.

It was an almost surreal sight.

In all the excitement and misery going on in his head, Naruto just couldn't believe he had nearly forgotten about them. He also couldn't believe that the two of them had come all the way across the village just to see him.

A wide smile spreading across his face, the boy let out a joyous laugh and immediately broke into a run, sprinting towards the two women with no time to waste. He literally skidded to a halt directly in front of Yim, who in turn stepped forward, keeping her eyes and smile fixated solely on him.

Grinning, the jinchuriki looked between the two martial artists, with Ran plucking herself off of her post to join them, "Y-You guys came?"

"Of course. What? Did you think that we would miss this?" Ran asked with an amused smile. "You wouldn't stop yapping about it all night long."

Yim leant over and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, "This is your big day isn't it? The day you graduate and finally become a shinobi of your village?" The boy nodded his head vigorously in response, earning a giggle from his friend. "I knew you could do it, Naruto-kun. Congratulations."

Tears brimming at his eyes, Naruto sniffled.

Wanting to maintain his strong and vigorous outlook, he attempted to keep himself collected by wiping them away. However, too overwhelmed with joy to keep his feet planted to the floor, he unexpectedly leapt at Yim and trapped her in a big hug. He buried his face into her robes and let whatever emotions he was holding back go, crying happily.

Even though his actions caught the recipient by surprise, she returned his affectionate gesture with one of her own.

They stood there for about a minute, bathed in sunlight and surrounded by the fall of leaves of nearby trees floating gently on the breeze. It was until the comfortable silence passed that the jinchuriki eventually pulled himself away, wiping his eyes on the back of his sleeve and smiling up at his teachers.

He then turned to look at Ran. As if reading his thoughts, the woman chuckled and held up her hand, "Sorry, I don't do hugs. But I congratulate you all the same."

Naruto grinned back, "That's okay, Ran-chan! I'm just happy you guys are here."

Earning a nod from the samurai, the blonde turned his attention back to Yim.

Back over at the crowd of students and standing on the edge of her group, Ino had just noticed out of the corner of her eye that Naruto was over by the entrance of the institute talking with two people she didn't recognize.

Now, had it been a young child who was prone to good nature rather than disaster, she would have had something to be concerned about. However, this was the village's resident troublemaker with a degree in giving even Jonin a run for their money she was referring to. What reason was there for her to be taking so much interest in him and a couple of no-namers?

Well, the answers were simple. For starters, she had never seen the two strangers before in her life, secondly they were both dressed quite fashionably for commoners, particularly since one looked like a traveler and the other a samurai, and thirdly she had just seen Naruto hug one of them. As sweet as it was, she didn't recall whether or not he had any relatives or family coming to pick him up, not that the two women looked anything like him. It was kind of odd.

Still, curious as she was about the pair, Ino nudged Shikamaru in the shoulder and pointed him in the direction of the scene, "Who's Naruto talking to?"

Seemingly uninterested at first, the Nara nonetheless looked over to where his other blonde classmate was standing and where Ino was pointing. When he saw the three people by the gate, his immediate thoughts led him to the conclusion that there wasn't really anything of significant importance about their interaction. But then, when he got a good look at the two older women flanking the youngster…

… He _still_ had no idea what he was looking for.

"Don't know…"

Choji, also taking interest in his friends' current change of subject, followed their lines of sight. Like them, he spotted the jinchuriki hanging around with two strangers, speaking with them like they were close friends of his. "M-Maybe they are his sisters or cousins… or something?"

"I doubt it," Shikamaru murmured, tilting his head, "Their hair color doesn't match."

"They don't have whiskers either," Ino said, scratching her cheek at that observation.

"Yeah…" With that thought in mind though, Choji blinked and looked around at his fellow classmates, "Wait, are the whiskers on his cheeks a birthmark or something? I haven't seen anybody else in this village with the same markings as him before."

"It might be something to do with his clan," Ino replied a-matter-of-factly, but then double-backed when the _facts_ came crashing back into her. She looked over at the jinchuriki standing by the gates with a new, solemn expression on her face, "He… He's all on his own… isn't he? Just like Sasuke…"

Watching Naruto as he chatted away with his two friends, Ino and her group then saw the jinchuriki look over at them, as if he had felt their prying eyes on the back of his neck.

Spotting the three onlookers from his distance, Naruto grinned and waved over at them under the smiles and approving glances of the women accompanying him. The young Ino-Shika-Cho trio had the common sense to wave as well, also smiling when they saw that in spite of whatever loneliness he had experienced before he had managed to make more friends outside of the school; people who were obviously now incredibly close to him. This was enough to put some of their concerns and discomforts to rest.

When the pale haired Yamanaka lowered her hand, she observed as Naruto joined his two companions and walked them out of the gate. Soon enough, they were gone.

"_Well__… __even __though __he __doesn__'__t __have __a __family, __at __least __he __can __still __smile__…"_ Ino exclaimed sweetly.

Shikamaru, spotting the Yamanaka heiress' sudden, softened expression, sighed and shook his head. _"__Dammit, __Naruto__… __you__'__ve __finally __found __a __way __to __make __girls __fall __for __your __silly __looking __grin. __Ugh__… __what __do __I __care? __It__'__s __too __troublesome __to __think __about __it__…"_

Still, at least he could mentally pat his friend on the back for a job well done.

XXX

**A couple hours later…**

Following a long, celebratory walk throughout the entire village, with Naruto grinning and laughing excitedly about the headband he had finally been able to acquire all the way through, he took both Yim and Ran down to Ichiraku's for his favorite dish to further commemorate the triumphant occasion. After two years of utter failure, humiliation and disappointment, he had every right to feel proud of himself.

Third time was the charm, after all.

Though Ran initially questioned him on his choice of restaurants, all queries were eventually put to rest when Naruto explained that on the day that he finally became a Genin, Teuchi and Ayame would be the first people he would let know of his success. Since they were two of the only villagers who had ever supported him in his young life, there was no way that he was going to turn down his promise. He was going to see it through to the end.

Not to mention ramen was all he could think of on the spur of the moment.

He… didn't exactly account for Yim and Ran two years ago, though. Their company was a very welcomed bonus.

Anyway, the moment he sat down at the counter of the ramen stand, he immediately told his two favorite chefs in the whole world all about his big day, and how he absolutely _blitzed_ the _Bunshin __Exam_.

It had certainly been an impressive performance to be in attendance of the actual trial and it definitely sounded extravagant by how he told it. However, the only people who could possibly prove or disprove any irregularities in his story were those who were actually there, which were Naruto, Iruka and Mizuki. Since the latter two weren't exactly present, it pretty much left any blank or over exaggerated details up to imagination and debate.

Of course, the tale would have been told much better had Naruto's mouth not been stuffed with noodles midway through, but extraordinarily enough, nobody had complained… at least not_yet_.

When all was said and done, and he finally reached the end of his 'ascension' tale, telling the two noodle chefs how Yim and Ran, two of three of his favorite teachers of all time, were there to personally see him on his big day, his grin had failed to falter his face. It was still there, even when he was drinking in noodles as if his stomach were a bottomless pit.

With a dozen empty bowls piled up beside him and still growing in height, even under the gawking stares of both Ran and Yim, Naruto kept on talking.

"If-faws incrubible…"

_**THONK! **_Ayame replied, waving her ladle several inches above his head after whacking it. Her actions had the blonde wince in pain and surprise, prompting him to begin rubbing the bruise now starting to part a space in his hair. "Please choose either to eat or to speak, Naruto-kun," Ayame stated with a smile, "You'll be able to tell your story better that way."

Okay, _**now**_ there were complaints.

Still, the little bop didn't deter the blonde in the slightest. It only served in making him rethink his current choice of expressive media.

Rubbing away the bruise, Naruto slurped up the rest of the noodles hanging from his mouth, before sighing and grinning excitedly up at his audience members, "I'm saying that the whole thing was incredible, Ayame-oneesan! You should have seen Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei's faces. They were just priceless."

"Oh, really?"

Naruto jumped in his seat and turned around, with Yim and Ran also rotating towards the new voice in surprise. When they did, they saw Iruka himself standing directly behind them, with the curtain of the store pushed up above his head. Smiling in greeting at the sets of eyes locked onto him, he made his way in and took the only available seat left next to Naruto.

The Chunin grinned and raised his hand, "One bowl of miso ramen please!"

"Coming right up!" Teuchi replied with a thumbs-up, swinging into the kitchen to begin making the order.

The scar-faced academy instructor then turned his complete attention to Naruto. The young jinchuriki was looking up at him as if he had grown a second head, but what his reaction actually entailed was surprise to his sudden appearance. Obviously, he hadn't counted on the third of his favorite teachers to show up out of the blue like he did.

It was quite an amusing look.

"I have to admit Naruto, in all my years of teaching and evaluating your skills, I have never been more surprised in a student's aptitude then by what you demonstrated to me back in the examination room. That was, without a doubt, the most unbelievable series of simultaneous techniques I have ever seen from a student from that school," Iruka stated, leaning against the counter while giving the blonde beside him a proud gaze.

Naruto blinked, "A-Are you serious, Iruka-sensei?"

Yim and Ran, clearly within earshot of the two males' conversation, smiled to themselves while at the same time covering their inquisitiveness by indulging in their meals and the bottle of sake sitting between them. They practically eavesdropped, but gave the convincing illusion that they weren't.

"Dead serious," Iruka said, folding his arms and propping himself on the desk. All the while, he kept giving his most unpredictable student a very analytical stare. "Ever since your last detention, all you've done from that point was improve yourself and focus on your studies. At the same time, you've shown a remarkable ability for accelerated growth and learning, even appropriating techniques into your arsenal that would be considered unorthodox and sometimes impossible by normal academic standards."

"Well… heh… I had loads of help," Naruto exclaimed. This earned a nod of agreement from his teacher.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of in asking for help. Guidance from individuals with more experience then you can turn weaknesses into strengths; an admirable quality in a shinobi," Iruka informed, watching as the youngster's smile grew. "There was no way I could hold you back this time, Naruto. I'm expecting great things from you in the future, do you hear me?"

"Yup!" Naruto exclaimed, thumping himself in the chest. "I swear I will make you proud, Iruka-sensei! Believe it!"

"Then I wish you the best of luck," Iruka smiled, ruffling his hair. Naruto chuckled in response, trying to ward off his instructor's hand but failing. Once his affectionate gesture had been given, the academy teacher then turned his attention to the two women accompanying the boy in the bar.

They certainly looked how they were described, but their overall characteristics remained to be seen. Nevertheless, the knowledge he had been digging up over the past week on the two out-of-towners would serve him well here. _That_…Iruka could be sure of, "So… are you going to introduce me to your new friends?"

"Oh! Yeah! Yeah! Iruka-sensei…" Naruto began, enthusiastically gesturing to the person seated nearest to him, "This is Yim-chan. She is a martial arts master from across the seas who has been teaching me her version of taijutsu, and is one of my best and closest friends. The samurai lady sitting next to her is Ran-chan, also one of my friends and teachers. They are both really amazing people."

The latter smiled and raised a glass to the shinobi sitting beside Naruto, but did not voice any greeting beyond that and quickly returned to her lunch. Yim on the other hand was more willing in making face-to-face introductions and acknowledged the young man with a warm smile and a pleasant bow from where she sat, "It is a pleasure to meet a friend of Naruto-kun's."

"The honor is all mine, miss," Iruka smiled back, placing a hand over his chest. Though he seemed calm on the outside, in his mind his thoughts were all a whirl of disbelief and awe, _"Man… I heard that Naruto has been receiving additional lessons from a foreign martial artist, but this… **this** is beyond the scope of my initial investigations. Not only is he hanging around with one gorgeous flower, but two! Geez Naruto: give me some of that luck of yours, you little rascal!"_

Keeping his cool, Iruka looked back at the boy in question to see him still smiling and beaming in his direction.

"I'm just glad that this troublemaking knucklehead is in fine company. Promise me that you two will look after him from now on," the young man said, while reaching up and grounding his knuckles into Naruto's skull. The jinchuriki responded with a very childish scowl.

"We will," Yim replied straight-out, with an affirmative nod.

"Hey! I'm a shinobi now! You don't need to look after me _all_ the time!" Naruto whined, throwing his hands up to try and remove the fist digging into his brain.

"Yeah, but you're still a troublemaker," Iruka stated in amusement, at the same time swiftly removing his hand when the boy started batting the air away. "You're a walking, natural disaster. I have a right to be concerned."

"Not anymore. I quit being a nuisance ages ago," Naruto grumbled, re-spiking up his locks and turning his best, annoyed glare to his teacher.

"Oh, I'm not too sure about that," the Chunin exclaimed, scratching his cheek and looking away with a mischievous smirk, "Old habits die hard and of course, I have yet to see you wallowing around in a pit of misery of your own making. I'm still waiting for that next bomb to fall."

Naruto huffed, crossing his arms and looking away, "Whatever."

"_Damn Iruka-sensei for knowing me so well."_

The Chunin grinned and gave the thumbs-up towards Yim, who acknowledged her own amusement of the situation with a smile before turning back to her meal. She could certainly agree that her student was indeed energetic and one of the most unpredictable disciples she has taken so far. Who knew what sort of shenanigans he would cook up off of the top of his head in the future?

Ran snorted at the scene and raised her sake glass to her lips, "Teacher-student relationships, what a concept…"

XXX

**Later that afternoon…**

Needless to say, it had been a great lunch. Delicious ramen, Yim, Ran and Iruka spending time with him, Teuchi and Ayame marveling in his stories, it was all that was needed for Naruto to say that he had had a fantastic time.

Sadly though, all good things must come to an end.

Bidding farewell to his academy teacher as he departed, Naruto, Yim and Ran then stepped back out into the slowly dimming day. The telltale signs of purple in the sky were enough to inform them that the sun was on its last leg of its journey and that they should probably start heading on home. However, just before any of them could begin making their way down towards the main highways in the direction of the apartment complex, the jinchuriki was stopped in his tracks by Yim gently taking hold of his arm.

The boy, finding himself planted all of a sudden, looked up at his friend with a surprised blink, "What's up, Yim-chan?"

"I almost forgot, Naruto-kun. I have to pop down to the stores to buy groceries. Your cupboards are almost empty and we're running low on food in the fridge," the woman exclaimed, rubbing the back of her head with a nervous grin. "Sorry… that last one would be partly my fault."

"Oh? We need more food?" the jinchuriki confirmed, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his frog wallet. Zipping it open, he drew several paper notes and handed it to the woman, who was still looking slightly ashamed at her reasons for the necessity. "Here, this should be enough for whatever we need. Just hurry back, okay!"

"Will do," Yim gave him a small smile, pocketing the funds. With a bow to both Naruto and Ran, she started on down a road headed in a different direction. The pair stood by to see their friend off, as they did so for Iruka before her.

Rubbing the back of her head, Ran then turned to her jinchuriki 'land lord' and gave him a small smile of her own, "I also have some unfinished business of my own that I must take care of." The boy looked up at her inquisitively, to which she slipped her hands into her robes and hid them inside her sleeves. "You see, a very kind merchant paid for one of my meals a few days ago and I feel that I should pay him back before he leaves the village. I won't be gone for long."

Naruto grinned. "That's cool, Ran-chan. Take as long as you want."

Grateful for his understanding of the situation, the samurai bowed to him as well and parted promptly. The quicker she could find the man the sooner she could return to her temporary homestead to spend more time with her apprentice. This left Naruto standing outside of Ichiraku's on his own, hands in his pockets and not really knowing what to do with the rest of his time.

After seeing his two teachers-slash-friends off on their independent quests made him feel like doing something else that was productive.

So, figuring that he could probably sneak in a few hours of training before nightfall, the boy kicked himself into gear and made a fast-march towards home. He left the square where Ichiraku's stood and hit the side streets, passing by other institutes and stalls on his way to the downtown residential districts. He didn't need a map or anything, and it wasn't like he was in any hurry.

Reaching the edge of the boulevard, Naruto was just about home free when he abruptly heard the sound of approaching footsteps coming at him from behind. Detecting the person before they even had a chance to say a word or announce their presence, the boy turned around to greet his pursuer. Half-expecting an attack, he was pleasantly surprised when he saw a very familiar, pink-wearing, _hot-spring_ buddy running up towards him.

Though his initial reaction to the recollection was to blush to the roots to his hair, he quickly suppressed it into a composite state for better presentation.

"T-Tenten-chan?"

"Ah! I was hoping it was you, Naruto-chan," the girl exclaimed, hopping to a stop in front of him with her hands placed firmly on her hips. "I could spot your yellow mop on top of that orange jacket from a mile away."

The youngster scolded at her choice of honorifics, "What's with the 'chan' all of a sudden? I'm only a year younger than you."

"How about Naruto-_kohai_?"

Naruto cringed, "I'm… not an honorific kind of person, Tenten. I don't really like having my name used with that stuff too often, yah know?"

"Then 'chan' will do just fine for now," Tenten stated with an affirmative nod, but then sprouted a mischievous grin when she saw his disapproving glower fixated on her, "That is… until you beat me."

"Beat you?" Naruto raised an eyebrow when he saw her face begin radiating with absolute confidence, "Are you talking about that spar we promised each other?"

"Yup!"

"Uh-huh," Naruto murmured and scratched his head. Seeing how pumped up she was just from looking at her posture, as well as the energy she was emitting from her grin alone, he could definitely expect one hell of a fight from her if it came down to trading kunai and jutsu. She looked like she could rain a metaphysical hellfire down upon him with everything she had from the way she was presenting herself.

However, it wasn't like she was asking him directly?

The truth was that she had yet to call him out on it, though she did seem to be edging him in that general direction.

But what did she really want with him?

Seeing his puzzled expression, Tenten smiled and leaned over, almost coming nose to nose with him. Looking over his face, she then noticed the metal band hanging around his neck and all her attention immediately fell onto that. The girl marveled at the new addition to his appearance for several seconds, before quickly snapping back up and pointing at it.

She flicked the headband, a barely audible 'ping' ringing out, "I see you passed your exams, huh?"

"Huh?" Naruto glanced at the thing she was referring to. Quickly catching up to the present, the boy then shook his head out of his thoughtful daze and smiled up at the young kunoichi, "Oh. Y-Yeah. In fact, I just graduated from the academy today. Heh. It was loads fun. And I gotta say that it was one wicked way to end the year."

"I see," Tenten crossed her arms with a wide smirk, "So… you passed the _Henge_, _Kawarimi_ and _Bunshin_ just fine, eh? Gotten all your essentials down?"

"Ye-ees…" Naruto replied slowly and eyed her suspiciously.

Seriously. Where was she _really_ going with this… and so suddenly?

Perhaps some people were just weird that way…

"_Tsk__… __I__'__m __one __to __talk. __I __give__ '__unusual__' __a __new __name__…"_ That thought crossed Naruto's mind only briefly, until he was brought back to reality by the feeling of another person's hand wrapped around his arm.

Feeling the pull, the boy found himself being dragged along by the girl who had managed to pick him up and out of the crowd at close to dusk. He was at first surprised at her degree of forcefulness, but after being dragged along down several roads and out of the shopping district for the next several seconds, he couldn't help himself but go along with it to see where the universe has decided to take him. He definitely got a good view of the girl's back and shoulders for some time, which was quite enticing none to say the least; something he never got from looking at any other girl's back.

It was then after being weaved around the alleyways and footpaths the girl glanced over at him with a wide grin.

"I think _we_, as in you and _I_, have to celebrate your graduation properly!"

"What? Properly?" Naruto repeated.

"A coronation, test drive, break-in… whatever you want to call it," Tenten exclaimed, looking back ahead of her to see where she was going. "Either way, it's going to be fun?"

"F-Fun? Where exactly are you taking me?" Naruto asked, now feeling a little bit more concerned for his own safety.

He was kind of OCD about the situations he was put in to, a thing he picked up earlier on in his life when naturalizing his day-to-day routines. He was very cautious and funny about new places, and though he would definitely take some time to explore any new areas to pop up, he was still a might bit uncomfortable about being taken somewhere against his own will.

The girl giggled when she felt him tense under her grip, "I'm taking you to my place, of course! Don't worry. It's just a few blocks from here!"

"And where exactly is… _here_?" Naruto queried.

That question was quickly answered for him when Tenten pulled them off the side roads and started leading him up a very familiar hill. The route took them right passed a local deli, one that Naruto frequented quite often whenever he was looking for a frozen treat. Its neon signs glowing brilliantly, even at this time of day, he watched it disappear around the bend over his shoulder as he was led further onwards. Eventually, he was dragged up another high road towards a series of apartments on a rise.

When they arrived at the top of the hill, Tenten stopped them at the gate, which was her intended destination.

Looking up at the building, Naruto saw that it was just a standard two-person block with the area it was in divided into two separate properties by a hedge. The one on the left was apparently Tenten's place as indicated by her letterbox; a nice, cozy little home with white outer walls, tiled roof, and a wooden veranda. The front garden wasn't too bad either, mostly consisting of a lawn surrounded by hedges and a lone oak tree planted on the side.

Visual introductions to the outside of the place made, the kunoichi nudged the iron gate of her property open and pulled her guest across the front yard, up the steps and inside.

As soon as they stepped into the building, Naruto couldn't help but feel more at home then he did anywhere else besides his own apartment. He was first greeted with a small corridor, where the shoes could be set down on a rack conveniently placed on the side where they wouldn't get in the way. The corridor then led into a lounge room that also served as the dining room, with a table in the center and a television on top of a cupboard at the front. This was all of the stuff that was in sight so far, as Tenten pulled off her sandals and he followed suit.

There was a door to the right where the corridor hugging the wall exited, which Naruto guessed was where the bathroom and toilet was. Further down the same stretch of wall there were additional sliding doors, which the guest also assumed divided the bedroom off from the rest of the place. A straight shot from the corridor he was still in, across the living room floor he could see another sliding door that led straight into the backyard.

Lumbering in after Tenten, the blonde stopped at the exit to the living room with his hands slipped into his pockets and eyes trailing about curiously. To sum up the general details, the ceiling was white, the walls were light blue, and the varnished floorboards really added a reflective lighting to the overall environment. It definitely felt like an ordinary apartment, if you ignored the large assortment of scrolls and weapons lying about the place. The couches were covered in paper and unfurled scrolls, the cabinets lining the walls were covered in kusarigama, kunai, shuriken, katana and alike, and she even had a custom-made glass cabinet like a weapons-locker, filled with staffed weapons and other material.

This pretty much summed it up as a shinobi apartment after a few more glances.

With Tenten hastily removing all of the scrolls from her couches and putting them into her room across the way, Naruto smiled, "Nice place."

"Thanks," Tenten exclaimed, sliding her bedroom door closed and making sure there wasn't anything sharp lying about that they could step on by accident. "Sorry about the mess. I wasn't really expecting anyone over today so I didn't bother cleaning up, but seeing as that you just graduated, I figured I could pour you a drink or something to help you mark this amazing day of yours!" She clapped her hands together with a wide smile. "Congratulations!"

Naruto gave her a half-smile in return, "A small party huh? Well… I guess some soda or juice wouldn't hurt."

"I've got ice-cream too!"

"Bring it!" Naruto grinned even wider, giving her the thumbs-up. Tenten giggled and waved him towards the big couch in the middle of the living room, while scooting around and making for the kitchen just left of the entrance corridor her guest was still standing by.

"Make yourself at home then! I'll be right back!"

Trotting away, the jinchuriki did as he was told and made it for the couch. He planted himself on the feathery mattress and waited for his host to return, taking some time to look around some more.

Tenten wasn't like his friends at school. Unlike her, he could definitely tell what their interests were on sight, mainly because he had known them for much longer. This girl on the other hand was in a completely different universe. She was obviously intelligent and energetic to an extent, she had a flare in her personality, was really friendly, kind, and optimistic. Almost like any other girl he would probably meet. But her interests, skills, background and talent remained a bit of mystery to him.

However, after taking in his surroundings for the next few minutes, he found that the room he was in spoke more about its resident then the resident itself. Just from looking at the number of ninja tools scattered all around him along with the scrolls that went with them, Naruto could immediately tell that Tenten was some kind of weapons master. _Shuriken jutsu_ and Sealing _Techniques_ would definitely be on her list of capabilities, and if he knew anything about taijutsu was that weapons came hand in hand with close combat. The number of kunai and shuriken he counted in addition to the various melee weapons, also had him mentally place her as a long-range specialist, not something he was really used to dealing with.

Oh well, lessons learned.

"_I __bet __she __can __dice __up __her __opponents __with __everything __she__'__s __got __in __here,__"_ Naruto gulped, _"__Not __someone __I __really __want __to __annoy__…"_

After drinking in the apartment, Tenten came back into the room with two bowls of ice-cream and cans of soda under her arm. She tossed one of the sodas to her friend the moment she plopped the desserts down, before slumping into one of her couches herself. The sound of their beverages popping open filled the air with a gentle fizz, and the two youngsters quickly began indulging themselves in their treats.

Basking in the silence of the scene, Tenten decided then and there to resume interactions with her invite, "How is it?"

"Refreshing," Naruto sighed, smiling back at the brown haired girl who had her feet kicked up onto the table in front of her. "This is a really nice apartment you have here. It's in much better condition than mine that's for sure."

"You should see the view," the kunoichi replied, tipping her can towards the backyard doors. "Since I'm basically on the apex of a hill, I can see the entire village's central from my back porch alone."

Nodding in understanding, the boy quickly looked about curiously again, feeling the conversation leading onto another topic. When realization of her living situation dawned on him, he then turned back to her with an analytical glimmer, "Are… your parents out or something?"

"Oh no. They live somewhere on the other side of the village," Tenten stated with a shrug. "When I became a Genin I asked them if I could move out into my own place. I wanted to be more independent, you know; to have the ability to be able to move around as much as I wanted, and not have them worrying about me too much. It's been pretty great so far. My missions are more than enough to pay for my essentials."

Naruto gave her a bit of a dead-panned look, "D-Don't you feel lonely? Living away from your parents and everything?"

The girl tilted her head, "Not really. I make sure to visit my family as much as I can. Plus I work at my dad's shop, so on the clock I see him plenty of times a day. It was tough going at first, juggling attention between my missions, work and paying rent, but it's all stable for me now. I can finally relax."

"I guess things will be the same for me when I finally have to start earning the bread and butter for myself," Naruto sighed, leaning back in the chair and gazing at the ceiling in resignation. _"__Hello __shinobi __life, __goodbye __welfare __payments. __Ugh. __I __bet __the __others __won__'__t __have __to __go __through __this __kind __of __crap.__"_ With that thought in mind though, the boy looked back over at Tenten to see her taking another long sip from her soda. _"__I __guess __if __I __had __to __ask __anybody __for __help __in __that __area, __I __know __I __can __come __and __drop __in __on __Tenten-chan.__"_

Setting her drink down, the girl slumped back in her seat, getting more comfortable, "What about you? What's living with your family like, or do you live on your own?"

Naruto rubbed his shoulder uneasily with a small smile, "Well… to be honest with you, it gets pretty lonely up in my apartment."

Tenten blinked, "Huh? You're on your own as well?"

"Yeah. I… uhh…how should I put this?" the blonde looked at the girl, scratching his head, "After I left the orphanage several years ago, I was moved into an old building in the backstreets. Hokage-jiji set the whole thing up for me with the landlady. She's a nice person, even though she's still pretty scary. But that's not the real problem I have?"

"Having a scary land-owner isn't your problem?" Tenten scoffed, giving him an amused smirk, "It's a big part of my life, I can tell you that right now."

Naruto shrugged, still giving her a weak smile, "The problem is that I'm the only one living in that huge building. The moment I moved in, everybody else moved out. Since then… or… for the longest time I can remember, I've had a lot of trouble getting close to people and making friends. I think the first time I moved into the apartment was the first time I started noticing how scared people were of me."

All amusement drained away from Tenten's face when she heard him say that. Her posture changed to match her mood as well as her intensified stare, as she looked at the boy now shuffling uncomfortably in his seat.

Hearing him say how everyone was scared of him, she didn't buy it. Looking at him now, she saw no fangs, no claws, no leering gaze… the whiskers were a bit of a surprise but she guessed it was a package deal with his genetics, but as far as she could see, from the outside, there was nothing scary about him. Hell, she was taking time to get to know him and though he had a bit of an unusual personality and was incredibly kind, she could see nothing wrong with him at all.

Why would he say people were afraid of him?

"How are they scared of you?" Tenten asked curiously, "Did you… do something bad?"

Naruto shrugged, shifting the canned drink between his fingers methodically, "No idea. Nobody will tell me. All I know is that wherever I go and whoever I talk to the adults always stare at me with this very cold, unwelcoming look. It's one that really hurts, deep down in your heart. They do it so often that even a lot of the kids stare at me funny and stay away." His hands tensed around his beverage, with the aluminum creaking from the pressure. He then looked up at Tenten, giving her a forced smile, "I'm really lucky to have actually made some friends in this village. Even though it's only a few, I'm very grateful."

When she saw the boy look back to his soda, which he started drinking again at a less enthusiastic pace, she sat back for a moment to contemplate his words a little further.

The truth was pretty hard to swallow. In defining moments of a person's life when a real answer was necessary in order for time to keep marching forward, it could either kill you or lift your spirits. In this instance, Naruto's truth was a real kick to the shins. After all these weeks she had thought him to be a really popular guy, able to win over the favor of strangers, hang around with gaggles of mates, and chatting it up with girls, in reality he was really all alone.

With his shining personality, she thought he would have it great for him. But the truth was he didn't.

He looked really torn up over the fact.

Smiling, Tenten stood up out of her seat and walked over to him. She sat in the free space of the two-person couch he occupied and placed a hand on his shoulder. Giving him a reassuring squeeze, she watched as the boy looked up at her with a mildly confounded look and braced him closer, "You know what I think? I think that you're a great guy, Naruto. Just ignore what those other idiots do or say about you, they're just idiots."

She rocked him gently, her actions eliciting a warm, genuine smile from him.

Her words were soft and reassuring, something Naruto was easily able to pick up on. The tone she used alone was enough to tell him that she was being honest.

"Thanks… Tenten…" the jinchuriki grinned.

"That's alright," Tenten patted him on the shoulder, leaning forward and placing her drink on the table. She then swapped it over for the ice-cream, "Now, enough moping around. This is supposed to be a happy day for you; one of the many days in your life that you will definitely want to remember. So let's talk and have some fun."

Naruto chuckled and also traded hands for the frozen treat. It wasn't much, just vanilla with chocolate topping. However, treats tasted much better when it came from the hands of a friend.

Side-by-side, they enjoyed their snacks. Though it was quiet for the most part, it still felt like a very festive mood. It was this silence that could be greatly appreciated. They couldn't have asked for anything more.

While in the company of the kunoichi, Naruto's eyes couldn't help but continue wandering around the room some more, and marveling at all the weapons she had in her collection.

Out of everything else present in the lounge, the ninja tools continued to stick out the most. This got him thinking quite a bit as to her potential, which he was quite honestly eager to find out for himself. He wanted to see what she could actually do with all of this stuff.

Setting her half-eaten dessert down, Tenten then picked up the remote and gestured to the television in front of them, "Want to watch something? I heard there's a rerun of Koyuki Kazahana's movie _Warrior __Princess_ playing tonight. If not then we can watch the Iron Country's _Kendo __Championships_."

"Nah," Naruto exclaimed, also setting down his ice-cream and lacing his fingers together, "I don't really feel like television tonight." He looked over at his fellow Genin, seeing her shrug and set the control back down. The moment she did so, a roguish grin spread across his lips, "Although… there _is_ something that we can both do that can brighten up our afternoon…"

Tenten blinked at him, "Oh? What did you have in mind?"

XXX

**A few minutes later…**

**Out in the backyard…**

"You're really psyched to do this, aren't you?" Naruto exclaimed, hands in his pockets and a wide smirk on his face as he looked across at the brown haired girl positioned on the other side of the lawn.

From the way Tenten stood with her fists balled, back straight and her headband fastened proudly across her forehead, she was _all_ for it. She didn't have to give him a complete, verbal response to his question as she threw her arms out and gestured towards her garden, to which the jinchuriki looked about with an eager sparkle in his eyes.

He could see that they were both standing in the heart of the backyard. The lawn made up most of the fifteen-by-twenty five meter space, with a hedge wall surrounding it, marking the perimeter and extent of her property. A row of flowers made up the garden space that hugged one side of the yard, with a cheery blossom tree planted in the far corner and providing a small amount of shade for them. Furthermore, her patio sat proudly beside her apartment block, with a couple of chairs and a table arranged handsomely upon it. If you didn't count the training post in the other far corner of the garden you could have called it an ordinary garden view.

But this was a _shinobi__'__s_ backyard. It was understandable that there had to be other additions to it aside from flowers.

Rolling her shoulders, Tenten reached behind her and pulled out a scroll. Holding it out in front of her to show the boy her intentions, she then marched over to her patio and opened it up. The scroll spread along its entire length, to which she then administered the correct number of hand seals and slapped both her palms onto the symbols marking the center. Naruto watched with great interest as puffs of smoke exploded all along it, clearing seconds later to reveal an assortment of weapons that had been hidden within it.

The ninja tools flashed in the fading light. When Tenten stepped far enough away for Naruto to be able to see the entire arsenal she had in her collection, he raised an eyebrow.

"_I __was __right. __She__'__s __not __only __a __weapons __master __but __she __is __also __adept __at __sealing __techniques, __scrolls __and __seals. __Interesting,__"_ Naruto smirked, his eyes wandering from one end of the line-up to the other.

Kunai, sais, ball and chain, daggers, staffs, steel fans, kusarigama, katana, tonfas, scythes… it's like she carries around a weapons museum wherever she goes.

"Interesting collection," Naruto exclaimed.

"Pick your poison," Tenten stated, using her hand to gesture to the row. "My backyard is too small for a full-on fight, not to mention I don't want any of my weapons flying into somebody else's garden or damaging another person's property, especially my own. I can use my post for target practice, but as an arena," she shook her head firmly, "Not a good idea."

"So, it's just taijutsu and close-range weapons, huh?" the jinchuriki smiled. "Judging from your explanations and your collection of versatile material, I'm going to venture a guess that you're predominantly a long-range specialist. _Shurikenjutsu_, am I right? It must be a might bit uncomfortable for you to get in close with an opponent."

Tenten smirked, "Don't underestimate me. I've trained to use each and every one of the weapons I own individually. I'm not as vulnerable up close as others may think." She lowered her extended arm. "Plus, I come from a team who specializes in taijutsu. That means if you're a shinobi who focuses mostly on close-range, you'd better watch out."

"I see," Naruto smiled, his eyes sparkling at the prospects of a promising opponent. _"__Close __range, __huh? __I__'__m __**absolutely **__coming __over __to __visit __you __more __often, __Tenten-chan.__"_

"I'm giving you a choice. You can either pick any one weapon you want to use in our spar or you can fight me barehanded," Tenten stated, giving the youngster a very cocky grin. "Unless you want to throw in the towel and take back everything you said to me back in the hot springs."

"No. No. I stand by what I said," Naruto hastily replied, strolling towards the collection and staring down at it thoughtfully. "Okay… let's see what you got here…"

The boy started humming cheerfully as he pointed out each weapon independently, inspecting them from a distance while following the 'hands-off policy' often associated with tradesmen. Tenten eyed him curiously as he looked from weapon to weapon, judging them like he was on some bargain-price show.

After about a minute of waiting, Tenten suddenly found herself staring in bewilderment as Naruto simply shrugged off all of the deadly, pointy objects lying in front of him, and wordlessly wandered around the scroll, right passed the patio, and picked up the broom sitting against the wall directly beside the garden hose. He weighed the instrument in his hand and balanced it on his finger, twirling it once or twice to get the feel for it.

A bamboo stick that was just over 120 centimeters in length, with a wooden block at the end and the broom corn filaments sticking proudly out of the block. It was a regular sweeping broom for the patio and not a push broom variant…

And why in God's name was he worrying about what it looked like?

Spinning it again and nodding at his decision, Naruto walked out onto the lawn and took his place over on his end. He slammed the handle end of his chosen weapon into the ground and grinned up at the kunoichi, "I'm ready!"

Tenten was baffled. She pointed at him, "T-That's a broom?"

"And a _fine_ broom it is," Naruto twirled it on its point within his grip where he held it, which he then caught firmly.

"You choose a broom… as a weapon?" Tenten repeated, trying to figure out what the hell he was doing. Was it a joke? If it wasn't, then her head was about to explode! "Are you serious?"

Naruto looked at it and then back at her, wondering if he had just done something wrong, "Yeah. So? What's the problem?"

Tenten face-palmed and shook her head. At this point she was beginning to wonder whether the whole world was insane or it was just her. Hanging around with two hyperactive, sport freaks in jumpsuits and a depressed social outcast must have done her something awful. Not only that, but now she was facing a new guy who uses household equipment as his preferred weaponry.

Where was her life going wrong?

Still, seeing that he had chosen and was now sticking to it, Tenten wallowed over to her line-up, picked up a katana and resealed her weapons. Rolling up the scroll, she then shuffled her way back over to her side of the lawn and took position.

Going after a guy with a broom? What kind of a threat was there? She was deliberately idling along so as to not embarrass the kid too quickly when she actually started fighting.

With a sigh Tenten made the seal of confrontation with her opponent, who returned it with an ever-present grin in play. She smiled weakly in his direction, "I sure hope you're ready for this."

"As ready as I'll ever be."

With that assured, Tenten took up her sword and held it out in front of her in a two-handed grip. She assumed the basic stance necessary for the wielder of a katana, ensuring that the cutting edge was facing towards her opponent and that she was firmly rooted. While assuming her attack stance, she watched as Naruto thumped the end of the broom he still had buried in the ground into it, before kicking the bottom end forward and gripping it in a basic stance of his own.

The girl blinked in surprise when she saw him assume a wide stance, one which was traditionally associated with wielding a staff or spear. However, unlike other stances she had seen demonstrated when using a pole, this one was completely unorthodox, as some of his weight was distributed to the back leg with the forward leg balancing him out. Furthermore, the head of the broom was facing towards her and that his grip on the pole was off center, with the brush end being held far at length.

It was peculiar.

Tenten narrowed her eyes suspiciously and smirked, _"__Let__'__s __see __what __you __can __do!__"_

Without another word, the kunoichi charged forward.

She reached his position in just under two seconds and lashed out with an angled strike from a low position. The sharp blade cut through the air and across, to which Naruto unexpectedly stepped away from and dodged the sailing tip, just barely. Stepping back some more when she followed through with another, he then spun the broom stick around his body from his initial guard position. The brush and makeshift staff whipped around like a spinning fan blade as he thrust around and struck out at the girl, who backed up at his sudden intense display in surprise.

Using a duel-handed grip, she blocked the sweeping attacks he made against her (no pun intended), the brush end whamming against the side of her blade repeatedly. She attempted to cut the stick when it came back around a fifth time, but the damn thing was incredibly sturdy, and she only ended up chipping it before her blade was knocked away by the force of the hit.

Parrying his furious swipes several more times and retreating further, she attempted to drive home a retaliatory slash, only to be forced back when the staff came wheeling back around from the other side, the boy spinning on the spot in order to produce momentum. Tenten ducked a decapitating swipe from the stick and, crouched low, she lunged in a stabbing motion.

Just as she was moving upwards though, she caught a glimpse of a grin on Naruto's face.

It was barely there, but she was clearly able to see the amusement running on his expression.

This was seconds before the broom he was wielding unexpectedly spun around his neck in a free rotation, and came dropping directly down on top of her when he directed its force upon her.

The brush end slapped her on the back of her head, the momentum behind it alone enough to knock her stumbling forward.

Naruto stepped to the side and allowed her to stumble through, with the girl wheeling around on the spot to face him quickly and to make sure he stayed back. She rubbed her neck and checked her hand to see if she was cut.

Seeing no blood, she looked up at the smiling blonde in shock.

The boy twirled his broomstick around in his right hand stylishly, before spinning it casually around his body and resting it against his lower back. He cuffed it with his arms and held it behind him with the elbow joints holding it. "That could have been bad! Eh?"

Tenten frowned, _"__What__'__s __up __with __his __movements? __His __body __is __so __loose.__"_ The way he was keeping on his toes told her more about his unusual fighting style as well as what he had just performed,_ "__His __attacks __aren__'__t __direct __and __his __form __isn__'__t __rigid __like __Lee__'__s! __Not __to __mention __his __footwork __is __ridiculous!__"_

He was no ordinary academy student and what he was using was no ordinary taijutsu. This was something else entirely.

"Well, you're just full of surprises, aren't you? It looks like I'm gonna have to take you and your broom on a little more seriously," Tenten grinned at him. "This is great!"

The girl then leapt forward, attacking with a downward slash. Naruto whistled in amazement at her sudden jump in speed and stepped to the side swiftly, before rotating his body and the staff to knock away another incoming strike. Tenten pursued him relentlessly across her lawn, shouting out and lashing out at him repeatedly with her sword. Her blade sliced viciously through the air, attempting to carve any sort of mark into him, only to hit nothing but air or the handle end of the broom as the boy retreated.

His feet doing all the work for him Naruto spun on the spot and around the kunoichi when she came in for another lunge, effectively avoiding her. She wasn't deterred though and quickly reengaged him.

With his broomstick still rested behind him and held by his arms, he dodged another couple of slashes aimed for his body, before avoiding another lunge. This time he ducked low under the incoming, horizontal blade. During which he counted her footsteps on approach and judged the technique of her slashes, breaking down her every move as she attempted to hit him.

It was obvious she was testing him too, but that didn't mean he was going to let up on her.

He narrowly avoided another downward slash and moved to the outside, seeing her shoulders wide open. The jinchuriki didn't capitalize on this though and moved around, out of her reach. He skidded to a stop, kicking up dust with a bead of sweat visible on his forehead.

"_She__'__s __good. __No__… __she__'__s __**better **__than __good,__"_ Naruto thought excitedly with a smile. _"__I__'__d __even __go __so __far __as __to __say __she__'__s __stronger __than __Sasuke.__"_

Tenten spun and charged, sword held out for another attack. This time the jinchuriki decided to make things a little bit more interesting and changed the direction of the competition. Her slash transforming into a stab midway through, Naruto gritted his teeth and adjusted the direction of his next counter, dodging and rolling the staff he wielded around his arm. He thrust the handle of the broom straight down on top of the girl's hand, the strike slapping her wrist hard and causing her to relinquish her hold on the sword.

The pain in her hand was enough for her to drop her katana, with Tenten wincing and recoiling at the same time.

Naruto smiled and kicked his broom upwards, knocking the falling katana into the air and throwing it to the other side of the lawn. It landed some distance away from them, impaled in the ground.

Cursing, Tenten changed tactics and pivoted on the spot. She thrust a reverse roundhouse kick at his head, and though it didn't make contact, the force of its trajectory was enough to knock the goggles off of Naruto's head. The boy backed away in surprise as the girl pursued, quickly throwing straight, hard punches at his head, which he dodged.

Weaving around her fists, he then avoided a power jab she corked up especially for him. Her fist grazed his nose at its speed, astonishing him at the sheer force she exerted. However, that wasn't the only thing that caught his attention.

As he watched her fist rotate on its execution, he noticed the position of her feet and the way her body moved into the attack from its starting point. Quick as it was, he was able to catch every frame of her attack, his eyes following her fist as he leant away.

Naruto grinned excitedly, _"That's Strong Fist style, a descendant of the Wood Blocking Fist! Awesome! I've always wanted to fight someone who had a hand in Strong Fist. There are very few shinobi in this village who know that style. No wonder her attacks are packing so much heat!"_

The moment he avoided her last punch, the same fist she used grabbed his jacket and he was pulled forward into another incoming punch with her left hand. This caught him off guard for sure, but he was able to react to it in time.

His broomstick still held behind him, wedged between his forearms and biceps at the elbows, Naruto ducked underneath her attack and spun around, whamming the handle of his broom into her back and sending her stumbling forward. Quickly recovering, Tenten spun around and moved her dominant right foot forward. It cut across the ground in a 'C' shape, later completing an 'S' shape motion in an upwards direction, and she struck at him with a backwards roundhouse, the semi-attack forcing him to duck. Though it didn't pack much power, he was still weary of any attack she executed.

He then dodged the roundhouse kick she followed up with, before rotating his body towards her swiftly, striking out with the long stick of the broom and ramming her in the side of the head.

She managed to raise a left guard to block it, the stick pressing against her firmly.

Tenten smirked as she held her block, "You're _really_ good, Naruto-kun."

"Oh? What happened to –chan?" the blonde grinned cheekily.

"I'm withholding that honorific for a later date!" Tenten shouted, and forcefully pushed the broom away with her guard, rushing at him with a jab.

Naruto backed up sharply, moving his 'staff' around from where he was holding it and knocking her starting punch away with it. She pressed on with a series of more punches, followed by hook combinations and elbows. The boy grinned and ducked another roundhouse kick, after which she hit the ground with her kicking foot and spun at him with an elbow. The blow hit the broom and caused him to skid backwards, after which she continued with an upward thrust of her knuckles over the guard. But Naruto parried, rotating the broom and intercepting the disorientating hit.

Bracing the lower part of the pole, he struck upwards with the lowered staff towards her center, hitting her in the side. Wincing, Tenten backed away, dodging left and right when he thrust at her with the handle point of his weapon. She leapt away and ducked when he hooked out with the brush end followed up by a follow-through with the handle end.

Attacks avoided, Naruto continued spinning the broomstick around him in a stylish fashion, rolling it around his body, neck and arms before settling it comfortably behind him again, propped under his elbows.

"We should do this more often," the jinchuriki exclaimed. "It's really hard to find a descent sparring partner around here that doesn't kick your ass within the first few seconds of the match."

"What? You don't like strong girls?" Tenten replied in amusement, "I'm assuming that's why you're hanging around with a woman like Yim. She's your teacher, isn't she?"

Naruto grinned in response to her last statement, but left the former up to an actual verbal response, "Actually, strong girls are my type."

Tenten lunged at him with a hook, with Naruto dodging and rotating, swinging the brush end in her direction. The girl leapt over it and barrel rolled, before dashing off to the other end of the lawn. The youngster followed, but stopped several feet later when she saw what the girl was really aiming for.

Yanking her katana out of the soil, Tenten wasted no time in rushing at him. Letting out a yell, she struck out at him with it, the boy spinning his broom around and batting the sword aside like before. She came in again with a downward slash, but he blocked it by thrusting the brush up towards the descending blade and catching it on the block. Just as he was about to bat it away, Tenten side-kicked him in the torso, which he was forced to take.

Wincing, Naruto grinned and stepped in quickly, closing whatever distance there was between them. His shoulder pressed up against her back, he elbowed her and with the right direction of force applied, nudged her so that she stumbled away from him.

Managing to keep herself from falling over, Tenten pivoted and redirected her front to him, sword held before her. Reassuming a balanced stance, she lunged, slashing at him twice with angled strikes. The boy backed away to avoid the blade, before spinning his staff around and slamming it against the base end of the sword, knocking it out of her grip for the second time.

However, this time the kunoichi was ready for him.

Tenten caught the handle end of the broom he thrust at her and held it firmly. She directed a flick kick at him, which he was forced to block with his arm since his primary weapon was occupied. With her opponent distracted, the girl readjusted her stance and with a quick power thrust, punched the broomstick at the center, where her sword had managed to chip it.

The chip was actually a cut that managed to get about halfway through it, which meant that it had weakened considerably. The right power directed at the right point, Tenten was able to snap the stick in half with a single blow. Naruto stepped back hastily, spinning the half-a-broom he still held around. He thrust the brush towards her, forcing her to back off after she had cut his weapon down some.

After which, he spun the broom in his left hand and held it out, assuming a different stance from his previous one.

Tenten hung back, puffing a little bit from the effort she had to go through to disable his weapon. She was amazed at his techniques and his speed, not to mention his endurance.

While she had broken a few beads of sweat, he looked as though he'd been having the time of his life from the start.

Naruto grinned at her. However, just as he was about to begin an attack of his own outside of the solid defense he had been mounting against her since the whistle was blown he then the important change in his staff. Pulling back a little and glancing at the handle edge of his broom, particularly the area where it had been snapped, he began assessing the condition of it and the specs of the fight to come.

Tenten saw him look at what was left of the broom in his grip and right when she thought he was about to begin an attack, the boy turned to her and tossed his remaining half of the weapon to the floor. At the same time he raised his hands in front of him and smiled.

"I give up."

All at once, silence fell.

The sound of battle that had once been an orchestra playing inside of Tenten's head suddenly vanished, and she was left standing speechless in her last fallback position. Wide-eyed and staring at her opponent, her hands promptly dropped from their defensive position.

"W-Wha?"

Naruto smiled and slipped his hands into his pockets, nodding down to his weapon lying uselessly on the ground. Puzzled, the girl also looked down at the two pieces of the broom lying at her feet and walked forward. Picking them up, she looked at the point where they had been broken in half and attempted to figure out what Naruto was on about.

It didn't take her long to find out the problem for herself.

When she had snapped the broom in two, the point where they had broken had basically transformed the once harmless, dull staff into a sharp spear at the fractured ends of the sticks. The one that Naruto previously held looked as though it was capable of impaling fish or humans if he had the necessary training, and from the fight she had had with him so far, he _definitely_ had the necessary training. Upon assessing the broom herself, Tenten chuckled and looked up at the boy, her eyes shimmering.

"You are such a softie," the kunoichi exclaimed.

"If I had wanted to kill you, I would have kept on fighting," Naruto smiled back at her, shrugging his shoulders to relieve himself of the adrenaline rush given to him during the battle. "The broken pieces of the broom are like spears now and in a friendly fight like this one it's too dangerous."

"Come on. You know that's not a good enough excuse, not for us shinobi," Tenten smirked, dropping the sticks and folding her arms. "We knew the risks when we signed up at the academy; that we would one day have to fight and kill to survive…"

"True. But I can't stand the thought or the risk of maiming or killing an opponent in a friendly sparring match, which was why I chose the broom in the first place. Besides," Naruto smiled up at the girl, seeing her giving him a confused expression, "Yim-chan said to me that in order for me to become a master at using a weapon, I must train myself to the extent that I _can__'__t_ kill. She said that whenever I find myself wielding a weapon, I must fight with it until I have rendered my opponent defenseless."

Tenten blinked in surprise at the words she was given. Having not expected to hear such wisdom come from such a guy, she smiled and giggled at him, "Makes sense. If wielded in an incorrect manner, an ordinary weapon like a staff could just as easily kill a person as any kunai or sword, even if you didn't intend to do so in the first place. Your teacher is very wise."

"Yeah. She is," Naruto chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "Anyway, if I had wanted to kill in the traditional shinobi fashion I would have used a kunai or a shuriken, but even then I would hold myself back… unless absolutely necessary." Sure, if the guy's skin was as tough as iron and he could punch like a train could plow through traffic, then he would have a viable reason to use deadly force in order to survive. But those thoughts could be spared for another time.

Naruto slammed his fist into his hand and ground the knuckles into his palm for an added affect. "I fight to win, but in my own way."

Tenten grinned at him. She then walked over to where her katana was lying and picked it up. When she did, she immediately sealed it back into one of her scrolls and quickly reengaged her guest in conversation, so as to not dismiss him entirely.

"You conceded defeat tonight. Trade in that staff of yours with an actual bladed weapon and I would have been in real trouble. However, I will consider this to be a draw for now, as neither one of us gained any ground in any way or landed any damaging hits on the other," Tenten marched towards him, stopping till she was facing him eye-to-eye. The proximity between them had Naruto lean back quite a bit so that he bent at a very funny angle. "But know this; I _will_ be getting my win back, Naruto-kun. You can count on it!"

Confused at first, the jinchuriki shuffled away to a comfortable distance so that he could see better. It was when he saw Tenten hold her fingers out towards him in the symbol of harmony that he was able to completely comprehend what she had been saying to him. With a warm smile shared between one another, Naruto linked fingers with her and they shook.

With the sun setting behind them over the horizon and the day turning to night, they couldn't have asked for a more appropriate setting.

"_This __was __a __really __great __day,__"_ Naruto thought happily.

XXX

**Later that night…**

Naruto had hurriedly made his way back home after his long day hanging with Tenten.

When he arrived through the front door, his first hopes for the late evening were to be greeted by his roommates Yim and Ran. Unfortunately though, finding the apartment with all the lights off and everything locked up, he knew that they were still out. He didn't complain or blame them though. They were both busy people, they had their own errands to run, and they weren't always going to be around.

Still, the whole place was a lot more exciting and uplifting when they were around.

Locking his front door, Naruto made his way over to the kitchen to get himself a drink. Since he had no milk and nothing else much in the fridge accept a bit of orange juice, he decided to have what was left of that and poured it into a clear glass. Tossing the empty plastic bottle into the bin, he then shuffled his way over to the balcony for some fresh air.

"_I __had __so __much __fun,__"_ Naruto smiled to himself, _"__First __earning __my __headband, __then __hanging __out __with __Yim-chan __and __Ran-chan, __and __then __spending __the __rest __of __the __day __over __at __Tenten__'__s __place__… __what __else __could __I __possibly __ask __for?__"_

Humming, the boy was about to unlock the balcony door when he then noticed something out of place.

Over at the dining table, he spotted a flash of a reflection of light. Blinking curiously, he moved over to it and picked up whatever it was that was sitting on his tabletop.

It came as an even bigger surprise to him to find that it was a small bell. It was a silver, little ball bell that would normally be found on a collar of a cat or Christmas decorations, not something that would be left unattended. But that wasn't the mystery here.

The real mystery was that Naruto didn't have anything like it whatsoever, and it certainly didn't belong to Yim or Ran. So…

"Where did _you_ come from?" Naruto murmured, shaking the bell and getting it to ring for him. The ball bearing inside chimed loudly…

It chimed _**really**_ loudly…

"_Fuck!"_

Naruto winched when he felt a sharp pain hit his eardrums and he backed away, his surroundings unexpectedly becoming blurry. The effects became so intense that he nearly lost it altogether, forcing him to use the glass door behind him to keep his balance. He dropped the bell and gripped the side of his head in agony.

"W-What the hell?"

Looking up, he then noticed one other thing that he had missed.

While the bell hit the floor and rolled around at his feet, he spotted another reflection of light. It was very thin and barely noticeable, but thanks to his sharp eyesight in spite of being in a disorientated state, he was able to follow it.

It was a piece of wire leading up to his ceiling.

When he followed it to its source, he saw a shadow of a figure hugging the corner of his ceiling. The person's hand was outstretched and clearly fishing with the bell they had tied the wire to. Since he hadn't turned on the lights, he had no idea who it was or what they wanted with him.

Damn this ringing was irritating!

"W-Who the hell… are you?"

"_**Decapitating Airwaves!"**_

The shout of an unidentified second party was the only verbal response Naruto received immediately upon asking his question, seconds before a massive gust of wind tore through his entire apartment, rammed into him with bits and pieces of furniture, and literally hurled him out the balcony door of his apartment. The glass shattered on his back, the frame of the door was blown clean out, and so was he…

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Wow! Cliffhanger!

_Hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I spent writing it. Excuse any spelling or grammer mistakes, bloody document still experiences errors._

_This will be my last chapter for a while, so, I'll get back to it and the others ASAP. I'm working on Melody of the Wanderers, Steam and Sweat and this one. Ciao._


	8. Scroll of Seals Arc: First Taste

**NARUTO**

**The Art of Appropriation**

_First Taste_

"W-Why… does it hurt… so much…?" Naruto groaned lowly, his voice strained from an unbelievable weight pressing down on top of him and was made whole thanks to the telltale spit of agony laced in with his tone.

At that very moment, with his face buried in the grass, his head ringing, his body unresponsive, and debris blanketing him in a sheet of wood and glass, the only thing he could really do at this point was question his current situation.

His mind was raging with questions. What the hell just happened to him? Who attacked him? What in God's name hit him? Why was he suddenly thrown out of his apartment and onto his backyard lawn a full story below? These were the only coherent things he could think about above the pain now racking his body to the bone.

What else could he do?

The affair he had just been unexpectedly thrust into, the situation he had so casually walked in on and inside his home no less…

It was for real.

"Why…?" The boy tightly clenched his eyes shut, while at the same time swallowing the tang of blood dripping off of his lips and allowing his fingers to curl where they were laid, digging them into the soft soil of his garden.

Never in his entire life had he been subjected to so much pain. It wasn't a crippling emotional pain or the meager pain of being cut by a simple household object. No.

This pain was different.

It was the pain of being attacked with the intent to kill.

…

At least he wasn't dead. That was a good thing.

The smell of fertilizer all around him was enough evidence to support that conclusion. He could take that as a positive indication over the whopping big negative confronting him.

Eyes blinking back open, the wounded jinchuriki grounded his teeth, growled angrily through a locked jaw and, with whatever strength he could possibly muster, forced himself back to his feet. He pushed his front off of the ground first, albeit shaky limbs, and glared ahead of him through an unstable depth of field and an environment continuously in motion.

At least that's what it looked and felt from his point of view.

His brain was rattled just as much as the rest of him.

Looking out, the blonde saw that his flight path had taken him no further then the back end of his lawn and, in truth, the damage to his garden wasn't all that severe; save for the rubble and debris.

His apartment though was a completely different story.

The back entrance to his home was an absolute wreck. The sight of the total amount of damage inflicted upon the structure had the blonde gawking up at it. The frame of the glass door, the windows, and entire slabs of the wall surrounding the outlets had been utterly blown out, and were now littering his backyard in pieces. Furthermore, the balcony was on the verge of collapse, tiles were still sliding off of the shaken roof, and his patio looked as though it had hell rain down upon it in an ungodly hailstorm.

Outstanding! (Note the sarcasm)

Now he needed to replace both the newly refurbished woodwork _and_ his outdoor furniture.

"_I'll worry about that shit later. Just who or what the fuck hit me back there? I feel like I've been run down by a motherfucking rhino!"_

That was the pain talking.

Shaking off the physical trauma, but unable to rid himself of the ringing in his ears and the loss of balance, Naruto glared up towards his ruined apartment again. When he did, he saw three shadows suddenly jump out of the gaping hole in the side of his home and land on the lawn just several feet in front of him.

The black silhouettes of the now revealed individuals were all that was needed for him to assess that they were the ones responsible for his predicament.

Slapping himself in the cheeks, he attempted to rise to his feet from his kneeling position. However, his legs buckled and he fell back down, all because his world was constantly listing from left to right. It was an incredibly unpleasant feeling.

"Gah! Dammit!" the blonde cursed, his fists clenching tightly. _"I've taken too much damage! This is bad. Who the hell is attacking me in the middle of the night?"_

Desperate to find out the answer for himself, his eyes trained back onto the three rather small shadows standing before him, all framed by his ruined apartment.

His vision cleared up quickly enough for him to be able to get a good enough look of the culprits.

It wasn't quite what he was expecting.

They were teenagers, all three of them, and they were all wearing outfits and headbands Naruto had never seen before.

The boy on the far left had spiky, dark hair and dark eyes. A large beige T-shirt covered his upper body with the word 'death' inscribed upon it in kanji on the front. He also had a pair of snake-patterned pants, two black strips fastening his shirt to him around the shoulder areas, black sandals, a snake-patterned scarf around his neck, and a headband secured tightly around his head.

The guy in the middle, though he was slouched over, Naruto could tell that if he was to actually stand at full height he would be just as tall as his friends. He had bandages covering most of his face with the exception of the area around his left eye, had a large poncho with incredibly long sleeves, a snake-patterned scarf around his neck, and a straw raincoat protruding from his back where the scarf went around.

Finally, there was the girl on the right, who had dark colored eyes and extremely long black hair nearly reaching the ground, and was tied at the end by a violet ribbon. She was fair looking, with a green vest similar to a flak jacket covering her upper body, a snake-patterned scarf adorned around her neck, a pair of pants of the same color, and sandals.

The color combination between all three of them was the same; same pants, same scarf and they all had forehead protectors proudly worn around their craniums with a musical note carved into them, all of which gleamed under the ambient light of their surrounding environment.

Honestly though, above the stinging wounds carved into his body like camouflage patterns, Naruto found it all to be a bit out of taste. If the situation wasn't so serious he would have cracked a joke at their choice of attire.

"Man… he's still alive?" the boy on the left groaned, folding his arms.

"What a stubborn punk," the teen in the middle lead on, his tone indicating the disappointment he was feeling. He glared over at his teammate to his right. "You held back too much power, Zaku. Now we have to get rid of him the old-fashioned way."

The person the mummy-look-a-like was addressing, now known as Zaku, mumbled indignantly and slumped over, "Hey, don't try to pin this on me you four-foot walking haystack. What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Ever since this team was formed all you've really done was bark orders at us. I didn't see you back there pitching in and helping us carry out the ambush!"

"Somebody had to be the overseer," the middle teen replied with a tight scowl, before glaring back down at the wounded blonde kneeling in front of them. "In any case, _Plan A_ failed spectacularly, despite its perfect timing."

Seeing their attention lock back onto him, Naruto let out a low growl and attempted to stand up again.

If they were done bickering then that meant they were going to continue on with whatever plans they had for him. He rose quickly.

Legs buckling a second time due to the deafening, high-pitched whine in his ears causing the rest of his world to remain unstable, the jinchuriki decided on a course to temporarily fix his condition. Slapping himself a few times in the cheeks and massaging the areas around his knees to coax life back into them, he tried for a third.

To his overwhelming relief, he was successful, and managed to take a weak looking stance before the team staring him down.

The trio's serious expressions he could see on their faces filled with a mixture of surprise and disbelief.

"No way? He's up?" Zaku sputtered.

"Wow… this kid's pretty tough," the girl on the far right exclaimed. "He was able to shake off my _Illusion Bell Needle Technique_ and your _Decapitating Airwaves_, Zaku."

"An admirable effort. I'm impressed," the boy in the middle commented. "But really, his struggles are all for naught. He'll be dead soon anyway."

"W-Who the hell are you guys," Naruto choked out, his right eye shutting thanks to the ever present throbbing pinch in his ears. "Why did you attack me all of a sudden?"

Zaku frowned and glanced toward his partners, "Hey, Dosu. Should we answer this guy?"

The teen wrapped in bandages shrugged, "Does it matter?"

The girl on the far side smirked widely and looked back over at the jinchuriki struggling to keep his body righted, "Not really. But as far as last requests go, I think it's only fair that we can spare this brat a response or two. After all, how many chances do you get to look good in front of your targets while on the job?"

Dosu looked over at his kunoichi teammate. "You're enjoying this _waa-ay_ too much, Kin."

"I _try_ to make these missions enjoyable, Dosu. It's one of the only privileges we're allowed," the raven haired girl replied, lowering her head. "Try not to waste them."

"**Hey**! Didn't you hear me?" Naruto shouted, forcing the trio's attention back onto him, "I'm asking you why you attacked me?"

Zaku frowned and brought his right arm up in front of him, at the same time rolling back his sleeve, "Man, this kid's loud." Spreading his fingers, the teen revealed some sort of hole carved in the center of his palm with a tube sticking out of it. The sight of the unusual device being pointed in his direction gave Naruto a small clue as to where that blast of wind from earlier probably came from.

His curiosity wouldn't go on unanswered…

"Should I just disintegrate him so that we can go home?"

"No," Dosu replied sharply, glaring up at his companion and seeing his movements cease, "We've already made enough noise. Anymore and we'll alert the local guard to our presence here in the village. This needs to be done quietly since you failed to kill him before with your initial attack."

Zaku glowered and lowered his hand, "Again, you're blaming this on me."

"You say I don't pull my weight on missions, right? If that's what you two really think then stay back," the team leader ordered and stepped forward, straightening up to a more comfortable height. His sudden movement and the raising of his covered right arm had Naruto back away warily, "I'll handle the rest of this."

In spite of his shaken state, the jinchuriki was still capable of comprehending his current situation. His world had cleared up some more during the time his three attackers had been arguing with one another, so it was to no surprise that he was able to physically react even though his movements were staggered.

The teen known as Dosu now approaching him had raised his right arm and yanked back his sleeve. It was from where he stood Naruto was able to make out what the guy was hiding underneath his long clothing; a strange metal gauntlet with a thick brace on the forearm piece and holes punched into it. They looked sort of like air passages, much like the single tube he had seen protruding from the other boy's hand.

From his quick and discreet observations, Naruto was quickly able to surmise his opponents one by one. If the girl on his right could use bells to disrupt motor skills and the other could produce concussive air waves that could level buildings, he was able to guess that this third team member was able to produce a technique that could take out an opponent quickly and quietly, as indicated by way of their discussion. This did not bode well and put the jinchuriki on high alert.

Problem was though, his body was still badly beaten to make too many sudden movements and he had no idea what was gonna happen next.

"_I don't know who these guys are, but I know they want to kill me?"_ Naruto gritted his teeth, shuffling away more and more as the team leader moved closer. _"But why?"_

"I apologize for the inconvenience," Dosu spoke up, clenching his raised fist and flashing his weapon at the youngster, "You see, you were supposed to be killed the instant you walked through your front door. If you had died then, then you wouldn't have to be suffering the way you are now. It was stupid of us to hold back the way we did. But know that we Genin of the _Village Hidden in the Sound_ always correct our mistakes."

Naruto's eyes narrowed further, his ears open enough to hear every cold word spoken by the approaching teenager while his gaze remained firmly locked on the contraption on his arm.

"_I have to dodge!"_

Right on cue, the bandaged team leader crouched low and lunged straight at him, right arm cranking back and fist cutting through the air a split second later.

The jinchuriki had but a bat of an eye to react, immediately diving to his right when Dosu came flying at him with a haymaker of a punch. The gauntlet barely brushed passed the side of his head, only grazing a few hairs on its way. Upon making his evasion Naruto barrel-rolled when he hit the floor and leapt back to his feet.

Making sure to put as much distance between himself and his opponents, he ran several paces across his lawn for good measure before skidding to a stop and spinning around to face them. He quickly dropped into a loose _Spring Chant_ stance.

The roll didn't do much for his condition though. His back was killing him.

"_Dammit… that wasn't such a good idea…"_

Locking back onto Dosu, he was surprised to see that the boy wasn't attempting to pursue him. Glancing around at all three of their faces, he saw small smirks in play and all eyes directed towards him. It was as if his little maneuver had amused them somewhat.

Naruto blinked in surprise. _"Why aren't they attacking? Are they just messing with me or what?"_ He looked back over at Dosu, the one that was supposed to be assaulting him. If that guy's main intention was to kill him, then shouldn't he be trying to hammer him into the ground at this point? Why did he stop after just one punch?

It was then the jinchuriki noticed something off about the previous attack administered by the team leader and gave the situation another go over. His eyebrow rose as his thoughts lingered around that single punch. _"Was he actually trying to hit me? Did he deliberately make his swing wide for me to see it coming? He's aware of my condition. So should he know that I can't move that well? That hit should have been spot on."_ He then considered the gauntlet. _"Wait a second… that Dosu guy said that they should 'do this' quietly. A silent technique…?"_

Just as his mind was beginning to work around the answer, it suddenly hit him… _hard_. Naruto's eyes widened when a sharp pain suddenly went shooting straight through his head via his ear passages. His surroundings and the three teenagers in front of him became distorted, and topped off with the pain and dizziness accompanying these effects he was forced to his knees.

The attack's damage unfolded gradually. Not only did Naruto feel completely immobilized, but his sense of awareness and balance were thrown out of whack. Even when he could physically feel the ground at his feet he had incredible trouble determining which way was up or down. Moments after hitting the grassy surface of his lawn, the dizziness became even worse. He was unable to stop the stages of his symptoms surfacing one after the other as the effects escalated.

Retching a couple of times Naruto then buckled over and threw up, not just whatever he had for dinner but also blood.

That was definitely not a good sign.

Gasping for air the jinchuriki looked up; at the same time wiping his chin of the bodily fluids that had unexpectedly came gushing out of him.

"W-What the hell… was _that_…?"Naruto groaned out, his limbs trembling as his body attempted to repair the damage. However, the impact on his person was so great that even his absurd healing factors were unable to keep up with the properties of the technique that were rattling him to his core. _"That was no ordinary punch… it has to be that damn metal brace on his arm!"_

Dosu chuckled and approached his downed target slowly, holding up the gauntlet he had used moments before so that his victim could see it clearly, "It's quite ingenious, isn't it? You've probably figured out by now that this is no ordinary piece of jewelry."

Naruto growled, reaching up and clutching his left ear, "S-So I figured…" If you were to remove his hand you would be able to see a trickle of blood running down from the before mentioned orifice.

"This gauntlet is called a _Melody Arm,_" the team leader continued, flexing the weapon while stopping just feet from the blonde, "custom made for the shinobi of _Otogakure_. It's an incredibly sensitive yet durable piece of equipment, able to capture and amplify the vibrations of my arm's movements. Using my chakra, I am able to project these sound waves the device produces to hit the targets within its range. Case in point, I used my feigned punch to produce and direct the sound waves towards your ear."

"My ear?" Naruto coughed out, his eyes widening. "T-That's possible?"

"Indeed," the teen grinned, lowering his secret weapon. "Of course, the sound's impact is not limited to the direction of my arm's movement. I can freely control the sound waves the _Melody Arm_ emits to hit any point of my opponent, so long as they are within reach. Because I used the sound waves to shock the semicircular canals, I've caused you to lose your sense of balance. I'm afraid you won't be able to stand up, let alone move for a while."

Naruto gritted his teeth, narrowing his blurred and distorted gaze upon the bandaged teen towering over him, "Y-You bastard!"

"Yes, I've been called that many times before," Dosu sighed with a shrug. "But what can I do about it? It's a perk." He then stepped away and turned towards his teammates. "Well, I've done my bit. Who wants the pleasure of finishing him off?" This question had Naruto's eyes widen in alarm and the other two Genin of the enemy team smirk.

Zaku cracked his knuckles and marched forward, "I'll do it. It's been a while since I've had such an easy kill handed to me. Besides, Kin would probably torture him for a while before snuffing him out." His eyes went over his shoulder to the girl keeping her distance. The kunoichi folded her arms and looked away.

"Do what you want. Since we're in _that_ much of a hurry…" She sounded disappointed.

Zaku snorted and brushed by the team leader, who shuffled back in his slouched stance to rejoin his other companion. This left his more willing team member a perfect line of sight straight for their target hunched over before them and ripe for the picking.

To say that Naruto was now more desperate for help at this point was an understatement. Trembling even more so then before with his hand still clutching his left ear, the jinchuriki tried with all his might to will his body to move. However, sheer determination and brute strength wouldn't help him spring back into action this time. He had taken way more damage from that last attack, too much for a second save.

While he struggled the enemy Genin continued to walk towards him.

"_Dammit! Dammit! DAMMIT! What am I going to do now! Fuck! My legs won't move!"_ His eyes shut tightly and he hunched over. _"What can I do? What can I do? If I don't act soon I'll be killed! Come on! THINK! MOVE! ANYTHING!"_

Seeing their target pretty much cower away where he knelt, one arm over his stomach, the other to his ear, and the back of his head literally showing to the world from his position, Zaku smirked and spat at the ground, "I can't believe that no count Mizuki wants a worthless punk like you dead. Really, this whole thing was just a complete waste of time."

Naruto's eyes flew open, but he kept his face and expression out of sight in his curled up position over the grass, "M-Mizuki-sensei?"

"Yeah. He said some stupid shit about you being the container of the _Nine-Tailed Demon Fox_ and that by snuffing you out the three of us would be making the world a better place. Tsk, I always knew the guy was messed up in the head. But who isn't in our village?" the spiky haired teen sighed, pulling out a kunai from the pouch hanging from his belt and spinning it on his finger. "Oh well. Like it matters? To me you're just another dead body!"

…

Naruto was speechless.

Eyes wide, sweat pouring from his face and all attention focused on the blades of grass at his feet, the jinchuriki said nothing. Right now, his head was doing all of the dreading and talking in his place with whatever conscious thoughts he was able to conjure up. The shock had pretty much caused him to black out.

Sure, even though he was quite literally knocking on death's door and could feel his breath creeping down his neck, all of his attention was fixed on the words spoken by the enemy shinobi standing over him.

"_Mizuki-sensei wants me dead? Why?"_

Zaku grinned and cranked his arm back; the kunai he held firmly clasped in his hand and pointed directly down at the blonde's head.

Naruto couldn't see it though. He was still drowning in despair and disbelief.

"_Because… I'm… the container of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox?"_

The Sound Genin thrust, lunging down at his target with the knife trained for a finishing blow and all of his weight put behind the strike.

In spite of the real life speed the entire situation was unfolding at, time seemed to slow to a crawl in Naruto's eyes.

Sudden realization and understanding had that effect on the human body.

"_That's why… everybody has been glaring at me… staying away from me… hating me…"_

The sound of the blade fast approaching rang out in the silence…

Naruto's eyes closed once more… loosely this time…

"_I'm… just a… demon… a demon that everybody hates… and treats like dirt… nothing more…"_

…

…

…

"_Are you okay… Naruto-kun?"_

…

"_W-Who is that…?"_

…

…

…

"_Y-Yim-chan?"_

…

…

"_You are very perceptive and welcoming; a character who acts on good intentions."_

…

"_Ran-chan?"_

…

…

…

"_I hope you do become Hokage someday, Naruto-kun."_

…

"_Shiho-chan?"_

…

…

"_I'm expecting great things from you in the future, do you hear me?"_

"_I-Iruka-sensei?"_

…

…

"_You know what I think? I think that you're a great guy, Naruto. Just ignore what those other idiots do or say about you. They're just idiots."_

"_Tenten-chan?"_

Naruto's eyes flew open…

_**SLASH!**_

A spray of blood flew through the air…

XXX

**A minute earlier…**

**Across Konoha…**

"My, he certainly was a very pleasant young man," Ran exclaimed happily, marching down the mildly busy road with a jug of sake hanging at her side. "I'm glad I was able to pay him back. It was worth it. Now I can concentrate on paying back my other debts."

The brown haired woman hummed a happy tune as she strolled along; with her bottle of alcohol swinging gently and her sword clicking against her belt in time with her every step. She knew she was heading in the direction of Naruto's home, having memorized many of the routes within the village since arriving as a means of making good progress on her walkabouts.

If you were going to live somewhere temporarily, know your way around. That's an important aspect of survival if not wellbeing.

"Let's see… uhh… left," the samurai mumbled, making a sharp turn and continuing down a new boulevard. The lights of the surrounding restaurants and stands marked her path, telling her that she was going the right way.

Naruto's place was outside of the _Entertainment District_ and at the far edge of the _East Residential Area._ She knew that when in doubt of her location that she could always follow the brightest lights; they were the main highways of the village leading to all four gates of Konohagakure. She had just turned off the northern road to head east, and could tell she was getting closer since the stores and stalls were gradually becoming sparse.

The buildings to her left turned into apartments over fruit stores, with Ran taking note of the familiar neon signs with every building she strode passed.

"First time I ever had to worry about where I was really going," Ran murmured absentmindedly.

"Hey! Ran-sensei!"

Blinking in surprise, the samurai stopped in her tracks and turned around. Much to her off guarded response, she saw Naruto running towards her from down the road, waving at her with a beaming smile on his face. Upon realizing who it was the samurai smiled as well and rotated to face the boy completely when he came to a screeching halt in front of her, kicking up dust when he hit the brakes.

It was to no great mystery why he wasn't catching his breath. She knew full well that he was simply a bundle of energy.

"Ah! I knew I would meet up with you sensei, dattebayo!"

"What's up kiddo?" Ran asked with a warm smile, "I thought you were home already."

"I was heading back, but then I decided to stop over at a friend's place for some play time!" the jinchuriki exclaimed happily while beaming. "I had loads of fun!"

"I'm sure you did," the woman replied, tilting her head, "So… are you coming home now or are you still in celebration mode?"

"Well… not really," the boy giggled, reaching for the back of his head and rubbing it sheepishly. Ran's eyes followed his arms as they moved while her smile remained in play. "I'm pooped and it's been a really long day. I think I'll head back home now and get some sleep."

"Very well then," Ran stated and shouldered her jug of sake. "I'll be right behind you." The boy nodded vigorously and marched on ahead, with the samurai woman following after him.

The pair stayed quiet as they trailed the road to the very end of the boulevard, passing by the last of the villagers within the district and turning off on a side road. They soon found themselves surrounded by hedgerows on both sides, marking the barriers of other properties and houses. It was a very peaceful neighborhood, more then what Ran could ask for in such a village.

The only sounds that could be heard anywhere nearby were the distant buzzing of crowds and the orchestras of crickets hiding away, and the only signs of life on these roads were the brief glimpses of cats darting in and out of sight. It was a very pleasant night.

However, as they were proceeding along at a comfortable pace, Ran suddenly slowed to a stop and lowered her sake bottle back down to her side.

Picking up on his friend's movements coming to a standstill, Naruto turned around to face her with his hands still behind his head. Spotting the woman's eyes overshadowed, the jinchuriki gave her a curious gaze, "What's up, sensei?"

There was a light 'thunk' of the sake bottle hitting the dirt floor, seconds before the samurai suddenly lunged towards the boy, hand on her sword and moving in a drawing motion. Naruto let out a yelp of surprise and leapt away, skidding along the ground feet away to a stop.

He acted fast.

However, when the youngster came to standstill himself, he quickly realized Ran had barely moved an inch from where she had deposited her sake bottle and that her hand was in fact hovering over the handle of her weapon, and not on it.

What had fooled Naruto into acting were a feint movement and a flash of bloodlust that produced an illusion of proximity.

It was nonlethal, but it still honestly scared the shit out of him.

"Ran-sensei? What are you doing all of a sudden?"

"Drop the act. I know you are not Naruto-kun," the woman stated calmly, her eyes locked onto the boy. "Who are you?"

"W-W-What are you talking about?" Naruto shouted, slapping his hands to his chest repeatedly in desperation, "I _am_ Naruto! It's me and only me! Stop making jokes, sensei…"

"Your forthcomings have failed to create that perfect illusion of confusion and innocence. You want to know why I know it's not you," Ran inquired, causing the youngster to stop shouting and look at her in bewilderment. The woman smiled. "Firstly, your height is a centimeter too tall. Secondly, Naruto-kun always refers to me as Ran-_chan_. And thirdly, I know that the real Naruto has bruises around his wrists from the excessive training he's been receiving from Yim-chan. Your wrists lack those distinctive markings."

The Naruto in front of her blinked several times in surprise. It was as though he was having trouble absorbing all of the information being given to him by the woman, much like how the original Naruto would act in a similar situation.

Seconds later though, there was an immediate change in the boy's persona when an uncharacteristic, sinister grin crossed his face and his eyes narrowed into arrows. This was unlike the usual jinchuriki's demeanor as he straightened up and brushed his right hand through the hair hanging over his goggles.

"So I've been found out…" The next thing Ran saw was the Naruto-look-a-like go up in a cloud of white smoke, the fumes vacating the vicinity immediately to reveal a tall man with purple garb, very light blue hair and rounded glasses. His finger gracefully brushed away the bangs hanging over his face and pushed the spectacles he wore further up his nose. "I could have sworn I had that down."

"Had you been paying attention to the boy's mannerisms a little more closely and the smaller details that make up his appearance, I'm confident you would have been able to pull off a more convincing disguise," the ronin replied, her tone set on serious. "However, there was one other aspect you failed to cover in your attempt to pull a fast one over me. The amount of killing intent wafting off of your person was so great I could smell it hanging in the air like smoke from a fire. That was your biggest blunder."

"Hmph. Too true. I guess you could say I'm a little bit nervous, is all," Kabuto chuckled, closing his eyes. "I failed. But that means all of those stories I've heard about you are true, Tsukikage Ran. You are indeed very sharp."

The samurai straightened up into a proper standing position. She was at least half a head higher than the man standing before her so in terms of physical presence and intimidation prowess, she was superior in that respect, "If you have business with me, simply approach me in the street. Do not try to impersonate a close companion of mine to try and get within casual distance of me. Actions like that will more than likely cost you your life."

"It's a practice I have mastered over years of being a shinobi," Kabuto exclaimed, placing his hands on his hips. "Try not to underestimate my skills though, Lady Ran. That's the first step to getting killed in a straight out fight."

"Very well then. Since now that we have established that you are a villain out for blood, what is it that I can do for you?" Ran asked, her eyebrows narrowing. "You obviously didn't go out of your way to imitate a friend of mine to get to know me in the conventional sense."

"No. Of course not," the young male replied, lowering his head a little. "In truth, I _do_ have important business I wish to discuss with you. I trust you are willing to trade one or two words with me for a couple of minutes."

"Depends on the topic," Ran frowned.

Kabuto smirked, "Oh, don't worry. I'm sure you will enjoy this conversation." He flicked his right hand out, a scalpel slipping into his grip. The samurai identified the weapon immediately and tightened her gaze on the boy, but remained steadfast in her place.

The blade was obvious, as was his intent to cause harm. But she wasn't worried.

"You're not only rude but it appears you are also violent," the female samurai stated, her hand bracing the sheath of her katana in preparation. "What a troublesome brat."

"I wish to test your abilities," the young male replied, his smirk widening and the malice in his eyes becoming that much more prominent. "You've defeated many powerful opponents in your time, many feats of which very few could pull off on their own. That will make you a very prestigious kill for anyone with the stomach to challenge you."

"So you're out to make a name for yourself, is that it?" Ran frowned. This was becoming incredibly petty. She had hoped that people would simply forget about her if she laid low for a while and carried on with her life, business as usual. However, the universe apparently had other plans for her, which kind of annoyed her. "Unfortunately for you, you have the wrong person."

"So I'm wrong, am I?" Kabuto tilted his head, "Are you not the Tsukikage Ran villagers far and wide talk about? The one who single-handedly brought down the Benitsubaki and Yakuza Gangs? The one who defeated Beninosuke and Junzaburo Shiina? Are these tales of your fearful abilities just one big lie?"

"Does it matter whether or not those stories are true?" Ran shrugged, a small smile gracing her lips. "Who knows? Yes. Maybe I am the one you speak of in those stories. Maybe I am a slayer of man, whose very power behind a blade frightens the most skilled of warriors and illustrious of criminals. Or… maybe I'm not. Maybe I'm not the person you're talking about. Maybe I'm just an enchanting drifter, a nobody, a woman with no name, a humble wanderer who just carries a sword for show. Either way, it doesn't matter one way or another."

Kabuto frowned deeply at her response.

The woman was awfully obscured. Actually, enigmatic didn't seem like the right word to describe her right now.

She actually seemed more stubborn then cryptic, nothing like the graceful samurai who was said to have felled warriors with a single strike.

Of course, he could just be delving into his observations a little too deeply. His assessments of her abilities so far have been partially fruitful up to this point.

Then again, she could just be trying to throw him off.

"Perhaps it will start mattering to you once I open up this little engagement of ours," Kabuto suggested, the scalpel flashing between his fingers. "You'd better start hoping that you _are_ the woman samurai from those stories, otherwise this is going to hurt more than it's supposed to."

Ran furrowed her brow, watching as the young male in front of her suddenly crouched low and leapt at her. He sprinted down the open path with seemingly boundless speed; quickly covering the ground laid out before him in seconds and lunging with a shout. The sharp knife in his grip cut crisply through the air in a stabbing motion, alerting the target to the threat.

His movements and aggressiveness forced the wandering samurai to step back a pace, since he was actually quite light on his feet. But this came as no surprise to the ronin. Through heightened senses of awareness, she was easily able to see through his actions.

All of a sudden, in the middle of his attack, Ran stepped forward into his strike, wrapping an arm around his extended one and taking hold of the forearm. With her shoulder, she turned into his body and knocked his left hand away at the wrist when it flew in from a blind spot.

That palm was glowing blue, a sight she made sure to stay well away from.

Plowing further in, she tripped her attacker up and effortlessly tossed him over her shoulder. Kabuto let out a shout of surprise when his opponent drove him into the road wrist first, shattering his scalpel, disarming him and breaking his arm all at once. Wincing on the heavy impact, the throw was continued as he was sent tumbling across the ground. The stun of the counter was unbelievable, but it didn't take long for the young man to regain his bearings and skid to a halt on all fours several feet away from his landing point.

Assuming a crouched position, Kabuto glared up at the ronin staring down at him from her spot, their positions reversed. Ran stood proudly and unfazed where she was, whereas her opponent was kneeling on the hard road with his right hand dangling limply at his side.

Aware of the damage, the spy sweating bullets took a hold of his broken wrist with his left hand. Pumping chakra into his usable limb his palm and fingers started glowing again, only this time the aura was green and not blue. All the while he kept careful watch of the samurai in front of him, "You can't deny it now. You _are_ her."

"I care little about trivial stories such as those. When you travel the world in pursuit of great sake, things like that are just extra weight," Ran murmured, eyes narrowed. "You should give up now. All you're doing is chasing a ghost."

"Maybe so, but I'm not going to give up. Not while there's still life left in me and time to spare," Kabuto continued, his smile returning to his face in spite of his condition. His words, however courageous they were, caused the samurai listening in to flinch, who managed to catch something amiss in his statements and by how he expressed them. "You're strong. But I can assure you now that in spite of all your strengths and skills, you will become nothing more than second rate at the end of this. You can count on that."

Ran frowned even deeper, her eyes overshadowing. "I can see that you're putting a lot of effort into keeping me from continuing on to my destination, even going so far as to sacrifice your body heedlessly. All of your talking seems more like stalling then actual provocation. What is it that you're hiding from me?"

Kabuto grinned, "Something up ahead that was originally not your concern…"

Ran's eyes visibly widened, but the rest of her expression remained unchanged, _"Naruto!"_

XXX

**Meanwhile…**

Zaku's eyes widened when he felt his knuckles become locked up in a vice-like grip, keeping both himself and the kunai he held in his extended arm from moving an inch.

The whole thing happened so fast. There was no way he could have accounted for what had just taken place.

What his first and only occurring thoughts were was that his final attack was to be a simple, clean hit. No fight, no fuss, no sound; just a straight shot to the back of the head with the blade to put his target out of his misery. Hell, the blonde had been incapable of movement. He was a sitting duck! Everything was going exactly as planned thanks to his teammate's efforts! It was a sure kill!

Right up to the point when a hand shot up out of nowhere and caught his fist in mid-descent.

Dosu and Kin stood flabbergasted and eyes widened.

"W-What the?" the kunoichi coughed.

"That's… there's just no way!" the team leader murmured.

"Huh? What? Gargh!" Zaku shouted, trying to push his kunai through by force. "H-How in the…"

It was just beyond comprehension.

It was all there! The knife, the thrust, the timing and the victim! There had been a spray of blood caused by the kunai he wielded cutting through flesh. that was for certain. However, the sight wasn't in the amounts he had been expecting them to be in. No.

In the face of all odds and against the impossible, their broken, stricken and wounded target had managed to catch the kunai and literally stop it from ending his life. Even though he had been brought down to the point he should have been unable to budge an inch, the jinchuriki had defied all of the damage inflicted upon his body to spit in the face of death.

Still curled over and on his knees, Naruto held the attacking boy's hand firmly in place. Head lowered and face hidden from sight, tremors ran up both oppositions' limbs as one held the defensive while the other attempted to drive home his blade.

Unfortunately, Zaku couldn't move.

"How? How are you still able to maintain this level of strength?" the teen growled, now attempting to free his fist by pulling it away from his target after failing to push through. "L-Let go of me!"

When he had made the attack, Zaku struck downwards with the blade in a forward facing grip. It was supposed to be a quick jab with little resistance. However, when the jinchuriki caught the fist out of pure reflex, the kunai had managed to slip between his index and middle fingers while at the same time cutting the webbing of his hand.

Blood had been drawn from the catch, but the blonde had nevertheless prevented the attack from following through and was currently holding onto the hand struggling to twist out of his grip with all his might.

But, as Zaku was soon to find out, Naruto still had much more _might_ to give.

The jinchuriki's grip tightened around the enemy's knuckles. It tightened so much in fact that the Sound Genin felt his fingers pop even while they were in a locked-fist position. He winced and pulled even harder against the blonde, grabbing his own wrist with his free hand for extra leverage.

"OW! DAMMIT! LET ME GO!" Zaku yelled, his feet digging into the lawn. In spite of the added traction though, his target wasn't letting up. "Y-YOU BRAT! LET GO OF MY HAND!"

Struggling as hard as he could to free himself, even resorting to punching the hand and arm of his opponent, Zaku glared angrily down at the kid slowly crushing his fist into dust. When he did, he saw Naruto's head and body rise up.

The jinchuriki's face revealed itself from underneath his wild locks of hair, unveiling an expression cast over with shadow and what the Sound Genin first perceived as pure rage.

Zaku's expression became one of fear when he caught a long glimpse of the boy's eyes underneath his fringe.

They were their usual blue, yes. However, the color in them had sharpened somewhat, as if they had their own aura about them. To top it half a glimmer of green could be seen burning deeply at the back of his pupils, as if all his rage and killing intent was focused solely on the boy who had tried to end his life so readily.

If one could read inside of Naruto's mind at that very moment, they would know that he would not be letting this ill intent upon him pass.

He was gonna raise hell and bring it crashing back down to earth, and he was gonna start with the son of a bitch in front of him.

Naruto's grip tightened to its utmost, a cracking sound coming from Zaku's popping knuckles around the kunai he still held. The teen yelped in pain and leant back.

That was all that was needed for the jinchuriki to make his move.

"Let go?" Naruto growled, his left hand pulling Zaku down towards him. At the exact same time, his legs tightened and the blonde shot straight up, his right fist following after him. With his teeth bared and fists clenching to their tightest, you could see the fire raging on inside his eyes. "NOT UNTIL I BREAK YOU, YOU BASTARD!"

All Zaku saw was a blur and all he felt a split second later was blinding pain.

With the full power of his body behind his right fist, Naruto sent it straight into Zaku's stomach without contest. Because he was still holding him in place with his left hand, in addition to yanking him into an extremely close-range, which was ideal for his _Spring Chant_ form, the jinchuriki felt that he could completely open up with his full strength without fear of repercussions. His fist rotated slightly and sharply when it made impact, grinding into the other boy's body while continuing forward with the momentum behind the hit itself. The force generated by the punch alone echoed throughout the entire area in the form of a deafening thud.

But that earthshaking thump wasn't the only thing that filled the air.

Dosu and Kin visibly cringed when the distinctive sounds of loud crunching reached their ears. Whether it was a crack or a crunch they weren't entirely sure. What they did know though, was that that epic blow must have hurt like hell.

Zuko's face puffed up at the cheeks when all of the air inside of his body was quite literally pushed out all at once. It wasn't just that though. The bolts of pain shooting through his entire skeletal structure could not go on ignored.

"_I…I can't believe it! He was on his knees and he still had that much strength in him! What power! He just broke three ribs!"_

The Genin's mouth flew open in a gasp, a spray of saliva and blood flying through the air.

The jinchuriki had hit just below the right pectoral right where the ribcage was. Had it been behind the ribcage that blow would have ruptured the liver, but he wasn't in the ideal position to administer the hit correctly. Nevertheless, it still had enough power behind it to break the bones holding the boy's organs in place.

Naruto watched his opponent keel over from the rupturing blow and withdrew his fist, making sure to stay on guard. At the same time, he released his opponent's hand, allowing him to stagger back and regain whatever breath he lost from the attack.

It quickly became clear that the teen did not take hits very well, and what a hit it was. Zaku stumbled back to his two comrades, both arms crossed over the area of infliction with drool and blood dripping freely from his mouth.

Gasping for air, Zaku lost all strength in his legs and collapsed to the ground.

Seeing him fall, his teammates arrived at his flanks for support.

"Zaku!"

"Are you alright?" Dosu asked, not just concerned for his teammate but for their overall wellbeing. That punch was completely unexpected, and from his point of view, it meant only one thing…

Zaku panted heavily, his breathing ragged and spit still dribbling from his lips. Shaking his head, the Sound Genin glared up, eyes locking onto the blonde who had assumed a very narrow stance; dominant foot forward with his right held further then the left, open-palmed.

The sight of the jinchuriki on his feet was incredibly discomforting to all three of them.

"He took Kin's _Illusion Needle Bell Technique_, survived my _Decapitating Airwaves_, and completely shook off a direct hit from your _Resonating Echo Drill_," Zaku choked, his whole body trembling in both shock and pain. At this point all three members of Team Dosu had their eyes locked onto the boy, who was planted in a towering and confronting stance. "Is this brat… even human?"

Dosu furrowed his brow, whereas Zaku and Kin continued to fret over their target, "A partial recovery from the initial attacks I expected. However, a complete recovery after a second assault… I am curious." The bandaged teen rose to his full height, glaring down the individual who was giving them a cold expression of his own. Naruto was ready for a fight, they could all see it. "How did you manage to shake off my technique? Your limbs should have felt like they were being held down by blocks of lead and even if you could stand, it would have been like you were standing on a surface made of jelly."

Naruto continued to stare knives into them.

Nobody said a word for the next few seconds, with the only sounds present in the area being the labored breathings of Zaku and the crumbling of tiles from the nearby rooftop. However, after a long exchange of death glares and silent treatments, the jinchuriki broke the ice with a casual smile. All killing intent on his face vanished with the moment, leaving him in just his _Spring Chant_ fighting stance.

"It's the most painful experiences in your life you never forget," Naruto replied with a grin, his words unwavering. _"How can I forget?"_

OOO

_**Flashback…**_

"_Concentrate your chi to your head, it will create the illusion in your body that you are standing upright," Yim instructed, seeing the boy's face slowly turning red again from all the blood rushing in the wrong direction. She didn't want him to pass out, which was why she taught him the basics of chi grasping and manipulating beforehand in order for him to avoid health problems in these exercises._

_It was a good thing she did too._

_He had been in this head standing position for over two hours now._

_The chi redirection through the body helped create a gravity shift and rotation at the person's core, meaning that the blood would be pumped regularly and be evenly distributed throughout._

_That still didn't mean he didn't have to work excruciatingly hard to simulate and maintain this effect. It was ridiculously exhausting._

"_Five more minutes…"_

"_YOU SAID THAT HALF AN HOUR AGO!" the boy screamed._

_**End Flashback…**_

OOO

"Thank you, Yim-chan!" Naruto grinned. _"I'd be dead now if it wasn't for your training!"_

"Hmm? What was that?" Dosu queried, stepping forward. "You're not making any sense. 'Painful experiences in your life?' What does that mean?"

Fantastic; using the time they had on hand to ask him questions that didn't really go anywhere. Though he didn't feel like divulging any information to the three of them since they were obviously out to kill him, Naruto was using whatever time they could spare him to catch his breath.

It was the damage from the attack that had blasted him out of his apartment that was his current problem. The jinchuriki had two busted ribs and a broken shoulder, and he was pretty sure he could insert a messed up ankle to that list. If there were any other broken bones he hadn't accounted for, he could add them on later.

It didn't take him much to admit that he was currently feigning indifference to the damage he had suffered at their hands, yet he was doing a pretty good job so far. Even though he had managed to counteract against the effects of the last attack that had crippled his sense of stability temporarily, he was still incredibly shaken up from both the attacks to his inner ear and outer body.

"_That guy with the gauntlet upset my balance with his sound technique," _Naruto thought, furrowing his brow as he summarized the jutsu and countermeasures he had activated in his head. _"He said it used the vibrations it produced to attack the ear, making it a physical attack and not a mental one. That's good. If it's physical then by channeling the chi through my body in the correct manner I can stabilize myself and reestablish the natural equilibrium of my form, rendering his attack useless."_ The blonde then blinked when he realized what he was actually contemplating on and frowned. "Wait… what did I just say?"

"Huh?" Kin murmured. "Are you talking to us?"

"No! I'm not talking to you! I'm talking to myself," Naruto shouted back, clearly addressing the three of them. He then shook his head and went back to quiet meditation. _"The guy who looks like an idiot and talks like an idiot is bound to be an idiot, or it could be he's just saying the wrong things at the wrong time. Tsk… I should really learn when and when not to run my mouth."_ The blonde then frowned even deeper, developing a tick mark on his forehead. "Great. Now I'm using myself as an example for stupidity." He slapped himself across the face. _"Stop thinking that shit! It'll only get worse!"_ Another slap. "How can it get worse?" Slap. _"STOP IT!"_

His constantly changing expressions and the way he went about resolving his inner debate brought sweat drops to Dosu, Kin and Zaku. The trio, now back on their feet, was staring oddly at the boy who they were supposed to be killing. However, the performance they were now witnessing sort of distracted them from their task, long enough for it to turn from strange to downright disturbing.

In all their years of living in the ass-smelling basement that was the _Village Hidden in the Sound_, they could honestly say they had never met a stranger person in their lives and a person around their age group no less.

"_What an unusual runt,"_ Kin thought, her eyes narrowing even further after watching him slap himself a couple more times.

"_He may act strange, but that doesn't make him any less of a threat,"_ Dosu thought, his sour expression becoming dead serious once again. His eyes overshadowed as he looked upon the boy standing in front of them, which happened to be the most troubling part about this entire gig. _"We've thrown everything we've got at him and he's still on his feet. He should be paralyzed from the number of attacks he has taken to the ears. How is it that he's not down?"_

Tiring of the one-man show, Dosu lowered his head and brought out his right arm, his gauntlet making its second appearance of the night. The sight of the weapon remerging from underneath the incredibly long sleeve had Naruto stop hitting his face long enough for him to focus his attention entirely on the ruthless threesome standing before him.

The curtain of bloodlust fell over the _Sound Genin_ once more, with the three of them lined up and looking incredibly intimidating under the shadow of the moon.

"Don't mistake our patience for conceding defeat. We still have a job to do here and we aim to complete it," Dosu stated, his dominant arm flexing and clicking against his hidden weapon. "I don't know how you managed to shake off my strongest technique, but judging from your present condition I can imagine that you have the innate ability to do so consecutively. You are a most troubling target."

Blinking, Naruto then reached up and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Well… uhh… I don't mean to be…"

The three of them face-faulted.

A second later the trio was back up on their feet, with Zaku fuming and batting grass off of his shoulders. The teen angrily pointed at the grinning blonde, "This guy really is just a grade-A moron! How is he not dead yet?"

"His consciousness is probably attributed to his lack of a brain," Kin murmured, rubbing her eye tiredly.

Dosu frowned deeply, dropping into a wide stance. With his arms lowered, he swayed from side-to-side, obviously preparing himself for a more direct confrontation. Naruto noticed his teammates fall in line with him, each of them assuming a different fighting stance.

As much as he would have loved to figure out what their primary fighting styles were, the jinchuriki realized that he sort of still had a bit of a problem right now.

It was three-on-one, and he had no idea what to do at this point.

He figured this was where his academy basics came into play.

There was the option of running, but he hypothesized that if he attempted to do so he'd probably get cut down by these three if he turned his back to them, even for a moment. _Never turn your back on an opponent._ That was one of his highest standing rules. He also wasn't sure how far his body would actually carry him if he did try to make a break for it. With all the damage he had taken already, he felt that he might unexpectedly collapse after the first several yards.

Calling for help was also out of the question. He knew for certain that most of his neighborhood was deserted mostly thanks to his presence. It wasn't like it was his choice, everybody left to get away from _him_.

There was also the thought of sending up a couple of signal flares or setting off some explosive tags to get attention. Unfortunately though, he had left all of his equipment up in his apartment when he stepped through the door and since the backyard staircase was destroyed he couldn't get back up there. If he tried then he would most likely be attacked from behind by these guys.

Subtly, he attempted to make hand seals to create clones. They could probably run in his place or fight for him, while he went and got help. But his body was still too shaken up and his attempts to weave seals failed. He couldn't concentrate.

"_Dammit! My chakra is agitated. I have to rely on chi then."_

Weighing up all of his options, especially the important factor that he was cornered, there was only one other thing he could do.

"_I guess… I just defend myself,"_ Naruto shook his head and reassumed his _Spring Chant_ stance. At the same time beads of sweat continued rolling down the side of his face. _"These are the first enemy ninja I've ever fought against and am still fighting. This is nothing like what I expected my first combat experience to be like. I mean…"_ His eyes glanced from left to right briefly, before locking back onto his targets, _"I'm in my backyard."_

"We'll finish this the conventional way then," Dosu exclaimed, still swaying on the spot with a narrowed gaze. "Zaku, Kin, keep your techniques confined to this space. He seems to be the type to favor taijutsu, so we tackle him from all sides and overwhelm him at once."

"Heh. No problem," Zaku grinned, flexing the fingers of his extended right hand as he remained planted in a wide-stance of his own. "I could do this with one arm tied behind my back."

"I'm ready. Let's do this," Kin also stated confidently, left hand held forward and fingers extended loosely.

Naruto frowned as he glared between his opponents. They had broken up their formation a little and were warming up for the confrontation. Even after his astonishing recovery and retaliation, the trio had the right state of mind to know not to simply rush in and end it quickly. They were smart.

This also meant that they have come to recognize his level of strength and knew they had to take him on seriously.

Honestly though, the jinchuriki was hoping that they wouldn't.

If they were disorganized he knew he at least had a sporting chance in terms of fighting against stacked odds. He didn't know how well they fought up close, but looking back on their abilities displayed so far, they were good. The three of them together…

Things weren't looking so great for him.

Nevertheless, he was going to give it his best shot, even if he did end up being killed tonight.

Naruto's form remained relaxed yet his expression remained hardened, _"I'll destroy their rhythm and force them to attack in desperation! When they come at me I'll take them on one by one! That'll shake them up!"_ He gritted his teeth and switched the dominance of his stance, extending his left and then his right. His open palms transformed into fists, _"I'm not going to die! Not tonight! Kyuubi or not, I promised everyone that I would become Hokage!"_

Without so much as a warning all three Sound Genin charged at him. They kicked off of the ground hard and fast, and went at the boy down the center line while making sure to cover their flanks. With Zaku in the middle, the boy headed the attack with a wide grin on his face and a roar as his right fist hooked over from behind.

Completely corked up the attack came flying down at Naruto from up high in a chopping punch.

This was exactly what the jinchuriki wanted to see. A guard breaker from the start.

The spiky haired mischief maker smiled under the shadow cast by his hair…

Stepping forward and closing the distance too soon for his opponent, Naruto placed himself in an advantageous position for his style to be executed. He redirected the right punch that cut across at him, simultaneously aiming the same liver blow he launched before at Zaku's broken ribs. That swift, left body shot was all that was needed to lift the other boy off of the ground and send him flying back, winded and eyes widened in shock.

Upon dispatching the forward attacker, Naruto stepped right and front-kicked Kin swinging around on his flank, hitting her square in the breastbone and knocking her back just as he did with her partner. The immediate attackers gone, the boy then backed away swiftly when the team leader came in, allowing him to fully concentrate on the one.

Dosu's attacks were quick.

His footwork carrying him for the opening of the fight, Naruto retreated further and further, with Dosu trying to close the distance and land at least one hit on his target. He threw a roundhouse kick, which he spun back around from with a series of hooks followed by a straight. The jinchuriki redirected the kick, ducked and backed away from the hooks, and parried the right his opponent followed up with. He then stepped in when Dosu threw a guard-breaking hook with his left, the sudden proximity shocking the bandaged teen when he saw Naruto's eyes come right up in front of his own.

The jinchuriki locked up the boy's arm and physically pushed him back, the back of his palm pressed up against Dosu's neck. Unable to stop, the enemy teen became frustrated and with a low growl, tried to push the nuisance off of him. Naruto knocked both his retaliatory arms down, dodging a wild uppercut and ducking the hook that followed up. The team leader then tried opening up striking distance again, throwing a jab, but Naruto redirected it towards his own chest and trapped the arm there with his forearm keeping it in place and ceasing his movements.

Dosu cut at him with his gauntlet arm in a hook, which Naruto reacted to and caught with ease. The jinchuriki then began a disorientating finisher, swiftly striking the boy at the neck from his locked position with his right, followed up by swift and powerful chain punches from the stomach up. The lightning fast hits knocked the bandaged teen staggering back, who was then struck under the chin by two hands thrown up by his opponent, who purposefully angled him for the finally.

Naruto grabbed Dosu by his forearms after damaging his balance, pulling him back in and swinging into his chest with a right elbow. That quick shot landed heavily and winded his target, before the jinchuriki ended with a double palm strike to the boy's chest, throwing him through the air and to the ground. The Genin landed with an uncontrolled and earsplitting thud.

At the closing of the engagement, Naruto stepped away into a defensive stance with his fists extended, looking down at the damage he had managed to inflict in turn for his own.

Zaku, Dosu and Kin quite literally had the air knocked out of all of them.

From their positions on the ground, they were staring up at their target with looks of pure shock and awe on their faces.

"W-Where the hell… did that come from?" Kin coughed out, stunned.

"Mizuki said that this kid would be tough. He didn't exactly specify _how_ tough," Zaku blinked, trying to shake himself back into the moment. "What's going on here?"

Dosu furrowed his brow in frustration. In the last few seconds, things have just become even more complicated for them, "This kid is much stronger than he looks." He watched the boy remain planted where he was, giving the three of them the death stare. The team leader grinded his teeth angrily, _"It doesn't make any sense. The mission specs all concluded that with our combined skill set the target would be an easy one to dispatch. His defenses are supposed to be weak. However, that cocky spy Mizuki did not properly account the boy's overall capabilities. He's got to be a genius of some kind."_

Looking over the stance the boy was using, Dosu didn't know what to expect. He was using moves and techniques he had never encountered before. Every other opponent they had come across always used wide power hits, nothing like the compact and narrow attacks this one was using. He knew which way to guard and how to disable their attacks in mid-thrust.

"_He's dangerous up close. We can't get trapped in his reach!"_Dosu glared over at his kunoichi teammate, who was glaring at their target with the same look of worry etched across her face. "KIN!"

"Right!" the girl shouted in response, reaching behind her and suddenly throwing her arm out. There were simultaneous thin flashes of light accompanied by a shallow chime that filled the air.

Naruto's eyes widened when he realized what was being thrown, _"Eh? Senbon!"_

He backed up, watching in slow motion as the barrage of needles all flew at him in one big cloud. There were about a dozen of them and they were all trained on him, blocking off all of his escape routes high and low. His expression widened into one of shock when he instantaneously summed up his situation right then and there.

"_My body's too damaged for any drastic movements! I can't dodge them!"_

Kin smirked, catching the distressed look on his face,_ "Got yah!"_

Senbon were mostly used for medicine and were not an entirely good supplement for kunai. However, in the hands of the right user they had the potential of being turned into deadly weapons. His opponent definitely seemed to know what she was doing and how to use them.

However…

Eyes sharpening suddenly, Naruto turned his right shoulder in and bravely covered his face with his right arm. He clenched his teeth and shut his eyes, completely exposing himself to the attack. The moment he did so, he was faced with an immediate and brief stinging sensation as the wave of projectiles sailed right by and into him. The shocking ordeal ended seconds later…

…

Well… it certainly went down smoother then he had earlier anticipated, even though it hurt like a son-of-a-bitch.

He turned his own body into a pin-cushion, choosing to take the blow rather than risk a duck, dodge or parry a second time.

"What!" Zaku shouted, seeing their target quite literally withstand the entire barrage through his shoulder.

From over his guard, Naruto glared at his opponents, spotting their stunned expressions.

The leader of the team however smirked moments upon witnessing the boy's response. The way he defended himself, and how he was currently standing and conveying his brave expression gave Dosu more answers then he could possibly get from asking for them, _"I knew it. Even after his recovery he can't move all that well yet. That's why he's fighting in such a narrow stance. He's not going to waste whatever energy he has left through excessive movements. We've got him." _He turned back towards Kin with a smirk, "Again! Don't let up!"

"Okay!" Kin shouted, reaching for her pouch for a second time.

However, Naruto wasn't going to give her that second time.

He had to counter to prevent her from inflicting any more damage on his person, so he quickly hatched a plan. Once again inspired from his training and observations, he dropped down to his knee the same time the kunoichi reached for her pouch, having read her movements from the get go. As soon as he did, he threw his counter at her in the form of a stone. The rock shot through the air like a kunai fired by a bow and struck the girl in the palm when her hand arced into view.

The kunoichi let out a yelp of pain at the sudden impact, the blow forcing her to relinquish her weapons and scatter them all over the ground. Gripping the newly forming bruise, Kin glared angrily up at the boy glaring back at her from _his_ kneeling position.

She knew she was marked, "Fucking smart ass. He can think on his feet!"

Dosu tilted his head in thought, _"So… he can come up with a counter after seeing the attack only once. Adapting to the immediate situation, eh? His response time is amazingly quick."_

"Gah! Fuck this fighting from a distance! I'm taking him down now!" Zaku roared, immediately throwing himself back onto his feet and at his opponent. He didn't care if his ribs were screwed up; he was still going to get the kid for that.

Kin followed after him the moment she saw him make his move, "Wait… not so fast, Zaku!" she shouted, "You saw what he did before!"

Her words fell on deaf ears.

As soon as Zaku attempted to open up an engagement, Naruto stepped in to face him and sent a straight kick into his forward thigh. His landing leg buckled and he staggered back from the hit, which Naruto counted on in order to face Kin who came in a split second later. The girl threw wild attacks at his head and chest one after the other, shouting with every punch and kick executed. However, the jinchuriki managed to redirect and avoid every attempt she made to hit him, making sure to keep two paces ahead of her.

After her punches were thrown off, Kin swung in with a wide hook. The jinchuriki countered swiftly, striking her in the shoulder with the back of his left palm and disabling the attack in mid-throw, before stepping in and hitting her square in the chest with a right palm strike. That sent her flying back at her teammate still stumbling close behind her.

Zaku was about to resume his attack on their target upon recovery, only to unexpectedly catch his flying teammate full on in the chest. The result was a domino effect, with both of them being thrown back several feet and away from the blonde. Dosu remained safely at the rear, watching the blonde's movements closely for an opening of some kind.

Both attackers crashed into the lawn next to their team leader, with the first to charge in pushing the girl off and rubbing his ribs. Getting hit like that was starting to become really irritating.

With her teammates pretty much useless in this instance, one of which was doing nothing but standing around while the other one had been used as an impact cushion, she decided to carry on the fight herself.

Even though the reengagement had been an utter failure, Kin noticed they had accomplished one other thing.

They had changed the boy's direction of focus, having coaxed him into close quarters and left him on guard. His current stance meant that the blonde was guarding high again.

"_He'd exert too much effort crouching quickly to counter!" _Kin gritted her teeth, assuming a kneeling position on the lawn directly in front of Zaku. _"Now!"_ She threw a third barrage of senbon, her movements unimpeded this time.

Naruto backed away in response, baring his teeth. _"Shit! Not another wave!"_

The needles were fast approaching.

He slapped his hands together, forcing himself to form the correct seals above the protests made by his limbs. The kunoichi he was fighting was proving to be more of a threat to him than the other two right now, so his primary objective was to take her out of the fight as quickly as he could. But first he had to stop her attack. _"Please… just give me this one! Please!"_

With the seals formed and his chakra lined up, Naruto gunned his technique…

And in the nick of time too…

"_Kawarimi no Jutsu!"_

His body became enveloped in a cloud of white smoke, which cleared up a split second later to reveal a large log hovering in his place. The senbon peppered the large chunk of tree in one go, while consequently causing no damage to the jinchuriki who had executed the substitution jutsu in the first place. The user of the jutsu himself was standing directly behind the hovering log, glaring around it and directly at the kunoichi who had attacked him.

Kin blinked, "What?"

"_They know I can't move too much, otherwise I'd risk wasting the energy I have left. They're constantly switching from close range to long range to throw me off. I need to drag this fight out as long as I can!"_ Naruto furrowed his brow, the whole world still moving in slow motion as he thought up his next course of action. The senbon covered log in front of him began falling towards the ground. _"If they're switching to long range they must be thinking they're safe from my fists. Heh… they're in for a big surprise. In a fight between shinobi, __**nowhere**__ is safe."_ His fists clenched tightly. _"I'll give them a taste of the Uzumaki Special Delivery: Version 2!"_

Grunting, Naruto stepped forward with his right and spun on the spot. In one fluent motion and with a loud yell of effort, the jinchuriki side-kicked the falling log with full force and sent it hurling towards the kunoichi. "Take this!"

Zaku managed to dive out of the way of the incoming projectile, but the kneeling Kin wasn't able to respond in time to the giant piece of timber flying at her like a throwing knife. Dodging shuriken was easy, but dodging a chunk of wood several times their size was something else.

"Shit!" She crossed her arms over her face and braced herself. The brace came a second too late though when the log suddenly slammed into her at full speed and sent them both flying across the lawn towards the perimeter fence on the other side.

The impact was heavy, both the kunoichi and the log propelling her through the air smashing into the solid barrier with a loud 'bang.' The timber fence collapsed in on itself when Kin vanished in a cloud of dust and debris, her teammates Dosu and Zaku looking behind them in astonishment. The wall of fumes that filled the air and expanded dissipated following the epic crash, revealing nothing more than an even more ruined backyard and the kunoichi lying painfully sprawled out over the remains of the fence.

She looked pretty messed up.

Blood dripping from her mouth, torn clothes, and covered in splinters and scars, Kin was either dead or unconscious.

"Fuck!" Zaku spun around and glared hatefully at the blonde who had taken out their third member. The boy had his leg still extended from that bolted hit, which he then lowered and returned to his narrow fighting stance. "He doesn't have much left in him but his insane strength is still all there."

Naruto glared back at them. In that battered and bruised state of his, he already looked like a battle hardened shinobi rather than the recently graduated small fry he actually was.

From the fight that had been going on so far, both Dosu and Zaku could only ask one question…

"_Who the hell is this guy's teacher?"_

XXX

**Meanwhile…**

**Elsewhere…**

"Awww… you're so adorable."

That was the inarguable voice belonging to one Yim Wing-Chun coming from the depths of a random alleyway somewhere in the middle of _Konohagakure_.

Crouched beside a couple of bins with an empty cardboard box sitting next to her, the foreign martial artist sat quietly and smiled down at the little kitten she had found sitting at the side of the road meowing at the passing traffic.

She had been on her way home from the groceries with hands full of food and supplies, in a bit of a rush due to her intention of treating her student and friend to some of her homemade fried rice to conclude his day of celebrations. However, while passing by a twenty-four hour deli near the entertainment district, she had become distracted from her intended route by the pair of eyes belonging to the little critter now sitting in front of her, peering at her from inside the box by the dumpsters. Discovering it to be the kitten, she gently nudged the box further down the alley and, using a plastic dish she had on hand, poured it a bowl of cream.

All of these events lead up to her present situation. Smiling gently and with her arms comfortably situated across her thighs, she kept a careful eye on the little tike as he drank his fill.

She then petted him gently, feeling it purr under her touch, "Why are you all by yourself? Poor little guy."

The cat moved into her hand, finding comfort in her touch. It then sat back and meowed, gazing up at the stranger who had helped him.

Yim smiled while looking him over. He was a young, ginger, domestic short-haired cat. He had a very fine coat with a darker orange patch on top and a lighter patch on the bottom, was incredibly friendly, cute, and looked quite healthy. He wasn't fussy, was incredibly patient, and didn't try to run from her.

In spite of all of the young animal's perfections Yim couldn't help but ask why somebody would just leave such an adorable kitten out in the cold like this.

She rubbed his head again and moved the dish forward, the tike going back to his meal.

"Hey, if you're all alone out here, why don't you come along with me? I'm sure Naruto-kun could use the extra company, and it's nice and warm over at his place," Yim exclaimed, stroking the kitten's back. "What do you say?"

The cat replied some time later, looking up, licking its chops and meowing sweetly.

Yim giggled, "Okay then. But behave yourself. I don't like being scratched." Who liked being scratched? A troublesome blonde was enough to deal with. She didn't need another mischief maker on her hands.

The cat seemed to understand her enough not to make any complaints. He carried on eating.

While she continued to nurse the cat and watch over him, there was a moment of silence to fall over the area. In the midst of her affections Yim unexpectedly felt a sharp chill run down her spine, followed by a secondary sensation. The woman looked up and glanced to her side sharply, looking extremely alarmed, _"What was that?"_

It was like an electric shock running from one side of her head to the other, a very distinctive feeling only she was familiar with.

The reality was that her sixth sense was reacting to the chi of another, and it was from that brief feeling alone that she was able to tell that the chi on the transmitting end was fluctuating. That was not necessarily a good thing.

She double-checked, turning her head East so to get a better lock.

…

It was coming all the way from Naruto's apartment.

Scrutinizing her gaze, she attempted to assess the feeling from her distance to the target. Over the past few weeks she had made it a point to memorize every chi signature in the village that she could, particularly her student's. She had already become quite in touch with the rest of _Konohagakure_, but because it was so vast it was still a bit difficult to narrow down specific ones. This was so much easier for her back home. Naruto's was the only chi signature that stuck out because he had been using it excessively during his training.

Right now, this was one of those instances where it felt like he was training.

However, something was off.

Unlike those times that he was training his chi was currently registering at a much higher degree and was running on overdrive.

It was like he was being forced to hold it at that level…

Yim's eyes widened when she localized the area and made out three other chi signatures surrounding Naruto's. One of them was uncomfortably low, the other two were pretty normal, but all in all, the other three chi signatures were unfamiliar.

"_Dammit!"_ Yim shouted. She picked up the cat, placed it in her robes, picked up her groceries, and made a fast run towards the apartment. _"Don't you dare die on me now, Naruto!"_

XXX

**Back at the apartment…**

The battle restarted immediately.

With fists balled and seething to the brim, Zaku charged at Naruto all by his lonesome, "You're mine!"

Dosu decided to hang back and let his teammate vent some steam, not only for the other boy's benefit but for his own. The team leader wisely chose to observe the fight and use the opportunity he had on hand to try and locate a chink in the jinchuriki's defenses, rather than risk his own body finding out for himself. It was a sacrificial tactic, but it needed to be done.

Naruto leapt back, avoiding the wide chopping punch the boy threw at him. With that retreat and gauged distance made, the blonde started hopping on the spot. His feet kept him mobile as he skipped from left to right, with the stance and style he was previously using changing entirely.

In order to stay ahead of his opponent and counter the blunt force he was now exerting, the jinchuriki set a new rhythm to the fight, all the while making sure to keep his own energy expenditure low. His opponent caught onto this change in his pace but saw it as nothing more than a change of direction in his patterns.

The Sound Genin rushed at him again, "Come here!"

Naruto grinned, "Gladly!" The blonde lunged at his opponent sharply. _"I'll let my Blocking Fist Style concentrate on offensive. I'll take him out quickly!"_

The blonde dodged to his right to avoid another straight, backing away quickly and ducking the hook that followed. Due to his opponent's step by step movements, Naruto was able to pick up on the rhythm he was using, and struck through the gap provided following the wide swing. With his guard lowered, the jinchuriki roundhouse kicked the boy with his right, striking him behind the shoulder, before flicking up into his head with the same leg swiftly.

The two kicks that made contact shook Zaku up, causing him to stagger to the side. His drop in defenses then allowed the jinchuriki to open up another killer hit. The blonde danced back several steps before pivoting on his right and rotating his left leg around in a reverse spin-kick, slamming it across the Sound Genin's face. Zaku was thrown stumbling back from the series of hits, shouting out in shock.

Grinding his teeth in frustration, he then rushed at his target, roaring out in anger. Naruto grinned, backing away quickly and avoiding the wild swings his opponent was taking at him. He made sure to set the distance between the attacks he was avoiding, swiftly maneuvering around the other shinobi when he lunged in with a side kick. Taking to the boy's outside as he lowered his leg, Naruto stepped away and continued dancing on the spot, moving his hands around as he turned his left side to face his opponent when he rounded on him.

"Your attacks are too wide and your arms aren't loose enough! What? Forgotten the basics already?" Naruto exclaimed, brushing his finger under his nose. "A fighter's main weapon is his body. You focus too much on ninjutsu!" This time it was the blonde rushing into attack, opening up with a right straight.

Zaku backed away in response, eyes widened and fearful of the incoming fists. The boy's attacks were swift and compact again, so it made it difficult to see what was coming next.

The personality of the jinchuriki's fighting style had taken a completely unexpected turn.

Just as he avoided a swift jab, Zaku completely missed the right hook that came out from below. The fist slammed across his face, causing spit and sweat to fly off of the Sound Genin all at once. The teen shouted out in pain and stumbled back, being hit by another sharp jab.

Naruto hopped left and right, keeping Zaku's eyes moving and disabling his ability to predict the next attacks, which ended up being low this time. A side-kick to his stomach sent the Genin tumbling to the floor, with Naruto holding his ground and towering over him.

Becoming more and more frustrated at his inability to land a blow on his opponent, the spiky haired Genin leapt to his feet and rushed in again, throwing a right. Naruto caught it in a parry with his right hand, ducking low and swiftly jabbing his attacker in the arm pit while his arm was still outstretched. That lightning fast hit stung, with Zaku responding swiftly with a punch from above. The jinchuriki caught that as well and responded by twisting the arm around in his and striking at the elbow joint.

Staggered by the hits, Zaku pulled away and punched with his right again, only for his opponent to catch it, lock it and then thrust a right elbow down at his elbow joint. A wild left followed up, with Naruto parrying with his right and jabbing at the bicep.

This seemed to do the trick.

Zaku leapt away, waving his arms out to get feeling back into them, "What the fuck? Stop hitting my arms you little shit!" He had good reason to be annoyed. His limbs were starting to feel strange.

Naruto shuffled on the spot, bouncing on his toes and maintaining a comfortable pace. The Sound Genin in front of him watched him sway from side to side, as well as react angrily to the calm look he was being thrown.

Irritated, Zaku rushed back in with a left hook, but his opponent parried that and struck at his elbow joint again, before ducking a roundhouse kick. The jinchuriki then stood back up, watching his opponent throw another wild right punch. Naruto caught it in his left hand and unbolted a straight punch from the guard right into the other boy's face, knocking him senseless. He then used the opening to hit with his right knuckles into his opponent's elbow joint again, followed by a back-handed palm strike to his neck and a double-palm thrust into his chest.

The combination sent Zaku stumbling across the lawn.

When he found himself shoved away with numb arms as a result, the young male growled out in frustration. He attempted to shake feeling back into his hands a second time, but it did little to help with the numbness, "You bastard! I'll teach you to mess with me!"

Through gritted teeth, Zaku raised his left hand and opened it up, showing the tube he had sticking out of his palm. His stance widened and feet dug into the ground, ensuring that he was well planted for his next technique.

Dosu's eye flew open, "ZAKU! DON'T!"

"Fuck it, if this gives away our position! I'm taking this kid down once and for all!" With a wide grin spreading across his face, the aggravated teenager began pumping chakra into the base of his arm to send down the airway passage in a single blast. "I'M GONNA BLOW YOU AWAY! _EXTREME DECAPITATING AIRWAVES!_"

His technique exploded into action…

Taking his left arm completely out at the elbow in the process. His forearm and hand arced through the air, the pressure having been built up too rapidly and went off prematurely. The boy's eyes widened when he saw only chakra gushing out of his now stump of a limb, to which he then recoiled in agony.

Stumbling back, he used his only good arm to grab his stricken one, "AAAAAHHH! MY ARM! W-WH…WHA…" Breathing quickly, he glared up at the blonde staring at him from afar. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY ARM?"

Naruto smiled at him, "I noticed earlier that you had those funny tubes sticking out of your hands. At first I was puzzled by why you had such silly looking things implanted in you. However, after piecing together what I knew with the threats you made against me, I was able to figure out that _you_ were the one that blasted me out of my apartment and destroyed half of it." He then nodded towards his now lack of an arm, "I decided to fix that."

"B-But how…?" Zaku seethed, pouring sweat and now suffering extremely from the backlash of his exploding appendage. "How did you do this to me?"

"One of my fighting styles accentuates the ability to hit the vital areas of the body. I attacked your arms at their most vulnerable points; the joints. I gambled that those were the areas on your body where the tubing would be more exposed from the muscles, and hammered away at them till they were too damaged for use," Naruto furrowed his brow and lowered his stance, digging his feet into the soil. "I knew you would snap eventually if I kept hitting you. Now you won't be able to use that technique of yours again without blowing your other arm off."

Zaku growled, stepping back, "You… conniving, sly, little…"

"I'll end this now!" Naruto stated, drawing his hands back to one side and cupping them. As soon as he did so he started concentrating, drawing on the well of chi in the center of his body and focusing it to his palms. The effect was immediate, his hands starting to shimmer with a very bright aura, as if they were vibrating at an incredibly high speed. "You can stand and die, or you can run. I won't give you another chance. Take it!"

The teen spat, "Like hell I'll die!" Throwing his free arm out, a kunai suddenly slipped into his grip and with a roar, he lunged at the blonde haired boy standing several meters away from him. His feet kicked dirt into the air as he charged at his target full pelt, "WHY DON'T YOU? RAAA-AAHHH!" He dove at his target, knife first.

Naruto frowned, _"Suit yourself."_

Sliding forward, the jinchuriki's body moved with the direction and execution of his final technique. With a growl of effort, the spiky haired Genin thrust his right forward in a corkscrew like punch, his glowing fist cutting through the air before reaching its end point just inches from its target.

In spite of Zaku being in mid-thrust, Naruto wasn't going to let him get away.

With one final yell, a blast of compressed wind exploded from his fist and cut through in a concentrated burst. The invisible attack struck Zaku full-on in the chest, lifting him several feet off of the ground. The entire impact happened in slow motion; the shock wave, the dust cloud being thrown up, the victim recoiling back from the heavy force impacting his chest, and his expression of anger transforming into one of horror.

In the blink of an eye, the Sound Genin was sent rocketing through the air and straight into the oak tree in Naruto's backyard. He went straight through it, snapping it at the trunk and causing it to fall over, continuing on through the fence, destroying it, and into the hedges of a neighboring backyard. That was where his shocking thirty meter flight took him, cushioned by various solid barriers that more than likely broke every bone in his body if the _Long Fist Technique_ didn't.

Clouds of dust and debris flew into the air as the tree completely tipped over and another fence was added to the extensive property damage. With his fist still extended, Naruto brought it back, curling it into a guard before straightening up.

Letting out a relaxed breath, the blonde's eyes then rounded on the last remaining member of the Sound Genin out to kill him.

Dosu remained stationed where he was, glaring back at the jinchuriki now facing him. Sure he was thunderstruck, but he was keeping an incredibly calm visage in spite of his shock.

"You are a lot stronger than you look," Dosu tilted his head, a bead of sweat running down the side of his face to be soaked up by his gauze wrappings. "I can see that clearly. Now I know why people always use the phrase 'never judge a book by its cover'."

Naruto's eyes and brow narrowed at his opponent's words, while his fists tightened at his sides. "Why didn't you step in to help your friend? You knew he was in trouble. Why didn't you attack me or try to stop me?"

"If I had tried I would have failed miserably," the team leader replied with a shrug, "You are too strong in an in-close fight and you have the ability to shrug off my best jutsu. Unfortunately, Zaku failed to see this since he was blinded by anger."

"So… what happens to you? Do you want to have another shot?" Naruto asked, seeing the boy flinch and his body twitch. "Ran-chan told me that the only cure for the stupidity your friend showed me earlier is death. Do you want to be smart?" He shifted forward, ready to take on another stance to resume the confrontation if his remaining opponent decided to follow-through. "If you still wish to fight me, I will be more than willing to accommodate you…"

"Wait!" Dosu threw his hand forward, his action causing Naruto to stop. The jinchuriki was glad that he did, because at that very moment he was able to catch a clear glance of the actual fear reflected in the other boy's eye. The only remaining enemy though quickly hid this behind a mask of composure, "It's pointless for me to continue this battle. I give up."

Naruto remained quiet, watching his opponent give him a once over with his only uncovered eye.

"You were targeted by Mizuki because he wanted you dead. Whether it was a personal vendetta or a standing objective from my village leader I cannot say. However, the slime ball did mention to us that you are the Kyuubi's jinchuriki." He saw the boy's eyes widen slightly, but then narrow down again to its previous glare. Dosu shook his head and turned away, choosing to face his target with the left side of his body and shoulder. "I think that's a load of bull. After watching you fight I just don't see it. You fight with the finesse of a genius, nothing like the demon they said the Nine-Tailed Fox was."

"Call it hard work," Naruto replied, taking his enemy's words as a compliment.

Dosu chuckled, "Well… I can't argue with that. Your teacher must enforce extreme discipline and training regiments upon you."

At this statement, Naruto's serious expression turned pale and he looked upon his opponent with a sour gaze, "Ugh… you have no idea."

Yim's sweet smile popped into his head and made him shiver in response.

"Oh… I think I have _some_ idea," the masked teen replied, turning his back to the blonde haired boy. Despite his lack of a guard his eye remained locked onto him. "I'll take my leave now. But know this… when word gets out that you were able to single-handedly defeat an entire team of seasoned Genin, it's more than likely that my master will take much more of a… _interest_ in you." He saluted the jinchuriki respectfully, who was now glaring at him with a more perplexed glimmer in his eyes. "Hope you enjoyed your first day as a shinobi, because it will only get worse for you from here on out. Sayonara."

Dosu quickly vacated the vicinity, leaving behind a battle torn backyard, his dead or dying teammates, and his footsteps in the dust.

Upon seeing his enemy off, Naruto let out a sigh of relief. He allowed himself to slump over some, with the adrenaline rush that had been powering him previously now leaving him.

Limping in a full circle, he then turned his attention to his ruined apartment. The collapse of the gutter clanging loudly against the rest of the rubble and debris had him frown in annoyance.

"_Great! Who the hell is gonna clean this up?"_ He threw his arms out exasperatedly.

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> My original idea was to have Dosu killed, but I felt he would make much more of an interesting villain in the future so I spared him.

I knew Naruto's training would pay off for him in the end. It's kind of complicated covering all of the little details, but I'm sure the chapter covered it well using the previous chapters as references. If Lee could take on the three of them with taijutsu alone (despite him tripping at the finish line against Dosu), then I figured what the hell. Throw Naruto into the deep end with his first taste of real combat against opponents out for blood. What I do know about Naruto is that he can take a beating and keep getting back up no matter how many times he's knocked down. That is the defining element of his character. Combine that with his new combat skills, he could take on a _Team Dosu_ still in training for the Chunin Exams.

Even when being told that he was the Kyuubi jinchuriki, why the villagers hated him, Naruto was still able to get back to his feet with the words of encouragement from his friends, the people who were close to him. Scene inspired from the Naruto Shippuden Opening _Diver_.

The reasons why Mizuki ordered the team to attack Naruto will be further covered in the next chapter.

I wanted to introduce the still in-training _Team Dosu_ early to present Naruto with a challenge in his first day of a Genin. I would have gone for Mizuki, but that scenario has been played out a lot already so I chose to go in a different direction.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and Merry Christmas.


	9. Scroll of Seals Arc: Tender Hands

**NARUTO**

**The Art of Appropriation**

_Tender Hands_

**Elsewhere in Konoha…**

"You certainly are a persistent little fly, aren't you?" Ran exclaimed, watching the blue haired man in front of her collapse to his knees again, panting heavily and clutching his knee with both hands. Judging from the extent of the bruises and scuffs all over his body and the way his mouth was bleeding meant that he had been having an incredibly rough time against the woman, who even up to this point looked as though she hadn't even broken a sweat. "You should give up."

"Why should I throw in the towel now? We're just getting started," Kabuto replied, forcing a wide grin across his face. His hands once again became surrounded by a brilliant green aura, the bloody knee he had suffered from a previous hard landing gradually started to fade away, with the ligaments painfully snapping back into place. "I haven't even begun to fight seriously yet."

"Even a wounded fly will have to admit sooner or later that its wings have been cut off. It's cruel, unusual and painful, but that's often the indisputable truth in life," the ronin replied, her frown being replaced by a smile. "This situation is no different to that. There's no denying that you are by far many leagues beneath me and that your wings are close to being severed. Do not force me to inflict a wound upon you that you will never recover from."

And with that comment Kabuto's overconfidence vanished, lowering his face as he looked up at the ronin towering over him like an iron monolith.

It was quite an intimidating sight. Despite her harmless looking appearance and the way she strolled about villages in that carefree manner of hers, Tsukikage Ran was in truth an extremely terrifying person to confront. She was as calm and collected in battle as she was skilled in combat, as proven by his many failed attempts so far to land even a single hit on her. He had tried slashing her, destroying her movements with _Chakra Scalpels_, binding her in wire, hitting her with throwing knives, and using jutsu on her.

However, at every attempted engagement he made, she countered; tossing and throwing him whenever he tried to make the battle an in-fight, dodging his throwing weapons with ease, and stopping him from using ninjutsu by closing the distance between them in a flash and preventing him from forming any hand seals. It was a skill practiced with samurai called _Iaido_, where they are able to prevent shinobi from using any jutsu by striking at them with lightning fast speed and disrupting their hand movements, which were the key to most of their techniques.

That wasn't even the best bit.

The most infuriating aspect about the entire duel that had transpired so far was that she had yet to even draw her sword. She was sticking to hand-to-hand combat, which was just as troublesome and irritating.

To sum up the total damage he'd sustained, the woman had not only broken his wrist with her opening toss, but had also broken his other arm in two places, cracked his jaw, dislocated his shoulder, cracked his pelvis and snapped his leg at the knee.

He had to heal himself at every interval to stay in the fight and it was becoming a real chore.

"_I can definitely see the difference in skill between us. For someone who fights with such a low-bearing, defensive style, she attacks swiftly in order to disarm her opponents rather than kill them. As expected of the legendary, wandering ronin, she's certainly on a level above that of an ordinary shinobi or samurai," _Kabuto thought. He then grinded his teeth together and shook his head angrily._ "Still, this is both insulting and infuriating! Am I that far beneath her that she has no need to use her weapon?"_

"I'm not through yet," the man declared, regaining his composure quickly and rising to his feet. Wiping his chin down, he once again reverted back to feigning indifference to his situation, reaching around to his pouch and drawing a curved kunai. He twirled the blade between his fingers in a threatening manner, "I've still got time on my hands to spare."

Ran sighed, _"Nobody ever takes the option of giving up. Men are so stubborn." _Content with his answer, the samurai then looked back up with a narrowed gaze, "Then you have decided your fate."

Kabuto chuckled and rushed at the woman with his knife drawn back. Zigzagging swiftly on his approach, he slashed at her with the blade in a chopping motion, carving a nice, downward arc through the air.

The moment he moved in to engage her Ran used her thumb to flick her katana out of its sheath, grabbing it with her right hand and drawing it out in one smooth motion. She blocked the incoming strike and knocked the young male away when she completely removed her sword from its scabbard.

The enemy ninja stepped away, flipping his blade around into a backwards facing grip. The two circled quickly, with Ran keeping the rhythm of the fight on her terms and her opponent set clearly in her sights. Kabuto then came in again with another series of attacks, yelling out as he rammed his blade across at various angles to try and carve a nice piece out of his target. He closed the distance at every thrust, but Ran easily made sure that his attacks didn't make their mark by keeping him out of reach.

The samurai parried her opponent's every strike effortlessly, the fourth parry throwing the shinobi off of her again when he got too close.

Stepping back, Ran took to the outside. With her sword lowered Kabuto saw an opening and immediately seized the opportunity. As soon as he regained his footing, he lunged in with a loud yell, slashing his blade across in a compact hooking motion.

This was the moment the samurai had been leading up to.

Ran allowed the man to take a swing at her first, at the last second and with blinding speed dropping low underneath his strike before carving her blade across his abdomen. That was all that was needed to decide the outcome of the fight when she slashed through him in one go, a cry of agony escaping Kabuto's lips as he stumbled forward, his knife still extended.

The samurai stood up to full height and turned around, watching her opponent continue staggering forward, obviously in excruciating pain. Groaning loudly and with every step being accompanied by a wobble, the young wounded male then fell flat over seconds later, hitting the ground with a deafening thud and blood dripping out of the wound in his side.

The battle was over.

With a bat of her eyes Ran threw her sword out to her side, twirling it and sheathing it all cool style. The sound of cold, sliding metal echoed throughout the entire neighborhood before ending with a loud click when the weapon was returned to its rightful place. She then slipped her hands back into her sleeves and continued to glare down at her fallen opponent.

Remarkably enough he was still alive and kicking. Well… when she said _kicking_, she really meant groveling.

"You're young and foolish. I wanted to spare you the pain of the sharp edge of my sword, but you left me no choice," Ran stated with a furrowed brow. "With that wound, it is highly unlikely that you will ever be able to fight at your full potential again."

Coughing, Kabuto grabbed a fistful of dirt and rammed it into the ground. Biting back the pain, he glanced around and over his shoulder at the samurai staring down at him, his expression clearly revealing his frustration. "Y-You… You're strong…"

"That's been mentioned before… many times," the samurai exclaimed, tilting her head. "You'd better hope for your sake that these aren't your last words, because you can do much better."

"I can't die (cough)… and I _won't_ die… not from a wound like this. I refuse to yield to an attack of that level," Kabuto choked through bloody teeth, while attempting to hop back to his feet. However, that one strike had done so much damage to his body it felt as though he was trying to push a rooted tree up a mountain with blocks of lead tied to his feet. Just one slash and he was close to slipping away.

The area around the wound started glowing blue when he activated his healing technique and it quickly started working its magic. Ran watched on with minor interest and intrigue as his blood dried up and the affected area around the open wound started to heal. However, after a few seconds and looking as though the wound was about to close up completely, the man's body shuddered and he retched. The pool of blood forming around his face expanded even more, with his healing jutsu fading away.

"D-Dammit!" Kabuto choked out, with blood dripping freely from his mouth. _"My body isn't responding how I want it to. She sliced through my chakra coils! How the hell did she do that?"_

"I'd recommend that you drop this life of a shinobi of yours and start living honestly. Become a humble man and express no further ill will towards others." Her eyes did a thorough check of his condition, as well as the enraged glare he was directing towards her. "Looking at you however… I can see that adhering to that choice now would be an incredibly difficult task. Unless you choose now to be smart, I see no hope for you. Give me your word that you will turn over a new leaf and I will forget this encounter ever occurred between us."

Kabuto grinned while struggling to push himself back up. Body shaking and bleeding profusely at the abdomen and from the mouth, he met the gaze of the woman towering over him.

He balled his hands into fists, using whatever strength he could muster to keep himself up as well as conscious.

"Unfortunately, I do not have the luxury of choice here… not in my line of work," Kabuto sneered, opening his right palm and revealing a cluster of paper balls rolling around in his grasp. Ran flinched and stepped away, a split second before all of them went up in a cloud of white smoke. "I may not be turning over a new leaf, but I can promise you that we will never face each other in conflict again. Not after tonight…"

The man in glasses was consumed in the vapors, disappearing from sight the moment his smokescreen exploded into view. Seconds later, the wall of white lifted, revealing nothing but a pool of blood slowly drying on the floor at Ran's feet, with it being the only remains of her previous opponent's presence.

The wandering samurai furrowed her brow at the dry patch before loosening her grip on her sword.

"Smart move… but not smart enough…"

Shrugging her shoulders and rolling her arms up the sleeves of her robes to conceal them, she turned heel and hurriedly marched away. Making sure to collect her sake bottle on the way out of the area, she started towards home. All the while her mind was a whirl of concern and thought.

"_There's some other game playing out in the shadows of these countries and that man is involved in them in some way. Though it is none of my concern, I should really prepare Naruto for whatever villains he is likely to face in his future,"_ Ran murmured inside her head, tightening her glare and quickening her pace. She then suddenly broke into a run, attacking the streets as quickly as she could. _"You'd better be alright kid. I'll never forgive you if you're not."_

XXX

**Back at Naruto's apartment…**

In spite of _Konohagakure_ being a village quite literally populated by light-footed shinobi, it still took a shockingly long time for the security forces within the vicinity itself to respond to an incident when called for.

It was the same bogus situation associated with every other country in the world. Wherever there was a standing law enforcement service, and the shinobi were quite frankly the law around here, and they're called in for something important, they always took too damn long to arrive to the scene. In the cases of a burglary, an attack or some other such emergency, they always come up with some sort of lame response that all their units are busy, they can't spare anyone at the moment or that your situation isn't as important as the next person's. That is whenever their assistance _is_ required. However, whenever you _don't_ need assistance, you're just going about your usual business or you simply wish to avoid the abovementioned law enforcers for the day, they are always, by some crazy coincidence or misfortune, around the next corner.

Now, the case that was unveiling itself right now could be jotted up to a couple of crazy, over-the-top factors. This was simply either the machinations of an unknown otherworldly force taking shape on some random person's life or it was simply Murphy's Law playing its sick, twisted hand to the world… because it sure as hell played it for Naruto tonight.

"I think this is number five…" the jinchuriki mumbled, his face hidden by his arms.

Iruka, dressed in his normal shinobi attire, was sitting on the boy's ruined porch right next to him, attempting to console his student over his mind rattling confrontation with the enemy shinobi from earlier. Yim and Ran were also with him, standing on either side of the youngster in a very protective manner while carefully surveying the decimated backyard.

Upon hearing his mumble, the Chunin raised an eyebrow down at him, "Number five?"

"Huh?"

"Number five, Naruto," Iruka said a little louder. "That's what I'm asking you about."

"R-Right. Yeah. Number five of _Murphy's Law_," Naruto continued while raising his hand. Still not looking up, he twirled his extended finger in a circular motion. "I read this in one of those lifestyle books Shiho-chan lent to me the last time I was in the library. The fifth law is either 'the chance of the bread falling with the buttered side down is directly proportional to the cost of the carpet' or 'the greater the value of the rug, the greater the probability that the cat will throw up on it'."

"That sounds… _feasible_. I guess bad luck just has that sort of feel about it," Iruka nodded in agreement, before glancing up at Yim standing closest to Naruto.

The martial artist, who was currently holding the little kitten she had picked up on her way here in her arms, turned away awkwardly and started whistling nonchalantly.

It didn't take a genius to see that the resident jinchuriki was sulking. Around him were about a dozen shinobi from the regular forces scattered throughout the area and were presently assessing the extent of the damages caused by the fight that had taken place right underneath their noses.

The Hokage was also in attendance. With his hands behind his back and a discomforting expression on his face, he looked out across the garden through narrowed eyes. He also had a pair of ANBU standing on either side of him keeping close watch of the area in case of unexpected hostilities.

The elder was also trying to get his head around the whole mess as to why a couple of young Genin from another village attempted to catch Naruto at his home unawares and kill him.

All things considered, the blonde had a right to be sulking.

It had taken all of the ninja currently in the area half an hour to get down here after being called, while Yim showed up exactly twenty seconds after Dosu had fled and Ran about two minutes after dealing with her problem. Now, while Naruto's friends had their reasons for being late, including Iruka who had been asleep at his desk finalizing his reports…

Just what the fuck took Konoha's 'Elite' so damn long to get down here? What kind of security were they really running?

I mean, geez, he could have been killed, but instead he was having it even worse…

"Great, I'm not only broken but now I'm homeless," Naruto sighed, rubbing his still aching wrists. "Well… I guess I should start looking for the most comfortable cardboard box in the neighborhood. Ugh. Perhaps I can get one outside of _Ichiraku's Ramen_; it's convenient _and_ I get three square meals a day, easy."

Now that his adrenaline rush had worn out it didn't take much for him to start making out the various pings and pangs about his body, beginning with the broken bones.

Yup: cracked ribs, a broken shoulder blade, a mangled ankle, a broken forearm and a busted foot. On top of that his other ankle and wrists were sprained, he was cut up from glass and debris from all over, and if that weren't enough he still had this ungodly ringing in his ears he had trouble getting rid of.

It was also the main reason for his odd response to Iruka's first question, on account that he couldn't make it out.

Sure he had been able to neutralize the imbalance effects with his chi, but he was pretty sure his eardrums were close to shot.

"You know… Naruto…" Iruka began, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder upon hearing his fuss over his apartment.

"Pardon?"

"Naruto… can you hear me?"

"What?" the blonde replied a little louder, clearing out his ear with a finger. "Sorry, sensei. You'll have to speak up. I'm getting a lot of white noise here."

"Naruto!" Iruka sighed, adjusting his volume for appropriate transmission. Patting the jinchuriki on the shoulder to keep him still, he continued, "You don't have to worry about anything, alright. The Hokage will set everything straight for you. Not just your apartment but also your living conditions. Consider it a shinobi insurance policy. You have my word."

"Really?" The glimmer of hope in the boy's eyes returned with a twinkle. The Chunin nodded with a reassuring smile.

"Really…"

"What?" Naruto shouted, earning yet another sigh from his teacher.

While Yim giggled, Iruka shook his head towards the world he was currently facing, and Ran took a better look at the boy's injuries for herself, the four of them were eventually approached by the Third Hokage, along with his ANBU guard and one other shinobi, who looked to be a medical-ninja.

While the other Chunin around them checked out the largest of the fallen debris and rubble, and began moving stuff around, Iruka made room for the field medic as she went in to check on Naruto. She quickly ran damage control using the _Mystical Palm Technique_, clearing up the scars and scuffs all along his body, healing the sprains, and doing what she could for the broken bones.

As she went about pulling out some bandages and prepared to fasten them around his most serious of injuries, the Hokage smiled as he gazed down at the young boy's face. Naruto glanced up at the elderly man with a perplexed expression in play.

"You've certainly been busy tonight, Naruto-kun," Hiruzen exclaimed, loud enough for even the half-deaf youngster to hear. The village leader exhaled a small cloud of smoke from his pipe, at the same time looking the newly made Genin over. "How do you feel?"

"Like rolled up ramen dough," the jinchuriki replied with a look of distaste. "I'm in pain all over and I'm in desperate need to change the soundtrack I'm still hearing."

"Oh… hold on," the kunoichi wrapping up his arm in gauze spoke up. With her free hand, she ran her glowing palms over his ears, making the necessary incisions without the need for surgery or hospital equipment. Seconds later, the piercing sound vanished and the noises of Naruto's world returned with two, simultaneous pops. The medical ninja lowered her hand seconds later with a smile, "There you go. Better?"

A grin sprouted on the boy's face and he raised his hands, "Thank Kami, I can hear agai-OW!" He crossed his arms over his torso sharply.

Moving around wasn't such a good idea at this point.

The Third chuckled, "Well, I'm just glad to see that you're alive. You must have been put through quite an ordeal to be in such a state." He tilted his head at the cringing youngster, who had his left arm forced back out to be properly bandaged up. "So… was the real world of the shinobi anything like what you expected?"

"Honestly, Hokage-jiji," Naruto groaned, looking up again with a weak grin, "I expected to come face to face with the shinobi world out _there_, not on my balcony at nine o'clock in the afternoon."

"Prepare for the unexpected then. That's the only advice I can give you right now. Though I doubt something like this will ever happen to you again in the foreseeable future, I can guarantee you right now that there will be more nasty surprises for you once you step outside of this village's gates," Hiruzen stated, removing the pipe from his mouth and pointing it in his direction. "These are the trials a shinobi is expected to face. It may not always be filled with grand explosions, last-minute rescues and heroics, but it's our job. What you pulled off tonight was just a slice of the bad stuff you're probably going to face out there."

"I'll try to be a little bit more careful next time then," the blonde replied, feeling his arm get fastened into a sling. The kunoichi did quick work. "I can't let a silly thing like this get to me. I won't have it. No matter how many times I get knocked down, I will always get back up."

"That's the spirit!" Hiruzen replied, slipping the pipe between his lips again.

From there, the village leader, Yim, Ran and Iruka watched on in silence as the kunoichi finished stitching up her patient. Though Naruto proved to be a difficult hospital visitor at times, now that he was out of it and almost completely drained of energy he was making life so much easier for the person that was treating him. It was almost a pleasure.

Every now and again the group gathered around the porch would look back towards the backyard to see the squads of shinobi present move more and more debris over to one side of the area. Already, a significant amount of fence, foliage and wood had been piled up over by the destroyed hedges in the corner, almost like it was ready for a bonfire. It would be one heck of a bonfire if they could get some kerosene. But right now really wasn't the time.

With narrowed eyes, Naruto watched as the tree at the edge of his garden that had snapped at the center get hauled out and from the hedgerows behind it, saw the body of Zaku get exhumed from the brush. Carried over the yard by a lone shinobi, the audience observed closely as the man laid the boy out over a stretcher and pulled a blanket over him. The fact that it was pulled up over his head told everyone everything they needed to know about his condition.

Hiruzen sighed. "At times it's almost unbearable… seeing a child like that die at such a young age." He looked back down at Naruto to see him glowering across at the dead teenager covered by the sheet. "You needn't feel shame or regret over what you've done, Naruto. In fact… you should be feeling proud of yourself."

"Proud?" Naruto murmured questionably.

"Yes. You defended yourself admirably against an entire team of Genin that was out to take your life. Whether they were rookies or not it doesn't matter, but what you performed out here tonight was an extraordinary feat no ordinary academy graduate could possibly pull off, especially on their first day. Not only that, but you were also caught off guard, severely injured and extremely disorientated, and even with your condition you were able to successfully ward them off, and at the same time take down two of them," the old Sarutobi said, a small smile gracing his lips. "There's only one thing I can think of that is substantial enough to effectively express my amazement and that is _well done_."

Naruto lowered his head further.

Even though the village leader had so charitably bestowed such praise upon him, he still felt like he didn't deserve it.

No…

It's not like he didn't deserve it. It felt more like a step-down than a step-up…

"I know. But…"

"But?" Hiruzen raised an eyebrow.

"Those three… they… they were really out to kill me. Over the course of the twenty minutes I was fighting for my life, I had this terrible thought lingering at the back of my head that things could have gone the wrong way," Naruto looked up at the elder, eyes narrowed. "I could have been killed just as easily as those two. I was riding the whole thing out on fumes and if the third one had tried to attack me at the end, there was a strong chance that I could have lost…"

"But you didn't," Hiruzen pointed, stopping the boy in his tracks. "What does that say about you? What does that say about your strength, your will power, and your determination to keep on going? All that it's saying is that even though it was three against one, even though the odds were stacked against you, your resolve was the stronger. True, things could have gone differently, sometimes we can't help it. It's just the way things are in most cases. You could have been killed on your balcony or when they moved in to finish you off, but events unfolded in your favor. They may have been strong individually yes, but in truth, they were simply matched up with the wrong opponent."

"It happens sometimes," Ran affirmed, while her gaze remained directed elsewhere. "Technique isn't completely full proof. There is always going to be a counter and there is always going to be a weakness."

Naruto considered the elder's words carefully for some time, his eyes darting about a bit as he pieced together all of the information given to him and attempted to settle the nerves shooting through his body. After about a minute or so, he decided to leave the discussion at that and nodded his head affirmatively, looking away with a deep sigh to follow.

Even though the boy looked as though he had laid the situation to rest, Hiruzen noticed that he was still troubled by something by the way he laced his hands together and fidgeted about nervously. This made the elder himself a little bit uncomfortable, since the youngster had yet to divulge all of the details of the events that had transpired out here. Although he had described the fight and everything that had occurred between the exchanges in full, the Third Hokage was positive that there had been _words_ exchanged as well and not just punches.

While the medical ninja moved on to wrapping bandages around the boy's waist when he removed his jacket, Naruto suddenly decided to speak again.

What he said next came as a great shock to everyone who was familiar with the name, "It was Mizuki…"

Hiruzen, who was at that moment looking over the progress of the garden cleanup for the tenth time that night alongside his guards, caught wind of the words the boy spoke and spun around. He quickly glanced down at the Genin with a staggered gaze, "What was that, Naruto?"

Standing beside Ran with his arms folded, Iruka also caught onto the little mumble his student gave out. He too looked down at the jinchuriki, startled, "Mizuki?"

Naruto glared up at the Third Hokage, "The team that attacked me said they were hired by Mizuki-sensei to kill me. They said he wanted to get rid of me…"

The Hokage furrowed his brow. At first he was baffled. His feelings then progressed onto the stages of confusion and disbelief, before he eventually decided on the reasonable course of action to simply ask in order the verify the name given to him, "Are you sure, Naruto?"

"The three of them straight out told me so themselves," the blonde nodded, "I'm willing to bet my life on it, because it sure as hell was placed on the table a good half an hour ago."

The village leader looked over at Iruka with his hardened gaze to meet the flabbergasted one held by the academy teacher. When their eyes met, Hiruzen watched his subordinate's expression slowly transform into a worried one, before slipping into one of understanding. At the young man's nod the Third turned to face the ANBU guard on his left, "Alert the guards and all squads on patrol. Keep an eye out for Mizuki. If he is found, bring him in for questioning. He may still be within the village's borders and if he is apprehend him quickly. There's a good chance he won't be sticking around for very long."

"Yes, sir," the ANBU bowed, before vanishing in a puff of white smoke.

Naruto tilted his head curiously as he watched the whiffs of the cloud fade away, "I've _got_ to learn how to do that."

Hiruzen then turned back to the youngster still undergoing medical attention, "Since they told you who it was that hired them, perhaps they also told you the reason why, Naruto-kun."

The jinchuriki blinked when he exchanged gazes with the village leader, his puzzled expression slowly slipping into a darker one. Eyes becoming overshadowed, he lowered his head when thoughts took him further back into his confrontation with the Sound Genin…

XXX

**Sometime later…**

**The Hokage Mansion…**

It was dark out and all of the lights on the property were switched off.

The large structure stood out like a silent pillar amongst all of the other brightly lit buildings occupied by the villagers of _Konohagakure_. The very estate belonging to the leader of the hidden village was not just one of the most outstanding pieces of architecture within Konoha, but was also the most recognized and most distinguished next to the monument and the ninja academy.

As opposed to word-of-mouth, the Hokage's records and office were in fact two entirely separate locations. While the village leader's sleeping quarters and place of residence was located at his large estate, his office was situated in the Administrative Division of the Academy. Work and documentation was handled up in the office, but all of the materials and items of value belonging to the previous Hokages were stored within the mansion itself in the various vaults scattered throughout the edifice.

The vaults were for the village leader's eyes only, with every one of these storage areas housing a number of unique items. A great number of these items were storage scrolls intended for long term use and concealment, not to mention that a lot of the aforementioned materials and information bore an extremely forbidden nature, which could either bring about great harm or devastation. The First Hokage especially stored objects within these vaults that could be considered dangerous by _his_ standards, definitely not for an ordinary shinobi's eyes.

It was a treasure trove of ninjutsu, weapons, artifacts and alike… a perfect spot for a certain entrepreneur to make his mark.

This was what he had planned from the very start.

With the Hokage absent and his forces occupied on the other side of the village where Naruto was expected to have been attacked, Mizuki used this golden opportunity to sneak into the mansion to acquire his primary target. His distraction made and 'pest' controls hopefully taken care of, he had little to worry about while undertaking such a risky venture.

Ducking in through an open window, the white haired man immediately made a B-line straight for the vault where the First Hokage kept his most dangerous scrolls. Since security was generally placed upon the keen and reliable senses of shinobi, Mizuki knew exactly how the system worked and what to look out for. Being a shinobi of this village for so many years now, it was no stretch of the imagination to figure out how much he actually knew, with his occasional sleuthing for another foreign village adding an extra cherry on top of his already immense sundae of intelligence.

This tended to melt away with a combination of overconfidence and smugness, but that's for another time.

His target was located just outside of the current Hokage's study area.

Like a shadow on the wall the man slipped in from the long stretch of corridor and immediately began filing over the various shelves inside of the chamber. Since it was quite dark it made reading the scrolls' details a bit difficult unless you got extremely close to the articles, but that was of little consequence. He knew exactly what he was looking for. No mission was executed without extensive research and planning.

All he had to do was look for the biggest scroll in the room. It wasn't that hard to miss.

Finding it hidden behind a stack of rolled up parchments containing some of the records of the First Hokage's exploits Mizuki smirked widely and yanked out what could be classified as an oil drum. It was so big it made him wonder exactly how many techniques were stored inside of it.

The damn thing was a thick piece of literature, no question, with characters drawn on its opening base identifying it as the _Scroll of Seals_.

The white haired Chunin smirked as he set it up on the carpeted floor, running his finger over the text with great care, _"Hashirama Senju sealed many kinjutsu within this relic. Acquiring this will definitely earn me Lord Orochimaru's favor amongst his elite."_ His smirk only grew wider as he placed both hands along its cool surface. _"Of course, it would be incredibly selfless of me to just simply hand over something this valuable to him without taking in some of its sweet knowledge for myself? What harm could there be from a little bit of light reading on the way to Otogakure?"_

Just as he was becoming that much more curious about what was actually contained within the scroll, he was suddenly jumpstarted back into reality when the lights to the room were switched on. Spinning around in his crouched position on the floor over his objective, he glared towards the entrance where he was met with the harsh stares of several very familiar faces.

Leaning against the door frame on either side with their arms folded he saw Kotetsu and Izumo glaring at him impatiently, as if the sheer act of making their way over here had been bothersome in itself. Of course, they weren't the only ones who were looking incredibly disappointed…

They were also accompanied by Shikaku's wife Yoshino Nara and his fellow academy teacher Daikoku Funeno.

Just one look told the sneak thief that they were all pissed off and it didn't take the culprit responsible to say who it was all that attention of theirs was directed towards.

"Looks like someone's a little lost," Kotetsu murmured, with his gate partner nodding in agreement to the statement.

"Did you take a wrong turn to the bathroom, Mizuki-san?" Yoshino asked sweetly, while her brow crinkled in disapproval.

Mizuki blinked, his expression frowning somewhat.

Yup, this was definitely that law enforcement sense of timing thing playing out…

"Oh… fuck me…"

XXX

**Back at the Apartment…**

The remaining ANBU standing by the Hokage placed a hand over his ear, alerting those scattered around the ruined porch to his actions.

Hiruzen looked over his shoulder to acknowledge the message coming through, his masked bodyguard nodding his head to the voice on the other end of the earpiece he was wearing before turning his attention back towards the village elder.

"Hokage-sama, a patrol has spotted Mizuki inside of _Konohagakure_ just minutes ago. He tripped the security seals inside of your estate and was found raiding one of the vaults," the masked shinobi stated, lowering his head. "They've flagged the sensors his location and are rerouting back up."

The Third frowned, "So he baited us? He's a lot smarter then I gave him credit for. There's definitely Jonin potential there." The village leader fixed his gaze firmly on the ANBU. "What of the current situation?"

Naruto and everybody else standing close by to the old Hokage focused all their attention on the conversation now taking place between Hiruzen and his subordinate.

"He set off smoke bombs inside of the room and fled. As we speak, Yoshino's squad is attempting to apprehend him," the masked man replied. "They're driving him towards Lady Tsume's team. We should have him inside of twenty minutes if things go well."

"Make sure that he doesn't get away," Hiruzen nodded in understanding. "Order the border guards to set up blockades at all entrances. Nobody gets in or out of this village until he is caught, understood?" The ANBU nodded in response, placing his hands over his ear and getting back in contact with the shinobi communicating with him on the other end.

There was a moment of pause, with Naruto, Yim, Ran, Iruka and the medic-nin waiting on the sidelines with held breaths to hear if there was any more information coming in. The Hokage was as patient as ever too, hands behind his back and his breathing coming out in the form of puffs of smoke from his pipe.

After a minute passed them by and no updates were made on the situation, the ANBU lowered his hand from his earpiece to face the Hokage.

With questions still hanging freshly in the air, Hiruzen took it upon himself to question his bodyguard for further details so he could properly assess the situation and make plans.

"Which of the vaults did they find Mizuki in?"

"He was discovered looting items from the vault right across from your study area, Hokage-sama," the ANBU promptly informed.

This information had the Hokage look away with a tightened scowl. As a result, he began huffing on his pipe in a slightly more irritated manner.

"Then he was after the _Scroll of Seals_," Hiruzen murmured, completely aware of the contents of that particular chamber. He inhaled and exhaled deeply, calming himself. _"The First Hokage sealed many dangerous ninjutsu and weapons inside of that artifact. If he gets out of Konohagakure with it, there's no telling what he will do."_

With a sigh, the Hokage looked back towards Naruto's group.

The jinchuriki was all bandaged up, with wraps visible around his chest, waist and shoulders where his jacket was unzipped, his forearms, and his ankle. In spite of being partially transformed into a mummy, the youngster was still being run over by the medic-nin's healing jutsu to take care of the most serious of wounds. Since his limbs couldn't be cast up unless taken to the hospital, he required constant surveillance to make sure that his bones healed correctly.

Of course, the field medic was amazed at how fast his recovery was taking place. Broken bones for ordinary shinobi under routine checks of the _Mystical Palm Technique_ still took a couple of weeks to heal. This boy's bones were healing within the hour, the swelling having already subsided.

The Hokage could see this not just on the medic-nin's amazed expression but on Naruto himself. His scuffs and cuts were completely gone.

He also knew the exact reason why…

"I'm sorry you had to find out the way you did, Naruto-kun," Hiruzen suddenly spoke up, recalling the other aspect of the story Naruto bequeathed to him and his friends following the reveal that Mizuki was the one responsible behind the whole mess.

The addressed jinchuriki and his friends looked towards the Hokage once more, where they all saw the solemn look he was giving the boy.

"Believe me I had all intention of letting you know as soon as the time was right. I made a promise to the Fourth Hokage that I would," the elder continued, moving the pipe in his mouth over to the other side. "But this… _this_ I didn't account for; the attempt made on your life organized by a man whom I previously thought was one of our own."

Naruto flinched, trying to keep a straight face as he listened to what the elder had to say.

The Third noticed his change of expressions, "I never expected that you would find out about the Nine-Tailed Fox and that you were its jinchuriki during such an affair. My only hope now is that you are okay with it… of the information of the burden you are now carrying."

Blinking, the young Genin looked down with a thoughtful gaze drawn across his face, his eyes finding an appealing target on the lawn in front of him and sticking to it. Hiruzen waited patiently for his response and what it would be, with Iruka and Yim also looking on with concern. Ran however looked completely indifferent about the whole situation and just stayed where she was with her eyes fixed on her student.

After a moment of silence, Naruto looked back up, "Actually… I'm not too fussed over it."

Hiruzen tilted his head curiously at his response.

The boy's eyes narrowed further, whether in frustration or an ongoing form of discomfort it was unknown. "I mean… yeah… it was unexpected… and I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't shocked or upset over finding out… that I had this big, ugly _fur ball_ fast asleep inside of my stomach," Naruto stated, letting out a small chuckle at the end. This was then followed up by a smile spreading across his lips, "But I think… finding out the way I did saved my life."

"Really?" the Hokage queried, a little bit surprised. He saw the boy smile even wider and nod his head vigorously.

"One of the only things I can remember the most from my entire life are the hateful glares and the whispers of displeasure from villagers constantly looking down at me. For the longest time…I had no idea why they hated me so much… and for the longest time… nobody would give me an answer… no matter how many times I asked them," Naruto said, shaking his head. In that instant of recollection, his mind allowed him to catch a brief glimpse of the multitude of stares and distance that came from his life.

Even if it was for just a moment, all he was able to see was him standing before a crowd of vague silhouettes, all of them villagers and all of them with their backs turned to him.

He could clearly remember the tears that came with it, a result of the insults, the comments and the names directed solely towards him.

It was a heart wrenching moment.

"Being all alone, not knowing who I was, where I came from, and why everybody despised me so much … are the worst feelings I have ever experienced. There's nothing else that I've ever felt before that could even come close to it…"

Yim and Ran's gazes softened, with the latter looking away with a saddened glint in her eye. Iruka was also listening intently to every word that his student was speaking. Hell, even the medic-nin had stopped treating his wounds to listen.

"But then… out of nowhere… I found friends," Naruto said, his smile returning full force and his face lighting up like the sun. "I met people who wanted to be with me, who were willing to talk to me, and whom I could look out for and respect in return for their kindness. Recalling those memories… the memories that showed me that there were actually people in my life who liked me for just being me… was everything I needed to push past the reason why everybody else stayed away from me."

He felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked up to where he saw Yim smiling down at him. She crouched beside him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and giving him a reassuring hug. The boy giggled when he felt Iruka ruffle his hair, and even turned his gaze towards Ran to see her giving him a supporting smile.

Being surrounded by people who appreciated his company gave his words more meaning. This allowed him to face the Third Hokage with a more confident look on his face, where he saw even the normally stoic elder beaming at him in kind.

"I guess knowing something else about myself… even though it is something that everybody hates, gives me more of a reason to keep on fighting, not just to prove that I'm a normal person, but to keep my friends happy and to keep them safe. I'm not just a jinchuriki, and I know now for certain that I'm not just some nobody," Naruto grinned widely, thumping himself in his bandaged chest, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, a boy from Konohagakure who's going to become Hokage someday."

These statements brought an even bigger grin to the elder's face.

"Well… as long as you're okay with it… then I hope you will continue finding happiness in your life, Naruto-kun," the Hokage exclaimed, reaching down and patting him on the head. The youngster giggled against and tried to shake off the affectionate gesture, but failed miserably.

His hair ended up looking even more messed up then before.

It was uplifting to see that Naruto was still able to smile… _genuinely_ smile. It told the Hokage that the boy was happy in spite of everything that's happened to him.

Though there wasn't a doubt in the old Sarutobi's mind that the battle had changed the jinchuriki in a way, he was sure it was a change for the better.

"_After the battle he's just had, I'm sure Naruto has been spurred on to continue fighting no matter what,"_ Hiruzen thought, watching the aforementioned youngster engage Yim in conversation, telling her all about his battle personally and how her teachings had helped him stay in the game. _"He's now aware of the many dangers there are in following the path of a shinobi. If anything, this attempt on his life has done him something good. True, as a below average student in the past he knows the values of hard work, but tonight… he found out that he has something incredibly precious to him worth fighting for; a goal, friends who believe in him, and a need to prove himself to the world that he can't be pushed around, regardless of what other people think of him."_

The Third Hokage nodded his head affirmatively, _"Yes… I think that's what he believes now…"_

While watching Naruto commune with Yim, the village leader suddenly became aware of a commotion on his far left, causing him to turn around. Over by what was left of the ruined fence he saw three Chunin gathered around the giant log the jinchuriki had hurled at one of his opponent's earlier that night. They were carting it away from the scene and inspecting the area further, making a bit of a fuss over the body they discovered.

While what was actually going on over there didn't strike the Hokage as something to be overly concerned about, it did indeed become a big deal when one of the Chunin examining the area stood up to full height and began waving his hand through the air.

He certainly got everybody else's attention when he started shouting.

"We've got a live one here!" the man yelled, drawing all eyes over to him.

The Third Hokage blinked, "What?"

"A live one?" Iruka mouthed, stepping down off of the porch and onto the lawn. He leant over to get a better look across the way. "That means…"

Recognizing the damaged area by the fence, Naruto's eyes widened, _"It's that girl from the team that attacked me. S-She's still…?"_

Hiruzen immediately began making his way over to the spot.

Eager to find out the results for himself Naruto asked for Yim's assistance in helping him over there, which she gave without complaint. With his friend's support the jinchuriki managed to limp his way over to the scene at his own, comfortable pace.

A small crowd soon gathered around the impact zone, with the three Chunin who made the discovery forming a perimeter as the Third and the rest of the audience amassed over to one side.

Quickly following the discovery a stretcher was called in from the other shinobi standing by, which was laid out in whatever space was left for the girl to be hoisted onto it. Everyone took a step back so that the medic-nin who had previously been treating Naruto was able to swoop in to check on the girl's condition.

From everybody else's perspective she looked quite beat-up. To be quite frank, she appeared to have gone for one or two rounds against an opponent in a ring and was beaten half to death. However, it didn't look that way from Naruto's point of view beforehand in which he actually sent the object spinning at the girl that led her into such a state.

It had been a pretty gruesome hit… quick too.

She looked like she was sleeping if you deducted the blood stains and cuts she had covering her face and clothing.

The field medic ran all the required checks and diagnosis, starting with the chest and breathing patterns of the subject before moving on to everything else. It took a full two minutes to complete her scans, even with the use of the _Mystical Palm Technique_ to help in her assessment of any internal injuries the Oto Genin may have likely sustained, but the kunoichi was soon done. She raised her head to meet the curious expressions of those surrounding her to make her report.

Her eyes showed relief, even though the rest of her said something else entirely.

"Cracked ribs, a broken arm, and a bad concussion would be the worst of it," the woman stated, rising to her feet. "Aside from the various cuts and bruises she was afflicted with from the stuff she flew into I'm guessing full recovery in sight of three months. Furthermore, judging from the amount of force she took I'd say she'll be out for quite a while still." Her eyes then fell on the gaze being given to her by the resident jinchuriki. "You truly have a fearsome kick, kiddo. She's lucky that she wasn't killed."

Blinking, Naruto raised a hand up to his head and chuckled sheepishly, "Heh… well… you see… it was the log that did most of the work."

"I have to agree with Kumi though, you do have quite a powerful kick, Naruto-kun," the Third admitted, smiling down at the blonde who was looking quite abashed from the compliments thus far, "Must be because of all of your extra training."

Seeing Naruto receive a nudge to the shoulder from Iruka and exchange smiles with Yim, the elder then returned his attention to the unconscious kunoichi in question and hardened his gaze.

Giving the situation further thought, he huffed on his pipe and brought his right hand up to remove it from his mouth. "Have her taken to the hospital for treatment. Once she's recovered enough we can then have her moved over to ANBU headquarters to get some work done on her by Ibiki. That is… unless we can't get anything out of Mizuki."

"W-What?" Catching onto the Hokage's immediate orders, Naruto shook his head to tear himself away from his conversation with Iruka and looked up at the old man, "Y-You mean… _interrogate _her?"

A visit to ANBU Black Op headquarters was something the young jinchuriki was pretty sure everybody avoided doing. Hell, any shinobi who wore a mask was labeled as shifty in Naruto's book, so it was to no surprise he had such an uncomfortable reaction towards hearing about their organization's involvement.

Those costumes were seriously creepy.

Even Yim and Ran stopped chatting the moment they heard the old man mention _'work done on her'_, with the latter frowning immediately upon realizing the true meaning of those words.

"That's barbaric…"

"It may not be what you are accustomed to Lady Ran, but this is how things are done in a shinobi village," Hiruzen stated, turning around to see the samurai and her martial artist companion staring at him with hardened glares. "In order to protect our home from any life-threatening dangers outside of our borders, certain steps must be taken in order to prevent a catastrophe from befalling us. We may be living in peaceful times, maintaining a steady balance between ourselves, the other five great shinobi nations and our smaller neighbors, but we still have enemies lurking in the shadows who mean to do us ill-will. The attempt on Naruto's life tonight is proof of that."

Despite their unsettled moods, Yim and Ran remained silent. Though the village leader did make an outstanding point, it didn't mean that they had to like it, since they had a choice not to. It was probably something to do with their own independent views of the world and how they chose to go about solving their own problems. But the problems of a village were by far different from the problems the two of them faced on a day-to-day basis. While the village of Konohagakure was a fixed society, they were a nomadic pair.

On this basis, everybody's lives could be considered different from each other's.

They chose to listen on from that point to see if anybody else had any objections, not really holding their hopes up high.

Hiruzen Sarutobi however could see that they were still troubled by his proposal and resolved to mend it as best as he could.

"I am not attempting to antagonize either of you. I'm familiar with Lady Ran's strengths, deeds and her conduct of years past, and I am in no way challenging either of your principles or methods, but here we do our best to protect our own and to trial our enemies justly," Hiruzen stated, lowering his head. "I can assure you that we will not harm her in any way. I hope you will respect our laws and customs just as we would respect your own."

He meant every word.

It was the hard truth as well.

In contrast to other Hidden Villages, Konoha was quite reasonable when it came to punishing the guilty. While in here, those who have committed an act as grossly dishonorable as treason are first trialed then interrogated, before being sent to whatever prison is suitable for their containment, other villages like Iwagakure sort of jump the gun on the whole trial system and execute offenders on the spot.

With the way things seemed to be progressing nowadays, there was the likely chance that many things have changed from the social structures of old, but so far Konohagakure appeared to be ahead in the justice department race.

Seeing that the two wanderers didn't want to say anything else, Hiruzen turned back to the unconscious Oto kunoichi.

He received quite a surprise once he returned his attention to her and spotted the bandaged up Naruto crouching right next to the head of the sleeping girl he had been having it out with earlier. All of the people in the area were quite surprised, since they originally thought he couldn't move that well yet.

Well… he sure showed them. His recovery was going along nicely.

Arms folded and keeping uncharacteristically rigid, from the casual observer's point of view the new Genin looked as though he was glaring angrily at the girl, when in truth he was really just giving her a hard look-over.

It wasn't like he was thinking about killing her and exacting his revenge. He was just giving her a very intent stare.

"Uhh… Naruto?" Hiruzen murmured, clearing his throat to get the youngster's attention.

After gazing at her face for several long seconds more without responding, the jinchuriki then nodded his head and suddenly rose to his feet. With his fists balled at his sides, he limped in a full circle and turned towards the village leader, facing him down as he would any other formidable opponent. The look on his face alone raised an irrefutable, confrontation-like atmosphere from his very person.

"Oji-san… I have a favor to ask."

"A favor?" the Hokage blinked, looking around at Iruka, Ran and Yim. He saw all three of them shrug in his direction, before glancing back down at the boy. "What is it…?"

XXX

**Thirty minutes later…**

**Somewhere out in Konoha…**

Mizuki knew that he had had his fair share of tight spots in the past.

These particular situations he was constantly entangled in always occurred to him on missions in hostile or unfamiliar territories, most of which involved very unwelcoming shinobi who were very eager to get into fights. He could also recall that in each of those situations in which he was cornered in, he always had a teammate or two to help bail him out.

Admittedly, his comrades had been the perfect bait for the enemy and have always conveniently been there for him to buy him enough time to make his escape. He would then later on come up with some half-baked story for the Hokage with little details taken from the mission itself, describing how his teammates bravely sacrificed themselves for the sake of the assignment, while leaving him to carry on the objective.

That was all well in good, but right now the white haired double-crosser found himself in the same situation where he had _**no**_ backup whatsoever. It was bad enough that he had over half of Konoha's active guard pursuing him through the village's streets, but he also had to be content with carrying a huge-ass scroll around with him. The damn thing was catching so much heat.

He had just seen the pursuing squad that had previously been right on his tail leap across the alleyway on the rooftops high above from the dumpster he was hiding behind. The rotting fish and food from yesterday really helped in covering his smell. However, about fifteen minutes later of waiting it out from where he was kneeling, the Chunin suddenly heard the distinctive sounds of dogs barking in the distance.

Mizuki cursed his luck, now that he was brought to the attention of the Inuzuka joining in the hunt for him.

"_What I hate most about this village is that the entire population is so damn persistent," _the man grumbled in his head, picking himself out of the hole he was hiding in and quickly making his way down the alley.

He made sure to balance out each step so as to not make so much noise in his retreat. If his finely tuned senses could detect other shinobi close by, then he was certain that their own finally tuned senses could detect him just as easily.

Looking left and right at the next exit, he sprinted across the road and entered another passageway behind a closed restaurant. Dim lights from overhead told him that civilians were waking up to the sound of the commotion.

That was something he didn't want.

"_I bet that fuck Kabuto screwed up, the bastard,"_ Mizuki hissed in his head, skidding to a stop and darting to his right down another narrow avenue. If he was to get out of this in one piece he had to stay low. Keeping tight was the key here. _"He must have gotten complacent from all the praise he'd been receiving from Orochimaru-sama. Tsk, he's too arrogant for his own good."_

His foot sank into a puddle, causing him to swear profusely under his breath. Shaking it off, he kept on going, rushing down one street followed by another. After running several blocks and passing many open roads, he then stopped and took a moment to listen out for any would-be followers.

The barking from the dogs had steered away a bit, but not enough to calm his nerves. There was no denying that _Konohagakure_ had the best trackers out of the big five. He knew he wasn't going to be leaving this village's walls without a few scalps.

"_Well… if I don't get out of here in one piece at least I've got one swell consolation prize," _Mizuki mused, allowing a small grin to cross his sweaty face. _"I'm sure that that Team I sent in to snuff out the demon brat has accomplished their mission. Though to what degree I'm not quite sure, but here's hoping that it was painful."_ In his mind he held up a metaphorical sake cup filled to the brim.

He was half right of course. Yes for a fact that it was painful, only that the damage was dealt to the wrong side.

Unfortunately for him, he did not know that.

Hugging the wall, Mizuki peered around the corner of the alleyway he was in and checked the street he had come across. He was in among some apartment blocks with quite a lot of water towers set up on top of the roofs. This meant that the dark space he was hiding in was quite damp and smelled a little foul. It was an ideal hiding spot, but still very unpleasant.

The details he was able to make out of his location meant he was somewhere in the lower multi-residential area on the west side of the village. Good news.

He could lose his pursuers here then make a break for the west gate. All he needed to do was figure out a way to get out from that point.

Mizuki smirked, "If I remember correctly there's a canal that exits out of the rice fields. I can sneak out through the dam's pipelines and follow the stream to a safe distance. That should guarantee a safe passage for me out of this locked-down hellhole."

Adjusting the strap with the giant scroll over his shoulder, he prepared to move out…

The sound of a metal can hitting the ground behind him caught his attention.

Eyes widening, Mizuki spun around and brought his hand swiftly out from behind him, a _Fuma Shuriken_ snapping open to reveal its four blades of death. Dropping low, he prepared to throw it through the shadows cast by the buildings he was pressed between.

However, when he glared through the humid darkness of the structures towering on either side of him with his back facing the open street, all he saw were trash cans, the fallen tin canister in question rocking on the floor from its fall, and the droplets of water running out from the rain pipe some ways down the alley he had come.

A bead of sweat dribbled down the side of his face, his ears picking up on the ominous creaking sounds made by the pipelines along the walls around him.

After several seconds of held breath, the man then let out a sigh of relief and rose to his feet. He snapped the Fuma blade closed and sheathed it onto his back.

"Somebody up high is messing with me," Mizuki muttered, casually turning around, stepping forward and looking ahead.

The next thing he became aware of was the sound of bones crunching and a sharp pain hitting him square in the abdomen. The white haired man froze the moment he felt the stinging sensations suddenly coursing through his entire body, his widened eyes staring into the pale, lifeless ones of another.

At first he thought it was Kabuto smiling sweetly right in front of him…

However, he soon realized that Kabuto's features weren't that feminine.

Amidst his shock, his pupils quivered from side-to-side for a several seconds as he took in the appearance of this strange new character standing before him. She had a well rounded, pale face with a thin jaw line, light purple hair mostly tied up into a bun at the back, with two long bangs hanging over either side of her head. She also wore a light green, full kimono with sunflowers patterned all over it and a pair of glasses with rims only at the bottom.

She was fairly beautiful, the kimono slipping down her shoulders rather skimpily to reveal delicious, smooth flesh of her shoulders and the top part of her bosom. She was quite the eye-candy for a very literary type of girl.

Mizuki however blinked in confusion, "What?"

It quickly dawned on him…

He was supposed to be on the run from the authorities… completely out of sight…

When he checked the streets beforehand, he saw nobody. How the hell did this young woman around her thirties, dressed in striking getup, and standing just half a head below his height, get the drop on him?

It then also occurred to him that she was standing directly in front of him, her face just literally two inches from touching his.

Why the proximity?

Well, the pain in his lower abdomen brought him back around to the fact that he had just been attacked by this woman. Mizuki's eyes slowly trailed down from her face towards his core region.

Right in the middle of his abdominal region, he saw the woman's hand impaling his body with her index and middle fingers extended. Though the strike failed to penetrate the vest and even his flesh, her digits and knuckles were still pressing in quite deeply, right towards the major arteries of that part of his body.

All of the pain he was currently feeling was originating from this very point of impact, and it was really starting to make itself known.

Blinking for a second time, Mizuki looked back up at the girl.

Her sweet smile was still there.

"Y-You… bitch…" Mizuki gurgled, blood suddenly starting to pour out of his mouth like a waterfall. All at once, the man lost all strength in his legs and fell forwards, his hands reaching up and grabbing at the woman's kimono in a last ditch effort to keep himself upright.

He continued to fall while leaning against her, dragging her surprisingly thick robe down with him. While sliding over her large breasts barely covered by a sheet of gauze, leaving a trail of blood smears as he went, something caught his eye.

With his last embers of energy and through his quickly fading vision, he was able to make out, written in black and kanji along her shoulder the name _Sengo._

"S…Sen-go…?"

There was only one person he knew of that he could possibly link that name back to, with the face of that individual bringing about an expression of utter terror to the dying man's eyes. The thought of that person alone frightened him so much that he completely forgot about the fact that he was literally millimeters away from death's door.

"H-He's… returning…?" Mizuki choked out, breathing his last when his eyes rolled into the back of his head and his face hit the ground right in between the woman's two feet with a heavy thud.

His blood continued to pour out of him despite the fact that his heart had stopped beating, forming a pool right next to his lifeless face.

Staring down at the corpse, the woman sighed and pulled her kimono back up to its previous position. She ignored the fact that she was soaked in blood; her top, chest and robes baring the last futile struggles of her latest victim.

With her clothing repositioned, she then bent over and picked up the scroll the man had carried all the way to his grave, snapping the straps holding it to his back to release it into her possession. Once it was safely secured in her arms, she stepped back further into the street from the passageway and laid it out over the ground, unfurling it.

It was definitely a large sheet of paper and weighed quite a bit, but the woman had no problem whatsoever in opening it up and reading out the scripts written upon its surface. She didn't even have to draw it out for too long either to find what she was looking for.

There was only one thing she needed.

Some ways passed the last list of Konohagakure's kinjutsu recorded by the late Hashirama Senju she came across a large seal slapped smack-bang in the middle of the page. It was highly elaborate, requiring some sort of command or combination to unseal it, since it had eight individual seals encircling a four-point seal with blockades on either side. It clearly wasn't something meant to be easy to crack.

There was also a brief description on the side as with every other piece of material listed in the scroll, but she ignored it in favor of the task at hand.

Reaching into her robes, she pulled out a sealed test tube. It was a vial containing a small amount of what could easily be identified as blood.

Unplugging it, she dabbed it onto her thumb before smearing it across the page. Making her mark clear and straight, she then slid away the glass tube and formed a ram seal.

Concentrating, she slapped her hand down on top of the page, the markings immediately lighting up and fanning outwards to form an even bigger seal across the scroll and road. It was so prominent that a person looking on from a distance could see each individual marking cross one another in the circle formed, as the barrier containing whatever it was within it was unlocked right before her eyes.

Moments upon laying her hand down, the releasing of the seal was completed. A great explosion of white smoke erupted from the middle of the seal and engulfed the user, the woman letting out a gasp of surprise at the unexpected blast of vapors. But the entire display was quick, and the fumes that so suddenly enveloped her dissipated on the wind seconds later.

Once the area was cleared, it was revealed that much of the seal had disappeared from the paper, and that the scroll had revealed one of the very secrets its previous owner had so desperately tried to contain.

Lying across the cracked seal just barely underneath the woman's palm, there sat a beautiful katana sheathed in a black, leather scabbard. It didn't look like anything special, just an ordinary sword for an ordinary samurai with white bands all along the handle, and matching gold base and handle guard. However, there was one key difference that set this sword apart from any other like it.

Inscribed on a piece of paper tied ever so carefully at the scabbard's end where the sword entered the sheath, was the name of the weapon itself. The woman's eyes shone when she read the name.

_Yawarakai-Te,_ which translated into _Tender Hands_.

She picked up the sword and slowly rose to her feet, holding the weapon out in front of her and marveling it as if it were the most valuable treasure on the face of the planet.

It wasn't far from it either.

This was something not meant for ordinary men or women to hold, a fact she wasn't at all troubled by. The glimmer in her eyes held a much darker purpose she had intended for this katana, the devilish grin spreading across her lips saying that much more.

"_My Lord will be so proud of me. Everything is going exactly as planned."_

Rolling her fingers around the scabbard, she then held it close to her chest and looked back down at the Chunin she had slain just seconds ago.

Staring for a moment, the woman smiled sweetly, "Thank you for giving me directions out of this village. Your death will not go to waste."

With a bow, she turned heel and started walking away. Half way down the street, her body broke apart into thousands of pink, cherry blossom petals. The petals got caught on the wind and scattered over the entire area, leaving no trace of the mysterious assailant…

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Well, it's coming along better than I expected. The sword is important, there's reason for it.

If you're curious you can look up the name and the sword to see where this is leading, they're from an old Japanese legend.

This story will be sticking with the original story line. There will be the Wave Arc after an initial Arc, like I had for Nightwalker but not the same, and the whole business with the Chunin Exams and Akatsuki will follow the same track. The additional villains help produce conflict for my story and add more to Naruto's life.

Let's see, Dosu is alive, Kin is alive, Kabuto always manages to escape by the skin of his teeth like Orochimaru, and Mizuki is dead after one hell of a chase (like all of Orochimaru's servants, he can definitely run), killed in a manner I thought was befitting for a guy like him. Oh, and you gotta give credit for Naruto. He can definitely take a beating and get back up after it, even with broken bones. It'd still hurt like hell though (close to immovable, but hey, it's Naruto)

I figured that Senju would hide more than kinjutsu in that scroll of his. It sort of took me back to the shot of him fighting against Madara and the Kyuubi in the manga/anime, where he had the giant scroll rolled out with all those swords. This sword is a key piece in the villain's story, something given to the First years ago.

The new girl is a cameo character from the manga _Ninja Girls_ written by Hosana Tanaka, just like how Ran is the main character from the anime _Carried by the Wind: Tsukikage Ran. _I won't give too much away yet, I'll let you try to work your minds around it.

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. More later.


	10. New Home Arc: Q&A

**NARUTO**

**The Art of Appropriation**

_Q&A_

**The next morning…**

**Some way's out of the Land of Water…**

The sound of beautiful flute music filled the air, providing a superb background tone for the surrounding environment as the almighty vessel _Misaka_ passed by yet another collection of islands.

The telltale sightings of land told everyone on board that they were nearing their destination, making those longing for the coast happy and those select few commuters even happier.

Among the passengers who were all too eager to set foot on land once again, the most excited of which happened to be the strange samurai whom very few had spoken a word to since boarding day. In fact, it was at that very moment, with all of his baggage laid out beside him, swords and all, the man in question had comfortably situated himself at the bow end of the ship and was currently watching the ocean as it rolled passed them. With a shakuhachi in hand, he gently blew a delightful chorus that drowned out the noises made by the waves and calmed the seagulls flying around the masts of the battleship.

It had even attracted the attention of the few naval staff on duty and nearby, all of whom had stopped momentarily to listen to him play.

His fingers moved gracefully over his musical instrument, funneling the air that came through and replacing it with a noise that made one's spine tingle. The gentle breeze cast by the ocean rocked against the vessel and caused his clothes to gently rustle, almost in perfect sync with his melody. Even while he played a couple of seagulls fluttered down from the ship's funnels of the superstructure and nestled themselves on the railings beside him.

One even had the nerve to briefly sit atop of his straw hat adorned on his head, but quickly flapped away when it suddenly listed.

Still, the man was undeterred.

While he played on, allowing the day to tick by him without a care in the world, the lone samurai at the head of the battleship seemingly failed to notice Polly Fairclough strolling up behind him. Beneath the shadow of the 12-inch guns towering over them, the lieutenant made her way over to the gentleman and stopped just several feet away from him, being considerate enough to leave him the necessary space he needed to play. Hands behind her, she listened to him intently, becoming entranced in the beautiful piece filling the air.

She couldn't describe it.

Being in the military for quite some time, the woman could honestly say it had been a while since she'd heard something so well composed. All she had ever come to know by heart was the bands that played the marching tunes that her battalion sang to.

To hear a lone flute being played by a stranger who had quite a hand in it was something else entirely.

It made her close her eyes in delight so as to better absorb the music and the feelings that came with it.

Minutes in, the wanderer suddenly stopped in mid chorus. Lowering the pipe from his lips, he raised his head in acknowledgement to the officer's presence, yet didn't bother to turn his head. "Do you wish to inquire about something?"

Hearing him speak, Polly smiled and shook her head, "No sir. The captain just asked me to let the passengers know that we're just a couple weeks out from our destination. If the tides favor us, we should be in sight of the _Land of Waves_ before the end of next week."

The man murmured in response, the brim of his hat shadowing his face when he lowered his head further, "Very good…"

Polly shuffled a bit, running a hand over her ear and brushing away some stray locks of hair that had fallen over her eyes. "That was a very lovely piece. Who is the artist?"

The samurai looked down at his flute, dragging a hand over it delicately as he considered her question.

After a few seconds of thought and as the wind continued to blow passed him, he unexpectedly allowed a smile to grace his lips and glanced over his shoulder at the officer. Even though his straw hat hid his eyes from view, he was still able to see the woman through the gaps in the weave of his headwear.

"Are you familiar with the _Battle of Nagashino_?"

Polly shook her head.

"Well… years ago, the armies under Oba Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu numbering a total of 38,000 men went up against the formidable armies of Takeda numbering around 15,000, most of which was made up of cavalry and relatively impossible to fight in open field. This battle was fought for control over Nagashino Castle, an important point on the map for Takeda's forces because it was located near one of their main supply lines and was a big threat to their convoys. According to Tokugawa, their combined forces managed to fend off and kill over 10,000 of Takeda's warriors, including fifty-four powerful samurai commanders," the wanderer stated, looking further over his shoulder at the listener now starting to appear taken aback. "One of the officers under Oba's command played that melody as the commander himself marched over the battlefield of over 10,000 rotting corpses being eaten away by crows."

The lieutenant furrowed her brow, "I'm… sorry I asked."

The man chuckled, holding his flute out further in front of him in emphasis of the piece, "In my travels of the world I have learned a great number of wonderful songs. Would you like to hear Ludwig Van Beethoven's _Suicide Symphony_? I hear it's to die for…"

Polly frowned and turned away. Now completely put off by the man's strange tastes and regretting ever asking him about the title, she decided to take her leave right now, "No thanks."

She starting walking away, looking presently more uncomfortable then she had been during the awkward conversation seconds before… if you could have called it a conversation. Her inquiry just fell completely to pieces.

However, while she was making her hasty retreat from the scene to… anywhere really, something far over the horizon caught her attention and forced her body to a full stop. Planted to the deck of the vessel just beside the massive bow turret of the _Mikasa_, her gaze fixated itself firmly on that particular point and attempted to hone in on it. It took her a while for even her eagle eyes to make out the indistinct shape across the flat ocean surface, but it didn't take much effort to see the flashing of the signal light coming from the distant object.

Realizing what it was, her eyes widened in shock and she immediately broke into a run. Hurriedly hooking around the massive guns, she nearly ran into her superior officer walking in from the other side. Hands in his pockets and cigarette in his mouth, Corbett suddenly straightened up when his best officer unexpectedly came screaming round the corner ahead of him.

He spun around on the spot to avoid her, "Whoa! Ease up, lieutenant? What's goin' on?"

"Can't talk now, sir! Emergency!"

"Oh…?" the Colonel blinked, watching his soldier make a dive for the starboard stairwell of the superstructure leading up to the bridge at an incredibly fast pace. The man scratched his head in stupefaction, "Well… good luck then… wait…" He then froze when his mind slowly processed the information back to him, "Emergency?"

Polly meanwhile, arriving on the upper deck right outside of the pilothouse overlooking the entire front of the lumbering vessel, stopped just in time to grab the doorframe to keep herself from barreling into the bridge head first. The deckhand transporting documents through the very same outlet nearly dropped everything he was carrying when the boxer whammed her shoulder right into his back.

All officers on station immediately stopped whatever it was they were doing at the arrival of the now panting officer, with the Captain glancing over his shoulder in acknowledgement of the woman's arrival.

Hands placed behind him, Marquis Togo calmly turned towards Polly with a curious glimmer in his eyes, "What's up, lieutenant? Midday exercises?"

Shaking her head, Polly straightened into attention to give the captain a proper response. "No sir. It's a ship: starboard side, horizon line."

Instantly furrowing his brow at the news, Marquis didn't have to waste any more time receiving further details on the sighting. He quickly grabbed the binoculars sitting on the map table and fast marched towards the door, joining Polly out on the starboard side flying bridge. The two of them proceeded down to the very end past the spotlight and began looking out over the ocean.

Spotting the vessel just where Polly said it was, the Captain raised the binoculars to his eyes and quickly started assessing the target for himself. The lieutenant hung back patiently, waiting for any instructions if there were going to be any.

This sighting out in these waters may well be the first hostile forces the crew might end up fighting at the end of the day. She had to be vigilant

Seconds into the investigation however, the two highly concerned officers were then shortly joined by Corbett. Not looking as interested in the situation himself and not exerting as much effort over it as his companions, the Colonel walked up behind the pair of them while muttering about 'fast moving traffic' to himself, and shortly afterwards spotted the offending vessel way out across the blue flats.

Bringing a hand up to his brow to shade himself from the glaring sun, he quickly concluded that it was _that_ tiny speck so far out on the ocean that everyone was making such a fuss about.

"So… what's all the flak about? Am I missing something or what?"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

All the man got was silence, both from the Captain and his right-hand officer.

This made him furrow his brow in bewilderment. "Huh? What's with the silent treatment all of a sudden? Did I do something wrong?"

He didn't need to wait too long for an answer.

Shortly following his inquiry, Corbett was then jumpstarted back into liveliness when the Captain lowered his binoculars and turned to the two mercenary leaders standing behind him with a deep frown in play. The look on his face expressed both concern and confusion, making Corbett and Polly feel a little on edge themselves.

"What is it, sir?" Polly asked.

"Apparently we're not the only forces on a mission to these countries," the Captain stated, beads of sweat running down his face.

"Huh?" Corbett murmured blankly.

Marquis held his binoculars out towards the ship everyone could see over the horizon, "That's the _HMS Hood_ all the way out there."

"What? Britannia's naval forces?" Corbett coughed, spitting the cigarette out of his mouth and stepping forward. Grabbing the binoculars out of the Captain's hands, he too took position and began surveying the silver speck in the distance. This left Marquis free to continue relaying his report.

"It's not just her. I sighted _HMS Repulse_, two other cruisers and a handful of freighters. It's the whole damn 1st Light Cruiser Squadron," Marquis informed.

Polly blinked in surprise, her mind rapidly summing up the ships listed and determining their threat level. "That's enough firepower to mount an invasion of a small country."

"Or lay siege to one," Corbett added, lowering the binoculars and turning back to the captain and his lieutenant. "The capital ship is still hailing us. What do they want?"

Marquis looked over at the Colonel, hands behind his back, "They're asking us the reason for our presence in these waters and what our intentions are?"

"Should we tell them?" Corbett wondered, looking a little more nervous.

The Captain chuckled, "Well, if we don't respond soon they're going to sink us and at this distance I'm not going to gamble that that threat is some sort of bluff."

He got grim looks from both officers.

However, maintaining his cool, the captain of the ship turned towards Polly and gestured her attention towards the lamp fixed to the railing. "I'm not stupid enough to take on the best of Britannia's forces out on open seas and even if I was ordered to I'd choose running as the better option. Get on the light and relay this back: Battleship Mikasa in transport of VIP passengers, Stop. Making berth at _Land of Waves_, Stop."

Nodding, Polly quickly dove for the lantern and turned it to face the vessel over the horizon. Using it she quickly flashed back the response, hoping that her Morse code skills weren't too off. Marquis made sure the message went through and turned back to the foreign ships, relinquishing the binoculars off of Corbett and fixing his gaze back on the Hood.

It took a minute after the transmission for any of them to receive a response and when it did come through, everyone was standing on their toes.

The flashes came fair and true.

Seconds later, upon reading the lights coming in from the distance and watching as they stopped, Marquis lowered his binoculars with a sigh of relief. Supporting himself on the railings for a brief moment, he then slowly turned heel and headed back towards the bridge.

"They're letting us pass, but they want us out of range as soon as possible," the man breathed, with Corbett and Polly parting and allowing him to stagger away. "They're not the only ones nervous about being inside of these islands, and I'm not surprised."

Upon seeing him disappear into the bridge, both boxers turned back to look over the horizon. They could barely see the specks of the ships now, the biggest of which they recognized as the _Mighty Hood_, turning away to let them go on course.

It had been a brief transmission. But this left one question hanging in the air.

"Why would Britannia be all the way out here? These lands have nothing of real value to the empire," Polly said, glancing towards her Colonel now looking more concerned than he had been minutes before. "What do you think, sir?"

Tapping his finger against the railing, the leader of the mercenaries looked back round at his lieutenant, "I think that our nations are finally starting to cross swords with these lesser countries. That's what I'm thinking anyway."

Meanwhile, as both officers contemplated over these rather uneasy thoughts, they failed to notice that the samurai at the very bow end of the ship had gotten to his feet and was now looking out over the ocean, just as they were.

The man with dark hair and wearing the straw hat glared agitatedly across towards the fleet he could clearly see miles away. His heightened senses allowed him to evaluate the threat more accurately from his station alone then the three officers of the vessel he was traveling on.

He frowned deeply as he weighed up the new sightings with his plans, and made an immediate assessment of the situation. His conclusion came within reason…

"These foreign cockroaches are everywhere."

* * *

><p><strong>Meanwhile…<strong>

**Back in Konohagakure…**

**Midday…**

"BLAAAAAAAAAAAA-AAAAAAAHHHH! COOOOLLD!"

That high-pitched, blood curling squeal of horror could be heard throughout all of _Konohagakure_ as its newest resident was rudely awaken by a wave of ice-cold water. Though few people would be able to put that voice to a particular face, one thing was positively clear…

The people who were her charge of charge could definitely put that voice to her face now, especially since two of them were squatting by the wall with their fingers in their ears.

Panting and shaking her head furiously, with the simultaneous actions causing a spray of water to fly off in all directions, a newly awakened Kin looked up sharply from her previously lopsided seated position ahead of her. Through locks of dripping wet hair framing her wide-eyed face, the kunoichi immediately saw the sight of a very familiar, orange covered torso standing right in front of her. Following the stomach upwards, covering the jumpsuit that pretty much hid a majority of his being in god-awful color, the girl's eyes finally fell on the beaming grin of one Naruto Uzumaki.

Looking pretty cheery, the boy lowered the bucket he had used to dump the water over the girl and stepped back.

"Morning sunshine! Hope you're well!"

"W-W-Wha…" Kin looked around wildly, eyes still wide from the cold racking her body, "What happened? W-What's going on? Where am I?"

"At an undisclosed location somewhere inside of the beautiful, sun kissed _Village Hidden in the Leaves_. Don't let the multitude of buildings and the faces carved into our mountain fool you, this place really does have some lovely valleys and forests inside of its walls. Please feel free to explore them anytime soon," Naruto exclaimed, scratching his cheek sheepishly. "Listen to me, I sound like a tour guide."

Kin shook her head, still unable to figure out where she was. The talking, grinning idiot in front of her was getting her nowhere.

It was time for her superb analytical abilities to come back into play and attempt to break down her current situation.

Calming her mind, the kunoichi set about the important task of first taking in her surroundings in order to accurately composite the foundation blocks to her escape plan, if there was going to be any.

So to start off, she was in the middle of what appeared to be a bedroom. That was a brilliant _Point_ _A_. Okay. Now… she was in a chair… or… to be more accurate, she was _bound_ to a chair by rope. It was damn good rope too with a tight knot, she couldn't move an inch.

Well, she hadn't even begun trying to escape yet. She still needed to figure out an appropriate escape _route_ in order for a breakout to be successful.

Tatami made up her present ground surface, with sliding shoji doors placed behind her, to her left and to her right. The translucent paper helped quite a bit with the lighting.

In front of her she also saw a white wall. With the exception of the orange kid standing in front of it, she was also able to make out a rolled up futon pulled over to the side with an additional pillow on top of it and a cabinet shoved over in the far corner. There was also a peace lily sitting in the other corner, an otherwise nice touch to a room bearing no striking characteristics whatsoever, aside from the window in the middle of the wall, which also had a shoji frame blocking off the glass panes and the outside world.

After her rather thorough analysis, there was only one thing that Kin could say about her jail cell…

It was really quite pleasant.

The only things that put her off from her surroundings were unfortunately the few important factors she was currently faced with.

Firstly; she was a prisoner.

Secondly; she was _**THAT**_ person's prisoner!

"H-How are you still alive?" Kin questioned, looking the brat up and down.

For someone who she recalled had been kicked around quite a bit and practically turned into a walking, cut-up, bloody mess by her team, he looked pretty fine. Hell, being brought to the brink of death should have left at least a few facial scars and notable physical abnormalities on his person. However, drinking the youngster in now he looked to be in perfect, packaged condition.

He was dressed in what she assumed was his casual best and gave off that visual air that absolutely nothing bad had happened to him recently.

Her on the other hand, she had bandages wrapped around her waist, chest, limbs… basically everywhere she could see or feel. She also noted that she was no longer wearing the same clothes she remembered putting on before her assignment. Apparently, while she had been unconscious, the same person that had treated her for her wounds sustained in the fight had also replaced her old getup with a pair of sweat pants, a khaki colored, long sleeve shirt and a light yellow jumper.

Of course, _now_ they were all soaked.

"I saw you! You were literally dead on your feet. My teammates should have wasted you," Kin continued, her eyes narrowing on his condition. "Even after that impressive little comeback, you shouldn't have been able to fend off Dosu and Zaku together. It's not possible…"

"Well… I guess I had a lot more to give in that fight then you first thought," Naruto chuckled, still rubbing his cheek nervously. "Honestly, you guys were the strongest people I'd ever fought against besides my teachers and Tenten-chan. If it weren't for my training, I'm positive that your team would have been able to kill me. The only problem was that I had the ability to render your jutsu's effects useless… not to mention I'm great at close combat, dattebayo!"

Kin gritted her teeth at the oh-so casual way he seemed to be approaching her in conversation.

His cheery mood and that smile of his were really starting to get to her.

"What the fuck did you do to my teammates?" she growled, leaning forward a bit.

Naruto gave that question a bit more time for thought, scratching his chin in contemplation. "Well… one of them ran off to God-knows-where and the other is decomposing in a footlocker somewhere on the other side of the village." That was his reply, simple as that. At the same time he slipped both his hands into his jacket pockets and shrugged. "I have to say, your last teammate… what was his name… _Dosu_… yeah… he was _good_. Honestly. Even though I didn't get the chance to fight him one-on-one, I knew he was strong. I'm… sorry about your other friend though…"

Kin's eyes widened at the revelation, "Y-You…"

"Hmm?" Naruto tilted his head.

"You… _bested_… both of my teammates… on your own?" It was a real shock for her to find this out up front. "Nobody helped you?"

Naruto shook his head.

The kunoichi remembered from her ordeal the night before that the boy was indeed no ordinary pushover. That much was clear. But the fact that he was able to bring to heel all three members of her team… _that_ was astonishing. It was common knowledge in amongst her comrades back in her village that Dosu was the strongest out of the lot of them; a boy who was perfectly capable of holding his own against multiple opponents and finishing the mission, no matter what it was. Sure he had been a lazy ass when it came to hauling work, but he was tougher then the pair of them combined.

Then there was Zaku. Sure the guy had a bit of a history of blowing his stack whenever he got agitated and ended up causing more damage on a mission then the rest of them, at least he got results. He was levelheaded to a certain degree and was intelligent, as well as deceptive enough to get through the worst situations imaginable, but whenever he became frustrated he would always bring out his best weapons too soon, which always led to chaos. She figured that it was this chink in his armor that led to his demise.

It didn't take much for her to imagine what really went down the rest of the night while she was asleep.

The person they were supposed to kill, the little brat in front of her, swiftly knocked her out by flinging a massive piece of timber at her and in spite of being exhausted, managed to soundly defeat and kill Zaku, and force Dosu into a retreat. Though the little details were sketchy, she assumed that the plot unfolded in that manner.

Kin furrowed her brow at the youngster in question, "W-What the hell are you?"

"What am I?" Naruto blinked while pointing at himself, unsure if she really meant him in particular. Her hardening glare gave him his answer. "Well… what do _you_ think I am?"

Though it didn't seem like it, he was being awfully indistinct with his responses.

She was an enemy ninja, according to the Hokage's conclusions from last night. This was his first time speaking with one and he had no idea what he was supposed to do. Socializing with his friends was his only prerequisite for this situation.

Kin growled even louder this time, "I'm the one asking the questions here, dammit!"

"Oh," the blonde giggled, grinning widely and rubbing the back of his head. "Well, since you're so eager to find out." Responding as quickly as he could, he struck a cool pose, placing his chin in the groove between his extended index finger and thumb, "I am like a hunter of peace, one who chases the elusive mayfly of love."

…

…

…

Yet another out-of-movie experience…

"THIS ISN'T A JOKE!" Kin screeched, wanting nothing more than to kick the living daylights out of him.

Catching onto the sounds of snickering behind her, the tied up kunoichi glanced over her shoulder.

There, sitting astutely in front of a shoji door and having gone on unnoticed by the young girl up until this point, was a samurai woman and some other lady dressed in a foreign martial arts uniform. Both of whom were looking away with bloated, red cheeks and hands slapped over their mouths, desperately suppressing what could only be assumed to be laughter.

Ran broke the ice first by looking over at the still grinning blonde, "Really? That's the best response you could come up with, Naruto-chan?"

Yim, straining against the urge to laugh, also posted her own comment, "I think it's cute."

"Come on! That's all I've got… well… the best I could come up with on the spur of the moment! And it's true. I'm a shinobi who believes in protecting the ideas of love and peace!" Naruto shouted. It was this 'pin' that was responsible for popping their emotional balloon, the two warriors starting to bawl out with fits of laughter. The blonde's eye twitched as he glared at both of his friends, and after several seconds of listening to them bellow senselessly, frowned and looked away with a wave of his hand. "Well, whatever. I'm keeping it."

Rubbing his head, he turned his eyes back to the kunoichi who was still glaring daggers up at him. She certainly wasn't happy, not even close. Even though she was tied down, incapable of exerting real movement and still recovering from severe injuries, she looked just like how Naruto remembered her from the night beforehand.

She looked like she was out for blood… _his_ blood.

The boy tilted his head in her direction, "What? Are you angry that you're still alive or are you just extremely mad at me?"

"Both…" Kin growled, visibly grinding her teeth together.

"Both?" The jinchuriki was quite taken aback at that answer. _"Wait? When she means both, I think what she really means is that she's pissed at being captured. That has to be it. Ugh… even so… I don't like girls that are angry with me, especially ones who are __**really**__ out to kill me. It always ends with me being punched or something… and it hurts."_

Thankfully, this one was nice and secure.

Even if she _was_ free and able to move about at her own leisure, Naruto was confident she wouldn't be able to deal him any real damage regardless of her state of mind. Healing cracked ribs, a bad headache, a five-star-class, recently operated on broken arm still tightly bound in gauze, and first degree grazes all over her, was proof that Konoha's medical procedures were top notch. They managed to cover everything she had been afflicted with last night, all in about twelve hours.

This was one of the many reasons why a patient under the authority's watch was able to be bound to a chair and not be confined to a hospital bed like all the others.

Reasons as to why shall be revealed shortly…

"What the hell do you want with me now then… information about my village? That's what this is all about? That's why I'm tied up here, right? You want to squeeze 'useful intelligence' out of me, is that it?" Kin growled, trying to yank at her binds but wincing when pain began shooting through her arm again. Not exactly a good thing to do after an overnight procedure. "Why am I here? And where the heck am I? This doesn't look like an interrogation chamber."

She took a moment to look around the room for the third time since regaining consciousness, taking note of not just the blonde haired kid in front of her but also the two strangers seated behind her.

Narrowing her eyes after one quick scope of the vicinity, she looked back at her former target.

"If this is an interrogation chamber, then it's a very nice one. If not, then what the fuck?"

"Okay. First of all, thank you," Naruto smiled brightly, bowing to her. A grin then superseded his smile shortly thereafter. "Second of all, welcome to my new home!" He threw his arms out excitedly.

"Huh?" Kin's scowl vanished, replaced by a bewildered and confused expression. "Wait. What?"

Naruto laughed and spun around on the spot, stepping further back into the room and placing his hands on his hips. "Thanks to you guys destroying my apartment, Hokage-jiji moved me out of the residential area and into the rice fields on the far side of the village. There was an open property that he said was well within my budget, a place where I could start out fresh as a shinobi and continue my growth. What with my personal training regiments and everything, he said the open air would do me some good. Now I've got _plenty_ of room."

Kin blinked silently, gob smacked.

"Oh?"

"Still… it's a pretty long walk to _Ichiraku's Ramen_ from here. Now my lunchtime specials seem so far away," Naruto murmured, rubbing his chin and looking off to the side in wonder. Giving it a bit more time to ponder over, he then shrugged and grinned back at the kunoichi. "Meh. It's like I always say, 'ramen is worth the journey of a thousand miles'!"

Ran sighed with an amused smile, glancing over at Yim sitting beside her, "Noodles for brains…"

"And broth for blood," the martial artist finished.

The two giggled in unison.

Ignoring his two teachers, Naruto sat himself down on the floor in front of Kin, the girl's eyes following his every move. He folded his arms and leaned further forward, his face scrunching up curiously as he took in the girl bound in her seat. This left Kin in a little bit more of an uncomfortable situation, added to the fact that her back was getting itchy and she needed to scratch it real bad.

However, there were certain issues that needed to be addressed and this was to be dictated by the resident of the establishment himself.

"On to business," Naruto began, clearing his throat. "Listen prisoner-chan, I'm going to ask you a few simple questions now and I would appreciate it if you answer all of them truthfully. The people who set this whole thing up for me said that if you cooperate, then not only will you be able to avoid an unpleasant visit to the ANBU Interrogation Department, but you will also be granted a full pardon at the end of the year, pending further investigation into the matter concerning your village. Do we have an understanding?"

It took some time for reality to catch up with Kin, the question coming in a slow ten seconds later to which she responded with a scowl, now able to contemplate the change in her environment, "You're kidding, right?"

"Hm?"

"What? Did Konohagakure take pity on me and ask _you_ to be my interrogator?" Kin snorted, looking away. She couldn't believe it. First he was an idiot, then a gutsy kid who wouldn't go down, then an insanely good martial artist who shockingly managed to defeat her entire team, then was back to being an idiot, and was now playing as _her_ interrogator. To be frank, things didn't seem to be going in the right order for her, "So that's it, huh? Well, since you're a newbie to this game and haven't even been out on your first mission, here's a little something you can take back with you to your bosses: I'm not going to reveal _**anything**_. Period."

"Wha? Really?" Naruto asked, looking genuinely surprised and slightly crestfallen.

"I'm gonna keep my mouth shut no matter what you say or do. I may be a Genin, but I'm still a shinobi. I have my pride," Kin said, shutting her eyes and sticking her nose in the air.

Yim smiled, finding her attitude quite gutsy, though not admitting this opinion openly. Even Ran found her stubbornness to be rather impressive for someone in her position. It was also somewhat of a troublesome trait.

It was considered by the samurai to be such a troublesome characteristic in fact that the robed woman took it upon herself to step in and take over Naruto's part, but was stopped in her ascent from her seat by her companion.

Her attention directed by Yim back to their student, the pair saw him breathe out in an almost consenting manner, before slowly pushing himself to his feet.

Dusting his pants down, the boy quietly and robotically walked around the raven haired girl, in between through his teachers and out the sliding doors. His departure was overseen by all those present in the chamber, with Kin's eyes falling upon the two women still waiting patiently in their places at the entrance.

An uncomfortable silence dawned from that point onwards, occasionally broken only by the creaking of floorboards.

It became so quiet you could actually hear each individual breathing, though this was nowhere near enough to upset the mood set within the room. Kin's glare fixated itself on the martial artist and the samurai, both of whom stared her down too, only with a less confrontational look shared between them.

"Hey," the bound kunoichi greeted with a firm nod of her head.

"Hey," Ran replied, folding her arms and adjusting her sleeves.

Yim smiled pleasantly with peach cheeks and waved in response. This threw the girl off quite a bit, forcing her to look back around rather awkwardly.

Nothing happened for the next minute or so. Anything remotely interesting that could be identified within the room was an almost constant presence of uncomfortable hush and discomfiture. Eventually, the sliding doors behind the two women opened up again and Naruto came striding back in with that ever-present, blank look on his face and preset posture. He swung around the girl in the chair and promptly knelt down in front of her for a second time.

Kin soon noticed that he was carrying a packaging box of some kind. It was slightly bigger then a shoebox and didn't look as though it could hold much stuff, but it was still an incredibly suspicious item. Inside this dull, empty room, it quickly became the most appealing thing next to the youngster's bright, orange jacket.

The kunoichi watched quietly as he laid it out in front of him and resumed a very formal sitting position, hands on his thighs and everything.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

Unable to contain her curiosity any further then a full minute, Kin gestured down towards the article seated between them, "Umm… what is that?"

"Oh? This?" Naruto asked innocently. A small, very creepy smile crossed his lips as he gently patted the container's lid, "This is my 'box of many things'."

"Uhh… okay," Kin frowned, in spite of being fully incapable of hiding the sheer inquisitiveness raised from his deficient answer, "What exactly is it doing in front of you?"

"Well, you know, having been bored and alone for most of my life, as well as being an utter failure both socially and educationally, I felt this incredible need to… shall we say," Naruto breathed in deeply, rotating his hand in front of him as if to find words to continue his calm, almost mono track response. "Occupy my time with some recreational activities that would help keep my sanity in check. As a growing boy, I required certain substances that would help relieve me of my pitiable lifestyle lacking in any real material and human contact, as well as add color to my otherwise black and white reality."

His sudden grammar jump and use of big words was something of a first for Ran and Yim, who blinked silently in perplexity.

"Yeah… _and_…?" Kin replied with her scowl slowly returning as her impatience grew all the more.

The guy really knew how to drag things out and dramatize even the most trivial of moments. She kind of hated that.

Naruto sighed, making note with a pointed gesture, "It then occurred to me around my orphanage days that the best way for me to entertain myself and get attention the fastest way possible, was by wreaking havoc over the entire population of Konohagakure. You know, doing big, daring stunts like… painting the _Hokage Monument_ pink or breaking into people's houses and coating everybody's undergarments in industrial strength liniment. Stuff that would get me noticed…"

"You mean by being a public nuisance?" the kunoichi murmured, cluing on to his examples as to where he was going with this.

"Sure, if you want to put it that way," Naruto shrugged lightheartedly.

"Like I have anything to fear from a little pest," Kin smirked while shaking her head. "You really are hopeless."

Naruto figured she would say something like that…

It was the very reason why the smile on his face grew even wider.

"There's a reason why people are given other names to go by while they're out in public, even though they do sound a little silly from time to time. Most often it's a nickname given to them by their friends, while at other times it's given to them in respect to the amazing stuff that they have done. My academy teacher Iruka-sensei is affectionately called _**Scar-kun**_ by some of the other Chunin because of the mark on his nose that he had gotten in a fight, but _I_ always refer to him as _**Nosebleeder**_ because he spouts a bloody nose whenever he's doing something perverted."

Yim giggled at that reference, whereas Ran just shook her head in disapproval since the pair of them had associated with that person quite recently. Despite this, the tied up girl continued to listen and the jinchuriki continued to talk.

"I also heard Hokage-jiji was called _**The Professor**_ because he'd learned every single jutsu in Konohagakure, past and present. Honestly, I think that name suits him well, because I know he's like… _super_ powerful," Naruto exclaimed while throwing his arms out, before bringing his hands back down and scratching his cheek at the thought of the elderly man.

After a moment of consideration, his mind then quickly backtracked to the main point of the topic that had been brought to his attention by the kunoichi, and the smile on his face replaced itself with a wide grin.

"You shouldn't treat me so lightly either, because like those other two I mentioned before, I was also given a name by the people who know me best. I didn't earn the title of _**Konohagakure's Number One Prank Master**_ for being _good_ at what I do." The grin he wore grew considerably and coaxed a very profound response from the girl, who literally leaned away uneasily at the intensity of his smug expression closing in on her. "I earned _that_ title because I am _VERY_ good at what I do."

"W-Wha?"

"Unlike Hokage-jiji, I'm not feared because of some amazing ninjutsu or special abilities that have earned me countless victories in the field of battle. People are weary of me because of the hell I bring about with me to the neighborhood." Naruto's eye twinkled evilly. "I'm so good at what I do; people can go about their usual activities for some time without even knowing they've been hit."

"R-Really…?" the girl squeaked, her voice starting to shake.

"Years of bringing my wrath down upon every single individual traipsing about the village has given me plenty of time to practice the art of deducing a person's greatest weakness and fear just by looking at them," Naruto exclaimed, laying his hand across the cardboard box and stroking it in emphasis. "This skill is self-taught, something that is unique _only_ to me. It's not just for trickery stuff, but I also realized it can be a great weapon for a shinobi."

Kin gulped, not liking where this was going, "What are you… gonna… do?"

Naruto chuckled. "I may be, as you say, _new_ to this whole shinobi thing, particularly the information gathering aspect, but when I want people to talk… I _get_ them to talk, one way or the other," he exclaimed, placing both hands on either side of the box's lid and slowly lifting it from its host. He made sure to angle the cover so that the contents of the container went on completely unidentified. "So…"

The sweet smile on his face remained there the entire time as he gazed up at the kunoichi.

Kin started to sweat and visibly gritted her teeth in response, not liking where this was going _at all_!

Just as curious over the situation as the next person, Ran and Yim, unbeknownst to the children, craned their heads around to see what their student was hiding in that package he had brought in.

The cardboard lid slid free from its top.

"What will it be? Flame boiled… or grilled?" Naruto licked his lips excitedly.

It was that gesture alone that was all that was needed to finally burst her bubble.

"OKAY! OKAY! I'LL TALK!" Kin cried out, shaking her head furiously and trying to stomp her feet. The pain from her recovery hit her quickly and ceased her movements to an extent, but it did little to asphyxiate her voice, "PLEASE, DON'T BARBEQUE ME!"

Naruto chuckled, lowering the lid back down onto the box and sealing it shut, _"Bingo!"_

Pushing it aside, he cleared up his floor space before folding his arms again and leaning forward with a casual smile in play. The now nervous looking kunoichi started trading gazes between the blonde and the box in question, before her wavering eyes glued themselves on the jinchuriki to assert her attention to the discussion that was to come. There was no way she was going to suffer eternal humiliation and embarrassment at the hands of a brat. No way.

Something more important than the wellbeing of her mind and body was at risk here and that was her pride, nothing else.

The way he was going on about his 'accomplishments on the field' made his abilities sound like a war crime.

"So…" Naruto slowly began, still smiling, "What's your name again? Your full name, I mean."

"K-Kin…" the raven haired girl piped, clearing her throat, "Kin Tsuchi."

"Kin… Tsu-chi? I like it," Naruto grinned, tilting his head in her direction while quickly repeating her name over and over again in his head so to remember it. "Kin Tsuchi? It's a very nice name. It translates to _Golden Earth_, doesn't it? It really suits you."

The girl became genuinely flushed at his immediate and casual compliment, having never received good wishes before without having suffered punishment for them.

She recalled from months past that even after working extremely hard to please her team leaders, praises were rarely given out, since harsh treatment and cold shoulders was a common performance designed to 'build' character in shinobi of _Otogakure_. In order to be acknowledged for a good job, she had to bleed for it. Rough training and completing impossible missions were the only instances she would be recognized for anything outstanding about her person.

Kind compliments for just having a name was an almost extinct practice in the region surrounding the_ Village Hidden in the Sound_. It was kind of weird.

When she realized just how hot under the collar she was getting, she quickly shook the redness out of her face to maintain a more collected composition, despite still suffering some abrasions from his previous 'threats'.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" the jinchuriki exclaimed suddenly, thumbing himself in the chest proudly. "My name translates to _Spiraling Maelstrom_. Although… now that I think about it, my first name sort of leans more towards the stick of kamaboko they use to make ramen." Rubbing his neck, he giggled when he gave it further deliberation, "Still, I think it fits me perfectly! Don't you agree?"

"Y-Yeah…" Kin replied nervously, turning her head away so as to not meet his gaze. _"I only know his name and that's it. Seriously, knowing names is nothing to get excited about. Why is he getting so friendly with me for? It's like I'm already his acquaintance or something."  
><em>

"Oh yeah. What village did you say you come from again? Was it… the _Village Hidden in the Sound_?" Naruto asked while scratching his head, attempting to recall where that place was on the map he studied back in the academy. "Uhh… it's uhh…?"

Seeing the confusion written on his face, the kunoichi decided to help him get to the main point faster, "It's a village located north of the _Land of Fire_, in the country calling itself the _Land of Rice Fields_ once occupied by the _Fuma Clan_, who were all but wiped out by the Third Raikage when their leader foolishly mounted an incursion into the _Land of Lightning_. What's left of their clan now exists under the banner of our village's leader."

The boy visibly perked up at receiving her hint, to which she frowned at when she saw he was being serious. "Tsk, you really are a greenhorn. You don't even know where the other villages are. Didn't you study your geography at all?"

Naruto blinked, a blank look being drawn over his face to replace his inquisitive one, "Green… _horn_?" Looking up, he patted the forehead area of his noggin with his palm, trying to find the aforementioned appendage that wasn't really there. Kin would have face faulted had she not been tied to a chair, so Yim and Ran did so in her stead.

In perfect sync with one another, both martial artists rolled over and hit the floorboards face first.

It was just as painful as watching Naruto struggling, trying to figure out his own anatomy, which got the bound kunoichi more than a little bit riled up.

"God, you are so slow!" Kin shouted, drawing the youngster's attention back to her. "You're a human being, you don't have a horn, you idiot! Honestly!" Panting, she lowered her head again, but kept her frustrated eyes fixated on him. "How did a guy like you ever pass his exams?"

"Well… to be honest, just in the nick of time," Naruto chuckled, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

Not knowing whether or not he was being serious or playing dumb to throw her off, Kin opted for the reasonable course of just waiting for his questions to come. She figured that it was for the best, since this guy was so unpredictable. The best mode of defense in this instance was patience. She would just have to endure it and keep her opinions about him to herself.

"Since I've got your full attention, there is something I really want to know that concerns the incident yesterday that I'm sure you remember," Naruto began again. His expression suddenly became stone cold, a change that threw the girl off a bit from her attempts to renew her composure. "It first appeared to me last night that your team was out to kill me because of some personal vendetta or something? I had no idea why I was being attacked until Zaku told me when he was about to kill me. But after the battle Hokage-jiji said that I wasn't the real mission at all. You guys were just playing decoys."

Kin looked at him in bemusement for a moment till her expression sank to one of negativity and she looked away almost shamefully. It was her head gesture and redirection of focus alone that confirmed Naruto's suspicions, and also attracted his teachers' attentions back to their little Q&A.

"So he was right. The whole thing was a coordinated attack organized by somebody involved with or from your village," the jinchuriki concluded, his eyes narrowing as he mentally pieced together the information he was given by Hiruzen with what he could recollect from his own experiences of the previous night's events. "After you guys killed me and left without anybody realizing it, and Yim-chan and Ran-chan discovered my body, all of Konohagakure's squads on patrol would have been called to the scene to seal off the area and hunt down the culprits. While they were all distracted, including Hokage-jiji, your team leader would have had a free shot at the old man's mansion to steal all of the ninjutsu sealed inside of his vaults. Right?"

The kunoichi looked back up at him upon hearing his breakdown of the scheme. It took her a while to contemplate on whether or not she should actually answer him. However, reviewing her current situation as well as what her jailer supposedly had planned for her if she didn't reply, her restraints broke and she nodded her head silently. She kept her eyes closed when Naruto's expression scrunched up even further into one of frustration.

"_Everything old-man Hokage said was true,"_ the jinchuriki thought, his fists clenching tightly around the fabric of his pants. _"I was just a decoy. Mizuki chose me as the target because he hated me and wanted me dead because of the thing that I'm carrying inside of my stomach; the thing that has caused so much grief for everybody else. Dammit!"_ His grip tightened, with the sounds of his muscles grinding under stress being picked up by Kin, who turned away even more in response. Everyone in the room could only guess as to what was currently going through the boy's mind. _"I was a part of somebody's plot… a target of somebody's hate. If there was ever a time people finally wanted me gone for good and would physically go about doing it, then I guess it's safe for me to say that that time has come."_

Loneliness was the first step in his life. Then came the glares, the isolation, the bullying, and then the verbal abuse. It was about time physical abuse caught up to the list; the first and latest having nearly cost him his life.

Still, in spite of this realization, Naruto was able to look up again, literally. His grip loosened and, with some steady breathing and consideration, he was able to clear his head.

"_I suppose the only way to go from here from now on is up. Time to start climbing towards the light,"_ the blonde thought.

Seeing the averted stare of the girl in the chair in front of him, Naruto breathed out and figured that it was time to continue on from where he had left them. Her silence was giving him a lot of answers, exactly what he had wanted to get from her. Now it was time to move on to the more taxing matters.

"Was there something in particular that your village wanted from inside of the scroll?"

Kin's eyes opened and she looked up at the jinchuriki, "What?"

Naruto tilted his head, arms folding tightly again, "They found Mizuki's body last night in the backstreets of the lower west residential areas. The _Scroll of Seals_ was still with him, but it had been opened."

"W-What?" Kin shook her head, awakening further to this news. "So… he didn't make it?"

"The shinobi who arrived on the scene said that he was killed on the spot. It was a very gruesome death, despite how subtle it was," Ran suddenly spoke, drawing Kin's attention around and to the woman who was still sitting cross-legged and cross-armed where she was by the door. Her foreign companion beside her was also looking just as concerned over the situation as the samurai was. "He died from internal damage. His heart inside of his chest cavity exploded when his chakra circulatory system was forcefully reversed. His body couldn't take the change and imploded in on itself."

Kin cringed at the grisly description of how the main man of the mission was killed. However, that wasn't all that needed to be said.

"The ones who examined the body afterwards said that the technique that was used on him was a taijutsu move called _Seisui Hikou_," Yim explained, expressing her own knowledge of the situation. "Judging from the position of entry of the attack and the effects it produced within the victim, I say that the strike employed against Mizuki was vaguely similar to my country's _Dim Mak_ or _Point of Pulse_; a one-shot kill technique. It's very dangerous, very quick, and very difficult to learn."

Astounded at the bombardment of facts coming in at her, Kin looked back around at Naruto who had also been listening in on what his teachers had to say. Their information and shared experiences were really useful, which goes to show just how much more there was to learn in the world. Of course, while the jinchuriki expected such a response to come from his teachers and friends, the kunoichi tied to the chair was absolutely astonished at just how much had gone on in the last twelve and more hours that she had been unconscious.

Bandaged up, mostly healed from her previous injuries, and aside from all of the work done on _her_, there had also been enough room for a full-blown investigation to be launched, and all in just one night.

"You Hidden Leaf guys may be slow to respond to a threat, but you definitely know your stuff," Kin commented, still looking a bit slack jawed.

"Well, the good guys always show up late," Naruto shrugged with a wide grin, "Maybe it's just bad timing, but _Konohagakure_ still has a lot of amazing ninja." This caused Kin to scowl again, his friendly talk reminding her of her current position.

"What are you trying to suggest from this? That we killed our delivery guy just to get one measly item from the _Scroll of Seals_?"

"That was our first guess, yes," Naruto stated. The kunoichi huffed and looked away with an overshadowed glare.

"Our main objective was the _Scroll of Seals_. My team's job was to draw attention away from the center of _Konohagakure_ so that Mizuki could sneak in-and-out undetected and acquire the item in question. He was then instructed to meet up with our squad leader outside of the village, which was our rendezvous point," Kin informed, glaring back at the boy. "That was the plan in full."

"Do you think your other man killed Mizuki inside of the village and ran off with whatever it was inside of the scroll?" Ran asked, redirecting everyone's attention to her again. "I fought a man wearing strange purple garb and round glasses. Was he a part of your decoy team?"

"Yes, he was our mission overseer," Kin replied, her voice drawing out in a murmur before she turned back to Naruto with a thoughtful look. "But Kabuto wouldn't sink so low that he would kill the delivery boy, he has more sense than that and he certainly wouldn't just take one item from the _Scroll of Seals_, he'd take the whole damn thing for his boss." Her eyebrows crinkled in puzzlement, "What exactly was taken from the scroll?"

"Hokage-jiji wouldn't tell me. But he's awfully worried, he said it was something very important," Naruto said, lowering his head in thought. Kin did so as well, prompting silence to fall amongst them again.

But the soundless environment wouldn't last for very long, since there were still a lot more questions needed to be asked.

"Okay, so we now know that you were hired to kill me as a part of a bigger plan involving the theft of the _Scroll of Seals_, and that both your teams hit problems that prevented the mission from being a success. To be candid, it ended in total failure," Naruto stated, rubbing his chin as he looked the girl up and down. "Not to mention we have another problem outside of your group who stole something valuable from the scroll_,_ and we have no idea who it is."

"A spy, spying on another spy? A thief, stealing from another thief…?" Yim mumbled to herself, trying to make sense of the information laid out over the table. _"There's so much going on around this village that it's nerve rattling. Unlike all of the other nations out there, this one appears to have more enemies than they can even begin to count…"_

"The next question I want to ask you is who organized this whole thing?" Naruto continued, leaning further forward to look the girl in the eyes again. "Was it this creep Kabuto or someone higher up in the food chain?"

"Mizuki planned the attack and Kabuto called us in at his request," Kin murmured. Mulling over whatever other information she had on her that could be considered valuable, she breathed out in resignation and led on, "The _Scroll of Seals_ was on a long list of other valuable items our master still wishes to acquire from this village. I'm not sure what else, but the one behind this whole thing has other plans for the _Hidden Leaf_."

"Who is he, your boss? What's his name?"

"Lord Orochimaru. If you've studied your shinobi history well, then you would know him as one of the _Legendary Sannin_ formerly of this village," Kin stated and as evident by her tone, rather reluctantly. Though divulging this piece of information did send a cold chill down her spine, she could honestly say that she felt a whole lot better when she finally reached the end.

Ran visibly flinched when she recognized the name. Even Yim had to express a bit of concern when she spotted her companion's normally solid posture quiver.

"My master hates Konoha. He wants to see it burn," Kin sighed, shaking her head, "But he won't do anything to it until he has sucked it dry of every last valuable jutsu and secret he can get his slimy hands on."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "So this… _slimy_-maru…?"

"_Orochi_-maru…" the kunoichi corrected begrudgingly.

See. There was no way she could tell whether he was being serious or just poking fun.

"Whatever," Naruto waved a hand, quickly moving on with his question, "Is this guy like… your village leader or something? He's the Kage of the _Village Hidden in the Sound_, right?"

"Yeah," Kin murmured, tilting her head and breathing deeply, "It's a very secretive place. It has a small village as a front for its capital with its shinobi bases spread out over the entire country, so there is no telling where the leader is positioned at any given time. It's not like any other village I'd ever seen, I can tell you that. The houses are poor, it's covered in forests, the whole population is made up of shinobi, and there are no landmarks of any real significance, but it was where I grew up most of my life."

"Did you like it?" Naruto asked, genuinely curious about the place.

The kunoichi shrugged, pondering on that question for several seconds, "It was alright. But the people I worked for were real assholes. Honestly though, I'd rather be living in a place like Konoha. Clean streets, nice people, and you don't have to worry about your 'comrades' stalking you wherever you go." She remembered when one of the _Sound Four_ was charged with overseeing her day-to-day training at one point before being assigned to _Team Dosu_, and having had Kidomaru snooping around every corner for a whole week, watching her, gave her nightmares. The girl shook those memories out of her head so that she could stick to the subject at hand, "Even so, I still maintain my pride as a shinobi for the village I serve."

"You have a strong sense of loyalty," the jinchuriki acknowledged with a smile. "That's so cool!"

Kin got flushed again and tried to keep her eyes off of him, _"Again with the praises. What is up with this guy?"_

Fidgeting a bit, Naruto then calmed himself down enough to focus all his attention back on ending this questionnaire he was having it out with his guest. "This has been fun. However, I have one last question I want to ask you before I go." Once again jolting into reality, the raven haired girl turned to glare back at the boy in front of her, who lowered his head towards her so that his eyes visibly darkened, "When you three attacked me, did you take it as a personal task you felt you needed to settle?"

"Huh?" The kunoichi looked at him in puzzlement.

"Last night, when you came at me with the intent to kill, did you feel any hate towards me at all?" Naruto frowned, breaking down the question for her. "What I want to know is whether you wanted me dead just to satisfy yourself, that you viewed me as something other than a person? That's my question."

Finally catching up, the girl frowned and turned away. Whether or not she wanted to look at him to answer was beyond everyone in the room. However they could tell she was feeling incredibly conflicted at the question and was greatly considering it.

To their surprise, it didn't take her long to settle on an answer and she looked back towards Naruto with what he saw was a softened gaze, "My first thought of you as soon as I saw you walk in through the front door of your apartment was that you were just an ordinary kid," Kin began, making sure she was facing him completely when she said that and with absolute confidence. "I had no idea who you were before the mission specs were given to us and even after we confronted you I had absolutely no clue as to what kind of person you really were. In truth, I can say without a doubt that I was more than a little bit impressed after seeing you get back to your feet after watching you get beaten into the ground twice."

Having not expected to hear this from a person who had previously been trying to kill him, Naruto tilted his head in response. He kept a weather ear open for anything more she had to say, which was in a surprisingly substantial amount based on the words she continued to express.

She was being incredibly open with herself, more so than he had been expecting from a fellow shinobi. He had always considered outsiders from other nations to be more tightlipped than informal. It made the blonde think that perhaps his threat of exposure to his toxic hands of disaster upon the girl were really more potent then what he had previously been given credit for.

Kin gave him a small smile of amusement, "You were tenacious and, even though you acted rather strangely… borderline idiotic, I could see you were smart… _combat_ smart. The fight that you gave me is proof that you could pull off both of these qualities even when faced with impossible odds. Though I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't frustrated or pissed off at you for beating up on me and my team, there is one thing that I can say outright with absolute certainty and that is that I didn't hate you one bit, before or during our fight."

The blonde blinked, smiling slightly when he heard this. The girl recoiled at his pleasant grin and turned away defiantly.

"Though I did 'hate' how you were so good," Kin muttered disapprovingly. She wasn't afraid to admit it either. This was something common with shinobi who took pride in their abilities. Seeing somebody else make an absolute mockery of their techniques, did kind of have a particular sway about a person's emotional state. "I have a right to choose whether or not I want to loath or respect another person's abilities, it's my nature. I may also come off as a bit of a sadist every once in a while, but that's also the way I am. I can't help it."

And that was that. When she had her mind set, she had her mind set, but Naruto wasn't complaining in the least.

"Well, I can't argue with that!"

He just continued to smile pleasantly as he rocked on the spot from side to side. Satisfied with the answers he was given he then jumped to his feet unannounced, catching Kin's glance when he started approaching.

Coming to a stand directly in front of the girl, he bent down and grabbed the bottom hem of her jumper. All of a sudden he pulled it, along with the shirt underneath it, straight up, earning a shriek from the kunoichi when her stomach, bellybutton and all, were exposed.

Thankfully he stopped just below the bra and gauze wrappings.

"W-W-WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING NOW?"

Of course, while Naruto would have normally wagged his eyebrows and blushed like a cow at the smooth, ivory skin of the girl's stomach, he thankfully had the right state of mind to reframe from doing so. Instead, he decided on the mature course of action and pointed towards the strange, purple, rectangular-like patterns encircling her abdominal region. They snaked around her like a bind and disappeared upwards under the rest of her shirt.

This was something Kin failed to notice before, since she was fully clothed and could only concentrate on her immediate situation then the rest of her body's condition. Immediately upon noticing the foreign seals, she too began staring down at them in sheer bewilderment.

"Do you see these tattoos crisscrossing your skin?"

Kin blinked, "Y-Yeah…"

"The shinobi prison of _Hozukijo_ kindly provided our village with the key and lock to the chakra seals now painted onto you," Naruto stated with a proud smile, looking up at her. "It's a technique called _Fire Release: Heavenly Prison_. Incredibly difficult to break without the key, it prevents the user from molding chakra to any extent whatsoever. I'm told that this formula is the best."

The girl looked incredibly concerned now. She was not only physically bound to this chair but was also chained metaphysically, with that thought in mind making her feel rather vulnerable. A moment in which she could not call upon any chakra at all was something she had never given any thought to in the past before.

There was no way she would be able to escape this village now, not with these things tied around her.

Naruto sighed, lowering her shirt back down over her stomach and getting a good look at her now red face. She wasn't just shaken at this point but also infuriated. The boy rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Sorry about that, I should have asked first. However, I knew you were going to find out sooner or later, so I figured the easiest way to break it to you was by showing you up front. I really hate the subtle stuff."

"It's… f-fine," Kin huffed, her voice reduced to a murmur. "It doesn't matter. All I want to know now… is… w-wh… what exactly does this thing mean for me? What's going to happen to me?" Stare averted and cheeks glowing, she kept her eyes off of the jinchuriki.

Still clearly stressed over the shocking 'reveal' as well as knowing that she was permanently stuck in this village, she had this feeling that there was no way things could get any worse for her. Sure there were no windows left open and she couldn't get out, but that also meant that nothing else could get in either.

Right…?

"Next you're going to say I'll be thrown into a cold, dark cell with no chakra, no means of entertaining myself, and no outside contact? I'll be completely cut off as if I never existed, right? That's how you Konoha people work, isn't it?"

"No. That's not what I'm saying at all," Naruto stated quickly, waving his hands in front of him with his grin returning full-force. He had a right to be smiling about this. After all, how often did this happen in an everyday person's life; to be on friendly terms with an enemy and a beautiful girl around his age at that? He was hoping he could change that a little, if in the slightest with what he had planned.

What came out next he spouted without a moment's hesitation, "You're gonna be living with me!"

…

…

…

It took a few seconds for that announcement to sink in and when it eventually did the audiences within the room was able to watch as Kin's eyes widened sharply and her pupils shrunk into a full-blown, priceless reaction shot. Yim and Ran were worried that the young girl would snap her neck by the way her head suddenly shot up towards the blonde to stare at him. They were relieved that it didn't. Still, her response came as just as much of a shock to them as did the proclamation that hit Kin in the first place.

"WHAT? L-L-LIVING…WITH _**YOU**_?"

It seemed out of the question. She was supposed to kill this kid or be killed _by_ him! That's how scenarios between enemy shinobi worked!

Living together?

This made no sense whatsoever!

Naruto nodded, continuing to grin from ear to ear. Throwing his hands out he gestured towards the interior of the paper-like room they were confined to, "In contrast to a lowly prison cell beneath the village of _Konohagakure_, out _here_… you're allowed all of the freedom that you could want. We're all the way out in the rice fields, so there are plenty of places you can walk about. Basically the village's perimeter wall is your limit, with the only restricted areas being the training grounds, the academy, and any classified spaces within Konoha… though I have _**no**_ idea where those are."

"…"

"…"

'Blink.'

Taking that as her understanding of that rule, Naruto moved on, placing his hands on hips, "In addition to these boundaries you'll also be watched over by an undercover agent of Hokage-jiji's at all times or by one of my teachers. Oh yeah, that reminds me." He then pointed over the girl's shoulder towards the two women, both of whom waved back at her with casual smiles drawn over their lips, "Introductions; the samurai lady over there is Ran-chan and the martial arts lady next to her is Yim-chan. They're not from this village so treat them nicely."

The kunoichi stared at the odd pair, before then looking back up at Naruto to see him beaming down at her almost excitedly. Obviously he was taking this whole thing infinitely better than she was, as noted by the owlish expression on her face.

For the briefest of moments, Kin thought to herself that this whole thing was just some big, sick joke intended to get her hopes up and then he would just unexpectedly slit her throat. That sixth shinobi sense of hers told her to always expect the worst in any situation, making her curse herself for thinking things couldn't deteriorate any further. She had to stay on guard!

However, no blade ever came… no wire to strangle her, no flower bag to cover her eyes… no nothing! This left the raven haired girl sitting there wondering 'how the hell did I get into this mess'?

Naruto leaned in sharply, causing Kin to lean away in surprise, "I asked Hokage-jiji to set this up for me because the three of us didn't like the idea of _you_ being sent to ANBU headquarters to be locked up and questioned in solitary confinement the moment you were deemed fit to leave the hospital, which would have been tomorrow. They wanted to get you fixed up quickly for processing, so they had half of the hospital staff working on you the entire night. After most of your injuries were healed up, jiji signed the papers and had you moved over here. I think this way is better because we can watch over you while also letting you do what you want, dattebayo!"

Kin blinked again, nodding her head in silent understanding. The jinchuriki straightened up and pointed around the chamber they were in for the third or fourth time that day.

"Since you'll now be living here under my roof, I _also_ have some rules you need to remember," Naruto began, holding up one finger for each of the following points, "The room we are now in is _your_ bedroom. You can do whatever you want in here. _My_ room is right next door to yours and it is strictly off limits, with the exception of important errands and messages. There are also three other bedrooms, a kitchen, a dining room, a lounge room, a bathroom, a couple of storage rooms and two toilets. You may use the other rooms at your leisure with the exception of the bedrooms reserved for the other residents. Finally, to ensure that my new home will last me this time, there will be no smoking, no littering and _no_ explosives. I don't want a repeat of yesterday." With that said and done, he smirked down at Kin, "So… do we understand one another?"

Had the girl had any other conscious thoughts going through her head, her response to his final question would have probably been like, 'I don't think I will ever understand you… ever.'

Since she was unable to do anything else other than register to the boy's speech, the kunoichi instead nodded silently, still at a complete loss for words.

"Good. Then welcome and have a pleasant stay," Naruto sung, turning around and reaching down to collect his box from the floor. Once it was in his hands he proceeded to vacate the room as quickly as possible to leave the girl to her devices.

However, just as he was passing her by in full stride and eager to get out of her hair, the raven haired girl turned to him quickly, apparently not done dealing with him just yet, "Wait!"

Her shout caused Naruto to jerk to an immediate stop.

"I… I just have to know…" The girl gulped, her eyes quivering when the blonde turned towards her with a look of innocent curiosity. Anxious and unsure of whether or not she wanted to proceed onwards from this point, Kin slowly trained her eyes down towards the box the boy was holding; the very thing that was responsible for cracking her open and making her talk so freely in the first place. "W-What… did you have in there?"

Surprised, Naruto let out a light chuckle and simply popped the top off of the cardboard container, as opposed to his previous, dramatic revelation beforehand. Sliding the cover under it, he then pulled out a book. The thick piece of literature fit inside of the box perfectly, making it look to everyone else in the room that there wouldn't really be anything else inside along with it.

When he pulled out the book the blonde placed it on the girl's lap. Kin's astonished eyes never left its cover.

"Just the stuff that had people look my way when I was all alone," Naruto smiled, sealing his box shut. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a kunai and with a few quick slashes behind her chair, cut the ropes binding her. The restrictions fell away, allowing the girl's arms to slump at her sides when free movement was returned to her. "If you're still wondering what kind of person I am, then feel free to read it."

Pocketing the knife, Naruto left the room. Yim and Ran rose to their feet and left before him, making sure to keep the door slid open just for him when he finally exited through it. The young jinchuriki stopped and looked back momentarily to see that Kin hadn't moved an inch from her spot, and was still staring down at the book resting on her thighs. He gazed at her for a while, watching as she slowly picked up the hardback to get a better look at it before smiling to himself and closing the door to leave her at peace.

When the jinchuriki turned away from the shoji to begin proceeding down the white corridor of his new home to follow after his teachers, he spotted standing just several feet from the entrance to Kin's room with her back against the wall, a tall woman with spiky, purple hair, wearing a mesh top, orange mini-skirt, shin guards and a trench coat. Arms folded and eyes closed with a dango stick hanging from her mouth, the stranger looked up when she heard the boy finally leave the room behind him.

Smiling at the sight of her, Naruto slowly approached with his box firmly in hand. He stopped only to acknowledge her presence and to inform her that his job was finally done. "Did you get everything you needed?"

Anko nodded, "Confirmation, story and cause; definitely substantial information to make my report." The woman looked down at the small fry, rolling the stick around between her teeth when she made eye contact. "We'll keep a close watch on her and study her day-to-day activities. I'll also arrange for Inoichi to pop in tomorrow to do a humane scan of her mind to ensure she isn't confining anything else from us. He'll probably set appointments up for her to see his wife to pop in every now and again to check on her mental state, just to see if she's coping with her environment. Being under house arrest in an enemy village can be really taxing on a person's mentality, especially for a Genin."

Naruto smiled happily at this and nodded, "I understand. Thank you."

A grin then suddenly sprung up on Anko's face as she looked directly into the innocent gaze of the boy's, seeing that he was still glowing as brightly as before. She removed the stick from her mouth and pointed at him with it, "You certainly have a way with people, gaki. Ever thought of pursuing a career in ANBU?"

Almost straight away upon hearing her suggestion, the jinchuriki waved a hand and shook his head, "Nah, there's too much red tape and gore; I don't think I'll be able to stomach it. Besides, I think I can make much more of a difference where I am by just working hard on my own terms and being open with the people I meet. Wearing dark stuff isn't really my style."

The woman shrugged, slipping the skewer back between her lips. "Suit yourself. Still, if you ever need a recommendation for a position, just ask for me. I'm sure I'll be able to get you something nice, steady and comfortable." Anko winked at him, earning a bit of red cheeks in return for her 'generosity'.

Finding her current expression to be a little bit prickly in a sense, Naruto grinned nervously up at the strange lady, "S-Sure. May I ask… what's your name?"

"Well kid… you can just call me Anko-chan," the kunoichi replied heartedly, pushing off of the wall and turning to him with shocking amounts of energy behind each of her movements. Leaning over, she stuck her nose just inches from his, the intensity adorned on her face making the boy lean backwards in a daze. The woman grinned at his expression of bewilderment, "Since you're so 'affectionate' towards your other residents, I'm sure you can make an exception for little-old me?"

Keeping herself from laughing outright, the purple haired ninja straightened up, spun around and began marching off. Naruto remained exactly where he was, still shocked into silence by the kunoichi's forwardness and his face projecting that clear 'deer caught in the headlights' look. All he could do was watch as she strolled away, waving over her shoulder before disappearing around the corner, "Good luck and see yah around, gaki."

Naruto's expression became squinted when the woman finally left his sights. His legs suddenly gave out under him and he threw himself at the nearest wall, slapping his hand against it and using it to support him as he slumped over, sweat pouring down his face, _"T-That lady… I've met some scary girls in my life, but __**that**__ … even though she just looked at me, she scared me half to death!"_

OOO

Back in the room, Kin was still locked in a state of complete and utter bewilderment. Her muscles and vocal chords were pretty much stunned into silence.

In terms of reality hitting a homerun by using the person's head as the ball, this shot had some good distance to it. It went beyond the fields and into the highways a couple miles away, definitely a record breaker. The actuality that the contents of the box did not contain any sadomasochistic equipment or torture devices the brat secretly got his kicks from using, was the biggest hit to her emotional state she had ever sustained.

"_He… was bluffing?"_

She got terrified over nothing! The cons he had been packing in terms of their contents shouldn't have had so much of an effect on her, but despite this he still managed to get her to talk. This made her think that perhaps it was the person she was _communing_ with that got her to open up so easily was the reason she spilled the beans so quickly. He didn't even need to exert any effort whatsoever when concocting his story.

Not only was he easy to talk to, but he seemed like the kind of person who would actually follow-through with a threat, which may have been the knockout punch that got her in the end.

The box held a book. Big surprise. But what was inside the book was the current question needing to be resolved. The boy seemed to carry this like some sort of precious heirloom; the fact that he had it hidden away inside a box in the first place was also something of a mystery.

Feeling the need to once again answer her egging curiosity, Kin kicked the rope off of her feet and after making herself comfortable, opened up the book.

It came as an additional surprise to her when she saw that the book was in fact a journal filled with photographs. Though it wasn't something unusual for a child of his age to possess, the thing that made this collection so different from any other was that it wasn't some ordinary family album or montage of memories. It was filled with random pictures of himself committing his so-called 'atrocities' all over the village of _Konohagakure_, with wide shots featuring each of the incidents in full.

The photos looked as though they were slapped onto the pages at random, in numbers of two or three per page. However, looking at them closely as well as taking in the descriptions under each of the photographs, the whole album seemed to be arranged into chronological order from when he first started his various escapades to his latest ones.

It was quite amusing, particularly since he had also included little footnotes, personal comments and doodles on the sides. This journal was an example of something a notorious prank-master would indeed have in his possession to scribble in during his free time.

Nevertheless, in spite of her current thoughts, it seemed as though her 'jailer' practiced this footnoting and referencing rather discreetly.

Spurred on, the kunoichi followed the plotline of pranks the young jinchuriki had initiated over the years from the very minor ones to the most extreme ones of late weeks past. The first several images showed how he first got into the gig, where he started constructing his little schemes and practices… with some minor setbacks every now and again.

There were the failures and successes, the most basic ones to the overly complicated. There were also the memories detailing the most self demeaning actions and those that hit their mark dead on, and made a laughing stock out of particular individuals. Then there were also the sequences in which his targets weren't just regular people or shinobi, but also the village as a whole.

From bathhouses to the God-damn monument itself, this kid looked as though he had been everywhere and done everything according to his logs.

Judging from a lot of the material he had kindly provided for her, Kin came to the startling realization that she did indeed have a right to fear his previous threats.

However, now that she was out of it and recounting his past deeds head on, the kunoichi experienced a completely different reaction to his incredible skills in regards to pulling embarrassing tricks and treats.

Kin smiled.

That grin of hers then soon turned into giggles, which then transcended into full blown laughter. Though it wasn't something she would normally do, the girl allowed this sensation of laughing to overcome her completely, holding in her sides while gasping for air. The truth was, the stuff she was taking in right now, was honestly some of the funniest things she'd ever seen.

Tears in her eyes, the girl slowly boiled her hearty reaction down enough to focus back on the pictures.

Still unable to tear her eyes away, she continued to soak up his little adventures and misadventures of yesteryear.

"_He really is a strange kid…"_ Kin thought, looking down at a photograph of the smiling boy giving the peace sign to the camera after dropping what looked like buckets of lemonade on a couple of delinquents, who he mentioned under the picture had picked on him long ago.

The kunoichi was pretty sure that the stuff _wasn't_ lemonade.

"_The strangest… happiest kid I've ever met."_

She then also realized that _that_ was what her captor really was…

Just a strange kid…

XXX

**Meanwhile…**

**Far outside of Konohagakure…**

Kabuto huffed to himself as he leaned against the side of the tree he was perched in, looking out through the gap in the brush and between the hills towards _Konohagakure_, which was now just a round speck in the distance, including its monument. The man felt that he could safely patch himself up here since he was so far out of the village's main patrol routes, and needn't worry about encountering any ANBU or regular shinobi forces out here.

Thousands of miles of open forests and roads, topped with a high population density, it was pretty hard trying to find one particular person when you had nothing to go by.

However…

"_If they were able to recover my blood from the scene where I fought Lady Ran, I'm sure that even those village simpletons would be able to identify me in their records, not to mention track down my scent if the Inuzuka were to get involved,"_ the spy murmured in his head, wincing when the stinging in his side shot through his body again._ "I'll have to tread more carefully from now on."_

The attack he had received the night before from the samurai felt just as painful now as it had been when she first landed that strike. The scar dug in so deep he found it hard to control his chakra, his occasional muscle spasms _and_ his breathing. Had the damage been inflicted upon him by an ordinary samurai or shinobi, he would have already recovered by now. But whatever kenjutsu technique that accursed woman used definitely wasn't going to go away without a fight.

He had to be content with the pain for now, while trying to figure out a way of fixing the debacle he had thrust himself into.

"_Guess we're going to need to move over to our backup plan," _Kabuto thought again, gripping his side and continuing to glare out across the valleys and forests. _"However, no further action can be taken unless I have confirmation from Lord Orochimaru first. After this catastrophic failure from such a simple mission, there is no doubt in my mind that he will be extremely agitated after receiving my report."_

There was adequate reason for him to worry.

Mizuki was killed by an unknown assailant, the _Scroll of Seals_ was back inside the Hokage's vault, probably to be sealed away permanently, Zaku was dead, Dosu had fled with the strong possibility that he was _never_ coming back to them, and Kin was captured.

Worse still, what has become an even bigger problem for him was that Kabuto himself had revealed his own face, and perhaps to the worst opponent imaginable. He had risked it all fighting it out with Ran in the middle of the village in a hopes of claiming a title victory, but in spite of all his skills and abilities accumulated over his years of being a part of Orochimaru's crew, he had been unable to land even a single blow on the woman.

It was a big shock, both to his mentality _and_ his pride.

Consequently, the incident also revealed two other major issues of great importance to the spy, one: he could no longer function in any capacity as an active spy for his master within _Konohagakure_ without first modifying his outlook, and two: he was able to confirm that the deadly skill of Tsukikage Ran was indeed real.

"_That's not even the half of it,"_ Kabuto growled, rubbing the ridge above his nose in an irritated manner. _"Not only is Tsukikage Ran herself within the vicinity, but there is also that unaccounted foreigner that Mizuki made mention of; someone he made a great effort warning me about. __**That**__ and both of them are currently living under the same roof, and have apparently taken the Kyuubi's jinchuriki as their disciple…"_

He was in deep. Well, to be precise, _they_ were in deep. His master wasn't going to approve of this at all.

Pushing his glasses back up his nose, the medic-nin slowly removed his hand from his face, allowing the light of the sun to filter back onto him. When he did, instead of revealing a predicted look of anger mixed in with deep concern and frustration, all emotion previously fixed on his person had been replaced by a wide, narrow grin on the switch.

His glasses flashed when he lowered his head, his eyes becoming overshadowed by his fringe and making his expression look all the more sinister.

"Outstanding. Things are starting to get a little more interesting around here…"

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

I enjoyed writing this chapter a lot, and the whole story is progressing nicely. There's also a lot going on, and a few more historic aspects I must emphasize.

The once unconscious and injured Kin is now Naruto's resident in his new home (yay), and the next chapter will be the Konohamaru gig with probably team assignments. Hopefully.

The Battleship _**Mikasa**_ (note: I got the name wrong before so I had to edit my chapters) is still steaming along with the mercenaries onboard and the samurai, looking forward to their arrival at the Land of Wave. Obviously, Kabuto is still recovering and, in spite of all the disasters, is enthralled at his prediction of coming events. Now here come the interesting bits.

As you can tell, the famous British Battleship _**HMS Hood**_ and her fleet have been introduced. The story is sort of like a steam punk sort of thing (to all those who've guessed), and though HMS Hood was constructed way after the time of Mikasa, I felt a particular ship would make a much better reaction than some ship that _never_ existed.

Every aspect of my story has characters and names that can be traced back to an original source. The canon characters all have a history behind them, so everybody knows every single _**Naruto**_ character.

**IMPORTANT: **I also use cameo characters. I don't like creating original characters for a fanfic and haven't for this story because you have to explain their history, but since every single character I use already has a back-story and a face behind all of them (particularly the historic characters), you will be able to look them up or know them already without having to write much about them.

I was inspired to use this method of writing a fanfic from the _**Read or Die OVA anime series**__ (which is quite frankly one of the greatest animes ever made)_, in which they actually took historic characters and gave them super powers.

I think it's a good time to review some of the characters and material included in this up to this chapter:

* * *

><p><strong>Characters you may know:<strong>

_**Tsukikage Ran**_: _Main character of the anime series __**Carried by the Wind: Tsukikage Ran**__._

_**Yim Wing-Chun**_: _(Born in China, 1700 AD)_ - _a legendary Chinese martial artist and the first master of the martial arts bearing the same name, a style practiced by other historic figures such as Ip Man and Bruce Lee._

_**James John "Gentleman Jim" Corbett: **(September 1st, 1866 – February 18th, 1933) – Irish-American Heavyweight Boxing Champion, is best known for defeating former Heavyweight Champion John L. Sullivan and his use of his unique Scientific Boxing Style._

_**Polly Fairclough**: (1870s – 1900s) – One of the first women World Boxing Champions, Polly practiced both boxing and Greco-Roman wrestling. She is best known for her exhibition match against Heavy Weight Boxing Champion Jack Johnson._

_**Marquis Togo Heihachiro: **(27th January, 1848 – 30th May, 1934) – Was the Commander in Chief of the Combined Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Russo-Japanese War (1904 to 1905), and was onboard the Battleship **Mikasa** during the Battle of Tsushima in 1905 (you can wiki all of these guys if you want, except Polly who only pops up on Google). The highest rank he attained was Fleet Admiral and was awarded posthumously for his victories. He was also nicknamed the 'Nelson of the East' after Horatio Nelson, the British Admiral who defeated the French at Trafalgar._

_**Azami: **anantagonist from the manga series** Ninja Girls **written by Hosana Tanaka,she was responsible for assassinating Mizuki and stealing the sword from the **Scroll of Seals**._

* * *

><p><strong>Other references:<strong>

_**Battleship Mikasa**: (Commissioned 1902-Decommissioned 1923) – named after Mount Mikasa, in Nara Japan, was a pre-Dreadnaught battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy, launched in Britain in 1900. She served as the flagship for Admiral Togo during the Battle of the Yellow Sea on 10th August 1904 and the Battle of Tsushima on 27th May 1905 during the Russo-Japanese War. It is now currently a museum ship at Yokosuka._

_**Battle of Nagashino: **was an actual battle which took place in the year 1574 near Nagashino Castle in the Mikawa province of Japan. The wandering samurai uses this as an age-old reference to the origins of his song._

_**Suicide Symphony: **also known as the **Death Symphony**, was the name of the music written by Ludwig van Beethoven in the Anime OVA series of **Read or Die**, and was central to the main antagonist's plot for world destruction. When heard, the listener will be compelled to commit suicide._

_**HMS Hood: **(Commissioned May 20th, 1920 – Sunk 24 May 1941) – Also known as the **Mighty Hood**, was the last battle cruiser built for the Royal Navy. She was conceded as one of the finest-looking warships ever built, with her size and armaments earning her the nickname Mighty Hood. She was sunk in the Battle of the Denmark Strait on 24th May 1941 of the Second World War, where she engaged the German Battleship Bismarck. Of the 1,418 crew, only 3 survived._

_**HMS Repulse: **(Commissioned 18th August, 1916 – Sunk 10th December 1941) – Was a Renown-class battle cruiser of the Royal Navy built during the First World War. She was once a part of the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron with the HMS Hood as the lead ship, which toured the world from west to east via the Panama Canal. She was sunk by a Japanese air attack off of the coast of Malaya in 1941 during WWII._

_In the story, Mikasa is a ship used by the Westerners as a transport and battleship for hire, whereas Hood and Repulse are ships of Britannia's naval forces, which is in direct reference to the British Royal Navy and the United Kingdom (which is featured as Britannia in this story), and plays an important role in Naruto's first C-Rank mission._

* * *

><p><strong>Anime References:<strong>

_Seisui Hikou – _Is a one-shot technique used by Myosai Kakouen in the _Ikki Tousen series, _in which the person that is hit suffers paralysis and death after a period of ten days.

_Hozukijo – _is the name of the prison from the _**Naruto Shippuden Movie 5: Blood Prison.**_

_Fire Release: Heavenly Seal – _is the name of the technique used to seal the chakra of the prisoners of Hozukijo in the _**Naruto Shippuden Movie 5: Blood Prison.**_


	11. New Home Arc: Konohamaru! Part 1

**Important:** If anyone is wondering about the area Naruto is living in, try finding and watching _**Naruto Shippuden Episode 238 – Sai's Day Out.**_ The ricefields Sai walks around is the place Naruto is living in.

* * *

><p><strong>NARUTO<strong>

**The Art of Appropriation**

_Konohamaru! Part 1_

**The rice fields…**

Out of all the places in _Konohagakure_ Naruto could have been dropped in, the boy could say he was more than pleased to find himself in this place.

Everything about his new home was just as he had described it to Kin and was almost like how he had imagined clan buildings would be like. The multitude of rooms was spread practically throughout the traditional style country home, with the overall interior and exterior design suited for that regions cultural majority; shoji style sliding doors on all sides allowing easy accessibility to all rooms and to the outside. The whole place looked brand spanking new as well, with freshly painted walls and varnished floorboards in the corridors and walkways, and tatami flooring in the main rooms.

Since Naruto had yet to move a majority of his stuff over from what was left of his ruined apartment, the place was still pretty empty. However, the Hokage had been kind enough to leave the new resident enough basic material for him to get started on his new life, including futons, blankets, pillows, one or two closets, tables, chairs, toilet paper, etc. The rest was up to the jinchuriki.

Upon moving from Kin's room to give the girl some space, Ran and Yim situated themselves outside on the deck. While the samurai sat and polished her sword peacefully, the martial arts master was walking around the front yard drinking in their new surroundings.

The house looked as good on the outside as it did inside. It was a sound structure, with a walkway going around the entire building including the front entrance, a baked-tiled roof cutting over the sides and providing shelter over the continuously running porch, topped with various support columns and solid framework holding it all up. The walls looked to be earthen style, which was best in order to keep the interior cool or warm in the changing climates. They were also painted white, with the support beams and frames painted dark blue, and the roof a traditional red.

The front yard was the same as the backyard, since it pretty much went around the entire house. A dirt footpath led from the front gates all the way up to the front door, which then split and encompassed the whole structure. The majority of the grounds outside were lawn, with a hedge row and pencil pines growing inside of the brush marking the perimeter of the property. There were also cherry blossoms, bamboo and oak trees out back, which were a nice touch to an otherwise plain looking garden.

To the wandering martial artists this seemed like the perfect place to settle down, if either of them _had_ any plans of settling down in the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, both women saw this as something of a step up for their student's livelihood, which they felt he greatly deserved after everything he had been put through.

"This is a very nice place," Yim exclaimed happily, twirling on the spot. She stopped herself by sticking her feet into the ground and, with her arms held out and eyes closed, she inhaled deeply, taking in the scent provided by the wide open countryside. "It reminds me of the small communities I used to visit that were nestled high up in the mountains back in my home country."

"I'm sure they were just wonderful," Ran replied, looking up and across the property. A smile softly graced her lips as she admired the view of the valleys beyond the home's boundaries. "The warm sun, gentle breeze and the lovely, wide-open spaces in which you can lie back anywhere you please and relax is one of life's simple, yet most rewarding of pleasures."

Yim grinned back at her friend, slipping her hands behind her and flicking her legs forward as she strolled about in circles, testing the surface of the lawn. "I can't argue with that. A traveler like you would definitely possess a higher degree of knowledge concerning the most comfortable experiences in life compared to most people. You've had years to contemplate on the matter, after all."

"Too true," Ran smiled, glancing back down to continue polishing her weapon. "However, all of my thoughts and meditation on the idea draws me back to the same conclusion time and again."

"And that would be…?"

"That, unlike others, I choose to walk along on my own two feet, stopping every once in a while to enjoy a good sake," the samurai exclaimed, letting out a sigh as she thought about getting up and grabbing the bottle she had bought yesterday from the kitchen cabinet. However, figuring it to be too much of a bother she simply went on with tending to the condition of her weapon. "Then after I rest I resume walking. Isn't that a good way of living?"

Yim shrugged, yet continued to smile, "You choose to walk the path of tranquility and I choose to pursue the path of enlightenment. Perhaps our views differ slightly on the roads we choose to travel along, yes?"

The samurai's grin widened even further in acknowledgment of her friend's observation. Shortly afterwards though, they then returned to their chores and continued contemplating on their present situation, as well as to further admire the scenery around them.

The place really was a lush paradise in a sense, depending on the person's preferences. Right in front of them beyond the gate was the main road. This took the form of a dirt path that ran right by the property and weaved about over the hills, where it broke off and parted into various other routes at different intersections. From where they were, the two martial artists could see a multitude of small valleys and homes stretching off into the distance, with vegetation taking up a lot of the view on the horizon.

A great bulk of the area before them was flat bedded, which was perfect for the rice fields. Because the rivers within _Konohagakure_ flowed through a multitude canals dug in throughout the village, it was no surprise that this place took on a great amount of water necessary for the crops. Trenches were dug in along the main road to allow water flow during and after the rainy season, and collected in the pools that were easily recognized as the rice fields.

Because of the supply of water out here, it also answered the question as to why it was so green.

Finally, because they were situated further toward the edge of the village, it was no surprise that the massive wall surrounding Konohagakure was clear and visible to all those sitting outside. It was like a mountain stretching across the horizon line from one point to the other.

Heck, it was so immense the observing pair swore they could identify clouds of fog building up at the base of the structure, giving them an idea as to the enormity of the barrier dividing the shinobi community off from the rest of the world.

"_It's much like the great wall back home marking the northern border, only… this barrier seems less imposing," _Yim thought curiously, recalling the stone barricade she once followed about a year or so ago.

While the two warriors sat around in quiet contemplation, the sound of footsteps impacting on the porch drew their attention back towards the home, where they saw Naruto making his appearance. With his arms stretched out above him and a satisfied expression on his face, he arched his back and extended his chest out, welcoming the rays of sunlight that fell upon him.

The two warriors saw that he had changed out of his usual clothes and was now wearing something a little bit different; an orange jumper of sorts with blue short sleeves and a hood, and army green fatigue pants with leg cuffs that stopped at the shins. His sandals were the same and he looked like he was fresh out of the shower. If it weren't for the metal protector he was wearing proudly over his forehead, they would have most likely mistaken him for an ordinary kid.

Basking in the sunlight, the blonde sighed and placed his hands on his hips. He looked over at Yim and Ran to see them staring at him, and in response grinned widely in their direction, "Pretty cool, huh?"

After receiving their nod of agreement telling him that they were happy, he then stepped down from the porch and onto the footpath. Hands behind his head, he started towards the front gate. "I'll be in the village for a bit, I need to get my photo taken for my official shinobi profile. I can't become a Genin if I don't have a current photograph for my file."

"Okay, Naruto-kun," Yim exclaimed, watching the youngster stroll by at a hurried pace. "You don't need to worry about us. We'll hold down the fort here."

"Thanks, Yim-chan!" The jinchuriki waved, turning back and grinning at his teachers.

With a cheerful laugh and a hearty goodbye, the boy legged it, clearly wanting to get the rest of his day started as soon as possible. The two women could only smile proudly as they watched him disappear over the hill and around the bend, leaving them in charge of his new home.

"That's Naruto-kun for yah," Ran replied with a small smile, resuming polishing her sword. "In my eyes I can see that he chooses to follow the path of happiness and self-improvement. Right?"

Yim nodded in agreement, turning back to further explore their new home. While she was aimlessly following the dirt track leading back toward the house, her eyes gazed upwards suddenly, just in time for her to see Kin standing right in the middle of the porch entrance's sliding doors. The shoji were pushed wide open, allowing the kunoichi a perfect view of the outside world, as well as providing a clear window for Yim to catch the emotionless look currently drawn across her face.

Her eyes were averted in the direction Naruto went off in. Realizing he was gone, the girl looked back towards her 'keepers', both of whom were scattered around on the deck and yard.

At first the martial artist simply stared back at the younger girl, puzzled by her presence and her mood. Yim then smiled and waved her way, hoping to coax a positive response in kind.

This did little to improve the girl's current disposition. In fact, it seemed to put the kunoichi off even more. Kin turned away and disappeared back into the house without any acknowledgement toward the martial artist whatsoever.

The traveler blinked, "Hm? Was it… something I did?"

Ran shrugged, running her cloth along her sword in a clean sweep and stopping at the end. "I can imagine she is still upset and discomforted by her position. The first couple of weeks are going to be really tough for her."

Yim nodded, crossing an arm in front of her and resting her elbow on it while taking hold of her chin in a thoughtful manner. "Hmm… I wonder?"

"Oh dear," the female samurai looked up from her activity to stare at the woman with a serious expression in play. "What kind of evil scheme are you concocting now?"

The martial artist didn't react immediately to the question, since she was giving the whole thing further thought. After a few seconds, she then smiled in obvious triumph and exchanged her companion's scowl with a delighted grin. The Ronin leaned away in surprise.

"How about we do something about that?"

Ran blinked, "Huh?"

XXX

**Sometime Later…**

**The Academy…**

Naruto smiled brightly as he sat before the Hokage in the _Shinobi Registration Office_, in a room established somewhere in the _Administrative Department_ of the main building. The boy rocked in his seat from side to side, visibly expressing his delight in the most subtle way his body was capable of. This was something Hiruzen Sarutobi was grateful for. Unlike all of the other times when the boy found himself in his presence, this time he was rather tame.

"I take it you're happy with the arrangements?" the elder exclaimed, guessing where all of that bottled up excitement was coming from. He held up the profile document Naruto had filled and handed to him earlier, patiently waiting for a response from the youngster.

As expected, the blonde nodded his head vigorously.

"Yeah! Yeah! Thank you _**SO**_ much, oji-san! Seriously, words can't tell you how grateful I am for everything you have done for me. I don't know how I can possibly pay you back."

The Hokage chuckled, breathing puffs of smoke from the pipe hanging from his mouth. "Your thanks is more than enough, son."

Naruto bounced forward with his chair, still holding that same level of energy that he had when he first stepped into the chamber, "But jiji, there's gotta be something more I can do for you! It doesn't feel right taking so much and giving so little in return."

Shaking his head, the old man raised a hand and waved it in a manner that would help settle the intense rays of light wafting off of the boy. The jinchuriki stopped fidgeting enough to see the warm smile the man sent back at him. "If you feel that you still need to give me something in return for helping you then please, continue working hard the way you are now, not just for yourself but for your village… for _Konohagakure_. I believe that your efforts alone will be everything I'll ever need to assure myself that any debt that you may have is paid back to me in full."

Blinking in perplexity for a brief moment, the blonde then grinned widely and nodded, "Okay, jiji! It's a deal!"

Hiruzen chuckled, using his thumb to lift his wide brimmed hat up a little to better view the registration form Naruto had handed him.

It was all there on the introductory layout: name, honorable profile mention, registration number given after the graduation ceremony, birthday, height, blood type, everything. The elder had to admit the youngster had indeed been both thorough and mature when filling in his formal document… this time at least. It gave him something even more to smile about this lovely afternoon. Not only was Naruto conforming further towards industry standards while also maintaining his own individuality that made every shinobi of Konohagakure unique in their own way, but he was also growing well.

That much was clear.

Now, how was the boy able to maintain his own identity in this instance? Well, the answer was simple. Aside from the available space on the document allowing the applicant to write in whatever they felt best described themselves along with whatever interests they wished to share openly with the reader or container of the document, there was also the photo space. So far, the students who had handed in their profile documents had had very basic photos taken and clipped to the manuscript; just three-quarter or profile shots with no ridiculous poses or faces pulled.

Naruto was between the abovementioned. Not only had he taken a three-quarter picture but he had done it in his own way. Orange jumper visible and his characteristic grin in play, Naruto held his fist out towards the camera, head tilted all-cool style. The photo showed his good side and the pose, well… it was acceptable.

Heck, Hiruzen remembered his former student Jiraiya had struck a full-pose in his registration form, hand extended towards the camera and the other hand held back, as if he was surfing.

Things were the same with that man today as they were years ago and it made the elder smile in amusement.

"_I wonder what else from my old student has skipped a generation and landed in Naruto-kun's personality,"_ the Third sighed, shaking his head and lowering the paper. Deciding to dwell on that thought later, he smiled up at the still grinning blonde, "It's all in order, son. You may go now."

"Awesome!" Naruto exclaimed, hopping onto his chair before jumping off of it like a monkey. His boundless energy quickly took him all the way to the exit, giggling and hopping.

"Remember, team orientation takes place next week in your homeroom. That means you've got a whole seven days to mentally and physically prepare yourself," the Hokage said quickly, making sure his words caught up to the boy before he vacated the premises completely.

Slipping his fingers around the handle of the sliding door, Naruto smiled back at the village elder and nodded, "Sure thing, oji-san! Thanks a lot!" With a salute and a wave, he was about to make a gracious retreat out of the room when something on the other side of the barrier caught his attention.

The Third seemed to catch onto this exact same vibe and just as Naruto before him, glanced towards the door.

His curious stare turning into a glare, the jinchuriki stepped back just in time to see the entry suddenly fly wide open. From the other side, a boy wearing a yellow shirt with the Konoha symbol emblazed in red upon it, as well as grey shorts, a long blue scarf and a helmet adorned on top of his head, suddenly came barreling in with a shuriken in hand.

The flash of the weapon drew Naruto's eyes to a possible threat and he reacted immediately.

"OLD MAN, I CHALLENGE Y-!" The boy never got to finish his declaration of war when his right arm holding the ninja star was suddenly grabbed and twisted.

The smaller juvenile cried out when his arm was unexpectedly locked up behind his head, forcing him to release the shuriken from his grip. Disarmed, he then had his shins kicked forward from behind, resulting in him being brought to his knees. He was then pushed further forward with little effort, putting him in a very vulnerable and painful position.

"OW! Let me go! Let me go!" the child shouted, his tightened face showing exactly how much pain he was in.

Unable to move without straining his arm, the boy stopped his struggling when he felt a fist press up against his face.

Naruto glared down at the would-be 'assailant' he had successfully managed to disarm before he could even make it three steps across the room. He continued to hold him there while he assessed the overall situation, before looking up at the Hokage to see the old man staring down at the younger boy calmly and contemplatively.

His current expression though expressed a mild degree of annoyance.

"Konohamaru, what are you doing here?" Hiruzen breathed.

Wincing, the child glared up at the elder, "I… I came here to fight you! To ch-challenge you for the title of… Hokage!" Growling against the hands binding him, his eyes then turned towards the blonde haired boy behind him, "OW! LET GO OF ME ALREADY!"

"Not until you say _uncle_," Naruto replied blankly.

"Huh?" The adolescent's arm was then twisted some more and the pain in his joints became all the more prominent. Konohamaru cried out sharply, "OWW! Okay! Okay-Okay! Uncle! _Uncle_!"

At that admission Naruto released him, allowing the younger boy to fall forward onto his hands and knees. Sliding his own hands into his pockets, the jinchuriki breathed out a sigh of relief as he watched the child pant away and catch his breath.

While he was recovering from the one-sided grappling contest, the blonde then turned his attention to the shuriken the youngster had brought in as his 'weapon of choice' for the mission. He squatted down and picked it up, rising to his feet to look at it more closely. It didn't take him long to determine that it was just an ordinary throwing weapon, which he then twirled between his thumb and middle finger before scowling down at the winded child.

"You shouldn't be running around waving pointy objects, you idiot," Naruto stated, seeing the boy look up at him painfully in response. "It's dangerous. You might end up hurting yourself or somebody else entirely."

Registering to the fact that the teenager was holding _his_ shuriken and realizing that _he_ was the one that stopped him earlier, Konohamaru reacted immediately. He jumped up and angrily attempted to make a grab for it. At the same time Naruto stepped away, keeping the weapon out of reach of the jumping youngster. It was quite a pathetic sight.

"HEY! Give that back!"

"Like hell!" Naruto countered firmly, slipping the weapon into his pocket before pocketing his own hands. "The way you came charging into the room with this thing, I mistook you for an assassin. I could have killed you by accident if I hadn't realized earlier that you were just some stupid kid."

It was the word 'killed' that had Konohamaru immediately stop and he looked up at the jinchuriki with a shocked expression on his face. The look Naruto threw him next literally made the adolescent's blood run cold, and he stepped back rather fearfully.

Feeling his glare achieved the desired response, the blonde then nodded in acknowledgement that his job here was done, before looking back up to the Hokage and smiling, "He's all yours, oji-san." With a final wave he left, exiting through the now conveniently opened door.

Konohamaru stared after the older boy, even after he was long gone and out of sight.

Almost seconds after the jinchuriki departed, his personal trainer Ebisu came running around the corner, sweating after what looked to have been a marathon across the entire village. The man dressed in the standard blue Konoha shinobi garb, wearing round sunglasses and his forehead protector worn over his head in the form of a bandana rather than a strap, panted heavily as he entered the room. He was relieved to find that the boy under his charge was alright.

"Honorable grandson, there you are!" the man exclaimed, regaining his composition and straightening himself up. He approached the child with his hands held firmly at his sides. "You shouldn't run off like that. What if something bad happened to you?"

Frowning, the youngster turned towards the Third and pointed out the door, completely ignoring his tutor, "Grandpa, who was that man?"

Hiruzen smiled and lowered his head, lacing his fingers together while propping his elbows up on the desk. "_That_ was Naruto Uzumaki. He was the boy I told you all about this morning."

Konohamaru blinked vacantly, "N-Naruto, the one who defeated the three ninja last night?"

The elder nodded.

Now, at this point the Hokage naively believed that _that_ was the end of _that_, that his grandson would be content with the answer that he was given and that he would put the whole thing to rest. After an unforgettable first encounter in which his grandson was subjected to an otherwise important lesson, which he probably didn't pick up on, Hiruzen thought that all of his troubles would end at the incident and he could carry on with his regular duties without a hassle. Signing papers and communing with the daily regulars really did take its toll after some time.

However, he was soon to realize that being at the top of the food chain didn't exactly make him immune from all of the troubles of day-to-day life.

Breathing in deeply, Konohamaru glared at the old man and pointed at him instead, "Where does that idiot live?"

Ebisu panicked, "H-Honorable grandson, please be more considerate." There were a couple of reasons why he responded this way. One, they were addressing the Third Hokage directly. Second, while he was impressed at hearing about the commotion from last night, particularly in regards to Naruto Uzumaki, he still didn't exactly trust _that_ boy for the most common reason. _"That boy will corrupt the grandchild of the Third. I must intervene before this gets out of hand!"_

"I don't care!" Konohamaru shouted again, crossing his arms. "I WANT TO KNOW WHERE HE LIVES!"

Amidst the yelling and the continued fussing from the tutor, the Third sighed and grabbed the edge of his hat. He pulled it over his eyes to hide his distressed expression, _"Will this ever end?"_

XXX

**Meanwhile…**

Kin was sitting quietly at the dining room table in Naruto's new home, assumed in a rather indulgent state and slowly flipping through the pages of the journal she had been given by her host earlier that afternoon.

She allowed a subtle smile to grace her lips with every recorded prank she saw pasted in front of her and every personal comment she read on the pages she managed to cover. It was quite an entertaining read, definitely something she could use to distract herself for a while.

However, she would never admit this openly.

If she could subtract anything of value from this, it was that the author was indeed incredibly skilled at using miscellaneous material for his own purposes, including stuff that had no connection to reality whatsoever yet he was able to put to fantastic use. For instance, he wrote on a piece of paper 'Is the answer to this question no?' and offered a prize to anyone who could answer the question correctly, then sent it to members of the Yamanaka family. Inoichi was then later admitted to Ibiki's office for counseling because his mentality had broken down all in one afternoon.

Another prank that made no sense whatsoever was when Naruto took Robert Boyle's theory behind perpetual motion and created a large scale model of his self-flowing flask, and planted it in the center of Konohagakure. At first passers were intrigued by how the flask was able to continuously fill itself while at the same drain via the same output used as the input. It later scared the living shit out of everyone because they had no idea how Naruto had been able to pull it off, because hydrostatic perpetual motion was impossible in real life.

Then there was the stuff that actually did make sense, like when the jinchuriki planted a mushroom right in the middle of Kiba's bedroom. Now while this had been of little concern to the occupant residing in the chamber at the time of the prank's inception, due to the absolute mess in his room and since he had no idea how it got there in the first place, by the end of the week the mushroom had grown and spread like a viral infection. The spores the fungus plant emitted actually favored dark and humid conditions, and Kiba's room was ideal for its accelerated growth. The Inuzuka teen woke up on a Friday morning with mushrooms growing all over him and in places he couldn't scratch.

When his room was quarantined, Naruto sat on a nearby rooftop laughing his ass off at the screams coming out of the place while the hospital staff injected the boy with God knows what.

Kin also laughed with the picture of the happily bawling jinchuriki, with all of _their_ laughter directed towards the picture of what Kiba looked like 'sterilized.'

It was uncanny.

The blonde wasn't textbook smart back then and was still a little bit undercooked even today, but the practical stuff he could come up with was genius personified.

While turning over to the next page to read up on the boy's next adventure, Kin jumped in her seat and shrieked when she unexpectedly felt something brush up against her leg. She looked down at her foot to see what the hell the thing was that ran by and sighed in relief when she saw that it was a little ginger kitten walking back and forth underneath the table, running its side against her leg and asking for attention.

When Kin sat back down, the kitten sat down as well and looked up at her. It meowed playfully.

"What the heck do you want?" Kin asked with an unfriendly scowl, hoping to scare it off. Understandably, the young feline did nothing for a while and just sat there staring at her with those cute little eyes of his.

After a one minute staring contest in which nothing was said or done, the kitten then did something completely unexpected and placed his paw against her leg.

The look in its eyes, that adorable, questioning gaze and its gestures, the kunoichi just found it so hard to resist the little tike. She scrunched her face up impatiently and looked away defiantly, not wanting to have anything to do with him. However, after a few more persuasive mews from the adolescent cat and some gentle prodding from his front paw, the girl then let out an aggravated growl and bent over.

"Fine!" She picked up the kitten and promptly sat him down in her lap, not too set on the idea of having any company at the moment. Nevertheless, in spite of her negativity the cat happily purred and laid itself down where he was placed, affectionately nuzzling her stomach.

Though Kin's initial response was to simply shake her head at the animal and pet him, she then just went with it and allowed him to stay.

Hell, she didn't want to look like a total bitch by just picking up the little guy and then putting him back down simply because she didn't want anyone or anything around.

"You're one bothersome cat," she answered to an otherwise awkward moment.

After snuggling in, the kitten didn't move an inch. All he wanted was attention and just a warm place to curl up, that was it. It was kind of selfish but Kin figured she could deal with it.

Simply smiling and resting her hand on his back, the raven haired girl then focused her attention back on the journal. However, just as she was beginning to sink further into the good stuff and the central plot of the boy's records, a light shadow crossing over the table suddenly caught her attention and forced her to look up.

The kunoichi nearly leapt out of her seat altogether when she saw one of Naruto's friends standing by the entrance to the dining room. It was the woman wearing the foreign clothes.

Yim smiled warmly at her when she saw the girl react, "Sorry… did I startle you?"

"N-No… I just…" Realizing who exactly it was she was speaking to Kin furrowed her brow and looked away with a huff. She petted the kitten's back absentmindedly as he slept, all the while trying not to look at the woman standing in the kitchen doorway, "What do _you_ want with me?"

"Well, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to talk," Yim replied, walking on over to sit down next to her. However, when she saw the girl look away some more, she stopped.

"I don't want to talk… not to any of you," the kunoichi murmured, lowering her head so she masked her eyes from sight. "There's absolutely nothing for us to discuss."

Yim blinked, staring at the girl who was trying her best to ignore her. It was apparent she was still upset, even after her opening up to Naruto. Now, after having some time to think and dawn on her present situation, she had chosen to clamor up again and wanted nothing more than to close herself off from everybody within the vicinity. It was nothing short of a grudge or continued displeasure at being captured in the first place.

However, seeing no reason to be despised, the woman tried to shift their attention towards Kin's current topic of interest, to try and get her to open up again. The journal lying open on the table was there for all to see, so what harm was there from talking about her number one student?

The martial artist smiled and descended towards the desk, pulling out a chair for herself and getting comfortable. All the while Kin remained silent, her head turned away and hand still petting the little kitten in her lap. Yim was assured that at least her smallest companion was giving their guest some measure of consolation.

"He's pretty cute, isn't he?" Yim murmured, lacing her hands together under the table while smiling in the girl's direction.

The kunoichi shrugged, looking back down at the cat purring away. Staring at him for a bit, a small smile then appeared on her face. "Yeah… I guess. But he's pretty damn lazy… not to mention greedy. Why anyone would want a selfish cat as a pet to begin with, I have no idea…"

Yim giggled, earning a questioning glare from the raven haired girl.

"What's so funny?"

The martial artist reached up with a hand and tapped the surface of the table, giving the girl a very cheeky smile, "It wasn't the cat I was talking about." She then pointed towards the photo album, where a picture of a young Naruto could be seen grinning up at Kin.

Of course, it came to no surprise that her statement was immediately answered with an intense comeback. Kin blushed furiously and glared wide-eyed up at Yim.

She became so shaken up by the woman's words she nearly rose to her feet in protest, only to be stopped when she remembered the cat in her lap. Instead, she settled for slamming her fists into the table, rattling it violently.

"What was that?" Kin shouted through red cheeks.

Yim laughed a little, waving a hand at the teenager steaming from the ears, "I'm just messing with you. No need to get all riled up over nothing."

It didn't stop her though. The former Genin huffed angrily and looked away again, unable to believe she was able to lose her cool so easily. She had been enjoying herself up until the point of this woman's arrived, and it was starting to get nail gritting just communing with her.

It was like she was talking to a chunk of personality from _that_ idiot…

"You know…" Yim began again, stretching a hand out towards the journal and grabbing it. She pulled it towards her so that she was looking down at the spread opened up on the pages, and saw the younger Naruto grinning at her. The sight of him made her smile grow even warmer and she pushed it back towards the kunoichi who had previously been reading it, "You kind of remind me of Naruto when I first met him."

"How so?" Kin muttered, biting her tongue at the boy's name.

"Well… like you I know he was alone for part of his life," Yim stated, earning a suspicious glare from the girl next to her, which egged her own. "And that he was cut off from the people around him, always being kept at a distance. More to the point, when I first spoke with him, I learned that he was like some unwanted stranger to all of the villagers in Konoha, even though he had grown up here. He had walked on his own two feet for a very long time. Heh… kind of like how you are now."

The girl sneered, "Are you going somewhere with this?"

"Maybe," Yim smiled, closing her eyes while still looking in her direction all the same. "Though the words coming out of my mouth may seem like plain, old gibberish, it's only because I like to talk. It's what got me to know more about Naruto-kun in the first place."

"Hmph," the girl grunted, glancing down at the folder of photos. "I can see why you would want to talk to someone like him. You two are obviously perfect for each other." She sighed at that revelation. _"They're happy, cheerful, considerate and talkative, and they both smile a lot, ergo, best friends."_

"He's a nice boy, always thinking about others and often doing stuff for them without even asking. He was so kind to me back when we first met, going out of his way to make me happy and always trying to make me feel welcome," Yim smiled, tilting her head in thought. "I guess his way of interacting with other people comes from having been alone for much of his life. Whenever he meets someone he always works hard to get to know them, doing all of this stuff to make them feel appreciated."

Kin remained quiet, drinking in this new information flowing through to her. Though it wasn't something for her to be concerned about, what else could she do? She was stuck here…

At least she had the common courtesy to actually listen while appearing disinterested at the same time.

"Though he sometimes finds himself on the receiving end of a lot of negative responses because of the way he interacts with others, he never gives up. That's the best quality about him," Yim propped her head on her hand and placed her elbow on the table, gazing ahead of her with a nostalgic look on her face, "Always full of energy, constantly emitting an aura of contentment, and always smiling. It's that aspect about him that makes people feel good about themselves… makes them feel wholesome. You'd better get used to it because you'll be living with him for quite some time."

The girl grumbled and rested her chin on the table, staring ahead of her with an irritable chink in her eyebrows.

"How the heck was I beaten by some incompetent, Cheshire nobody who dresses in the colors of a circus performer?" Kin groaned, tapping her chin against the surface several times. "How? How? HOW? HOW?"

"Well…" Yim giggled and raised a hand in a pointed observation, "Circus performers _are_ quite strong. How else can they pull off all of those amazing acrobatics?"

Kin glared up at her with that comical, infuriated and exaggerated anime expression in play, "NO ONE ASKED YOU?"

XXX

**Later that afternoon…**

Naruto ran across his front lawn from box to box and furniture piece to furniture piece, making sure that every last one of his items and personal effects had been moved on over, and that nothing had been left behind. The smile on his lips grew the entire way through the procession as he took mental stock of everything.

Truth be told, it had been an incredibly busy day for himself _and_ his friends.

Not only had he been inducted into his new home and had to go through all of the paperwork involved with the transition, but he also had to fill out the forms for his other residents, officially sight Kin as his personal responsibility, question her himself under the watchful eye of an ANBU overseer, complete his registration as a shinobi of Konohagakure and have his profile picture taken, _AND_ move all of his stuff from his old apartment over to his new place personally, all the while still recovering from his injuries. Sure his skin had healed and he looked brand spanking new, but the cracked bones he had been inflicted with the night before were still causing him some problems.

Heck, he didn't even bother questioning why he was healing so quickly. He figured it was all thanks to the Kyuubi inside of him. As long as it was paying its 'rent' so to speak, he wasn't fussed by its presence in the least.

Funny though…

Out of all the questions he could have asked over the course of the day, the only one he _did_ end up asking while carting all of his furniture across town was _how_ something so big and so powerful could be crammed inside of his stomach. It was something about the metaphysical and physical side behind jutsu he couldn't exactly grasp, despite having learned all about it at the academy.

Still…

He let this question rest in the back of his mind as he went about ensuring that all of his chairs had been correctly assembled and were accounted for. The two-person couch he had bought with his own money was out on the lawn along with several boxes set up on top of it, not to mention a couple of shadow clones who had gotten lazy and decided to take a nap.

Heck, a lot of the other doppelgangers had had the exact same idea of taking it easy as the other two, as a great majority of them glared at the two bums lying across the cushions, snoring away. The original paid little mind to them in favor of counting his old room's pillows that had also been dragged in along with the bedspreads, which were piled neatly on top of his bed. The ones who had lumbered all the way here were standing on either side of it, disappointed that they couldn't just sprawl out on top of it, despite it being outside.

From the amount of boxes scattered around the property, it seemed as though that the young Naruto did indeed have a lot of things in his possession, despite his apartment having been so small. Well, all of that was about to change.

With his new house, he'd be lucky enough to fill in two rooms with this stuff.

Once ensured that all of his basics had been imported and were undamaged, he then moved on to his other essentials. Besides the clothes on his back _and_ his frog wallet, there was some other stuff lying around his front yard that was of high value to him.

Naruto smiled to himself when he crouched beside the potted plant he had carried all the way out here from his old living room and had rested on the porch beside his front door. The piece of flora was a _Hosta _he hadpurchased from the Yamanaka flower shop a couple of years ago and had since developed a strong attachment towards. At the time, it was something he felt would brighten up his apartment and give him some other task to distract himself for the day, if not also to keep him company. Since it was small and didn't grow very fast, it was a suitable indoor companion. It didn't complain or make any noise, it was perfect! Plus, he got to water it every day.

Ruffling the leaves and making sure it was okay, he picked up his favorite plant and carried it inside. The forty odd clones scattered around the yard took this as a sign to carry on, and one by one began marching the boxes and furniture through either the front entrance or the shoji doors of the walkway.

Yim and Ran sat close by on the deck, watching as their student and his clones organized his goods and personal items from the essentials. They quietly admired how the clones managed to cooperate with one another and how great a care they kept with the original's material. It was while they were observing two of Naruto's clones dragging his television around the side that they realized that having a technique like that _Shadow Clone Jutsu_ was damn useful.

The kitten that Yim had picked up from the alleyway sat good-naturedly beside his owner. Having left the company of Kin a little while ago, it tilted its head at the abnormal number of the same person walking around in front of it, before mewing sweetly and going back to licking its paw.

The original Naruto stepped back outside several seconds later and upon reestablishing his position amongst the group, went about directing traffic, his doppelgangers saving 'moving the furniture' as the last of their tasks for the afternoon. He helped them out with the heaviest items, particularly the bed, before eventually sitting himself down on the walkway beside his teachers to survey the last of his material get taken in.

Yim sighed and leaned back, looking up towards the sky slowly turning a dark orange above them, "Well, this has certainly been an interesting day." The kitten beside her 'meowed' in agreement.

"No kidding," Ran murmured with equal satisfaction, glancing over at Naruto to see the boy grinning widely up at her. Feeling the excitement continuing to waft off of him like rays of sunlight, the samurai smiled in acknowledgement, "I hope you're ready for tomorrow kid, cause comes sunrise I'm gonna start training you for real."

"He-he!" the jinchuriki giggled. "I can't wait! I bet it's gonna be awesome!"

"Believe me when I say this; the exercises I'm going to be putting _you_ through are in no way similar to Yim-chan's training regiments. You've been working mostly on perfecting technique, correct?" Upon seeing the boy nod, her smile grew even more. "Well, _my_ process starts off a little bit differently from hers. You need to develop proper foundations for your jujutsu and kenjutsu, so I'm going to be putting you through some strength building sessions to put a little more muscle on that body of yours, and work in several exercises to crank up your precision and timing. In between drills I will also push you through intermediate techniques, so you can slowly build on your fighting form. I'll get you introduced to my routine before we start getting serious."

Naruto nodded again, still smiling, "I'm looking forward to it."

"Good." Picking up her katana, the woman rose to her feet and slipped it under her belt. She turned and headed on inside, "I'll start on the rice. Yim, you can focus on the stir-fry."

"Sure thing," the martial artist exclaimed, picking the kitten up and wrapping her arms securely around it. She too hopped to her feet and began following the woman back in. However, just before she could leave completely, the traveler knelt beside her presently cheerful student and ruffled his hair affectionately. The boy fidgeted in response, but still managed to grace his friend with his characteristic grin. "You and I aren't done yet, not by a long shot. I'll see to it that Ran-chan trains you on every second day and leaves some breathing space for you and me to spend some sessions together. That leaves plenty of time to continue developing your _Spring Chant, chi_ and _Long Pole_ techniques."

After exchanging smiles, Yim followed her companion in through the front door, making sure to close it behind her. This left Naruto all on his own out on his porch and staring out over the horizon. He pretty much spent the next few minutes there alone, watching the sun sink further over the distant hills, a sight which seemed to multiply the level of beauty already present in the wide-open landscape.

Though it never dawned on him until now, he was pretty sure that he had never actually been to this part of the village before. It was far out from the residential areas, and it was apparent that it was way out of range of both the entertainment district and the academy buildings. Naruto figured that if there were to be any incidents of any kind within the village center itself that required immediate attention, he was positive that this place would be the last to find out about it, even though he thought it wouldn't be that much of a bother.

What more than made up for the greater distance he had to travel day in and day out, was that this place was so peaceful.

It wasn't stuffy, there was nothing closing him off from the rest of the world, and it didn't smell like people out here. His lungs definitely thanked him for the change. In this valley of rice fields he could smell fresh water, reeds blowing on the wind, sweet grass, and flowers. The additional space would also provide him with an ideal training area. He was certain he could make good use of his newly acquired front lawn, as well as the hillsides and woodlands.

Good thing he didn't need to fear hay fever.

Anyway, with his clones having finally dispelled themselves, save for the ones still dozing away on the couch even after it was dragged indoors, the jinchuriki thought about heading on inside to help out with making dinner. He could worry about the training regiments and the opportunities of this landscape at another time.

However, just as he was leaning forward to stand up, a flapping noise followed by a soft patter caught his attention and drew his eyes to his right. He jumped when he spotted the unexpected visitor perched comfortably on his deck.

Glaring back at him was a pigeon. It didn't look like an ordinary pigeon though as it had gorgeous white feathers and a small crest of three small feathers on top of its head. To be more accurate, this type of pigeon was normally referred to as a _dove_, something the young jinchuriki had rarely seen around the village.

Judging from the furrowed look in its eyes the little animal seemed to be a little bit angry with him. For what reason Naruto had no idea, since he couldn't recall harassing any birds or wildlife recently… or _ever_ for that matter. It just sat there and seemed to glare impatiently at him while he stared back at it, his face continuing to reflect surprise at its sudden appearance.

After a while, Naruto's expression then became one of puzzlement, followed by a glimmer of nervousness which gradually grew over a period of a few seconds. He smiled uncomfortably and attempted to project an aura of contentment, just to let the animal know he meant no harm or disrespect towards it.

That didn't seem to do the trick though, as the pigeon suddenly flapped its wings warningly at the youngster, startling him.

The jinchuriki yelped and backed away, fearful he might be swooped by it or by some of its friends waiting nearby.

Unexpectedly though, the pigeon suddenly took flight and headed in the direction of his front gate. The anxious boy watched it glide gracefully across his front yard, before it came to a steady landing over by the hedges. It was then brought to Naruto's attention that the dove was actually making landfall on a person, someone whom he'd failed to notice before, standing by the entrance to his property.

The adult was an attractive female of average height, wearing a blue suit with a white shirt underneath, a blue figure-hugging skirt, thin stockings and high heels. She was dressed rather formally for an outing, especially for a stroll through the rice fields, which puzzled the jinchuriki somewhat. She had fair skin, long brown hair that went past her shoulders with tufts protruding outwards from her fringe, giving her hair a very eagle-like appearance. She also wore glasses, shaped to give her an almost ever-present frown whenever the lenses reflected light that masked her eyes.

If it weren't for the pigeon Naruto was sure he would have wandered back inside and never have noticed her. It was quite unfortunate for him that he did…

Because the moment he laid eyes on the woman he immediately recognized who it was. His body immediately stiffened to match the broadness of a plank of wood, legs and arms spontaneously snapping together and to his sides with all color draining away from his face, leaving him in a state afflicted with absolute terror.

The pigeon had landed on her shoulder and didn't seem to be bothered by her at all, even when she raised her hand to pet it on the head. With her other free hand she raised it to her shoulder and allowed the bird to peck away at her palm, clearly helping itself to the seeds she was offering it.

Once it was done eating, the woman then strolled freely onto Naruto's property.

The jinchuriki, more terrified now than he had ever been in his entire life, gulped. He thought about making a run for it, to try and put some distance between himself and his visitor, and at least buy himself some time. However, knowing that this person would be able to catch him no matter what he did or where he went, he opted against that initial decision. Instead, he just sat where he was and courageously braced himself for the impact to come.

Sweat was pouring down his wide-eyed face by the time the woman stopped in front of him. Her body blocked the sunset and her shadow fell over him like death himself was here to claim his soul. From where she stood, she just stared down at him; her intensity matching that of the pigeon's projected towards him a few minutes earlier. It was a nerve rattling feeling.

Of course, Naruto had a good enough reason to fear this woman… nothing in this world could question his certainty beyond that…

"M-M-Miss Manager-Land Lady!" the boy choked out, clearing his throat before resuming a meek position. "H-How are you today? Are you doing well?"

"I'm fine, Naruto," the woman replied in a monotone voice, lifting her hand up to her glasses and nudging them thusly. "I see you've found a new place of residence. How beautiful." Her exclamation was quickly given truth as fallback when she looked up and around momentarily, taking in her surroundings. She seemed satisfied at the end of her investigation, "I trust you're settled in nicely?"

Naruto gulped, forcing a grin upon his face as he gazed fearfully up at her, "Y-Y-Yeah. I-I'm all set…"

"Good!" the woman replied, anger evident in her voice when her eyes locked back onto him. The intensity in her glare increased tenfold.

The flash of the woman's glasses immediately told meek, little Naruto of what was to come.

The jinchuriki quickly curled up where he sat, holding his hands up in front of him and preparing to defend his body in whatever manner possible. "AAAAAAHHH! I-I-I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN TO TRASH THE APARTMENT, MISS MANAGER! IT WASN'T MY FAULT! P-P-PLEASE FORGIVE ME!"

On the verge of tears the Genin cracked an eye and looked up through his guard, still holding himself in that defensive, fetal position. He was in for it now and he knew it.

However, when he expected to see her hands descending upon him to crack his neck and knock him out for good, he was surprised when he saw that the woman was holding an envelope out to him instead.

The manager just simply glared at him in spite of his 'odd' reaction to her.

Several minutes into his continued existence soon told Naruto that his former land lady had no intention of harming him today. It took him some time to figure that fact out and when he finally did, he dropped out of his miserable, hunched over visage of hopelessness and, with a shaky hand, took the envelope from hers. The woman lowered her arm and watched as the boy and former patron looked it over, turning it to one side to check for notes and then turning it back.

She took his silence as a perfect moment to interject, "I'm renting out the apartments to another business. They're of no further use to me anymore."

Naruto looked up at her in surprise. "Huh?"

The woman tilted her head, still maintaining that stoic expression of hers. "Now that my one-and-only customer has finally left me, I doubt that anybody else will be coming around now to fill in your shoes. Not after last night's fiasco."

The jinchuriki was shocked. Well… not shocked, _astonished_ would be the better word to describe the emotions currently running through him. Of course, all of that would change in the next few seconds when the blonde looked up at the land lady to face her completely.

Through wide eyes he watched as her once hard faced expression suddenly transform into a soft smile. The flare in her glasses disappeared altogether to reveal a matching pair of eyes, after which the woman then gazed down at him with a warm glow.

It was so completely beside her usual demeanor that Naruto nearly dropped the envelope he was holding.

"I'll be heading back to _ANBU_. You could say I'm… coming out of retirement," the manager exclaimed, lifting her finger up to the pigeon on her shoulder and rubbing its neck. It returned her gesture affectionately, before looking away again to stare into the distance. "That envelope is a memento from me to you; something I forgot to give you when you first set foot on my doorstep. I guess… now you can call it a housewarming gift to celebrate your graduation to a new life."

Naruto blinked, "Uhh… th-thanks…"

The land lady nodded, holding her finger out in front of her shoulder. The pigeon hopped from its perch and onto it, before its owner gently lowered it down toward the boy's head. Naruto winced when the bird suddenly jumped onto his hair, and sat itself there like he was his roost. The woman then straightened back up, still smiling.

"John Woo will be keeping an eye on you from now on in my stead," the manager stated, adjusting her glasses before turning around. She started walking away, intent on leaving the premises as quickly as she had come. "Behave yourself, okay, because if you don't I'm coming after you."

With a casual wave over her shoulder, the woman exited through the main gate and marched down the road. Naruto followed her with his eyes all the way towards the bend, where she disappeared moments later.

By the time the shock had died down, the sun was just barely peeking over the hills, its light fading away inch by inch. The jinchuriki shook himself out of his daze and turned to the envelope he had received from the land lady. He stared down at it thoughtfully, wondering what could have been so important that his former landholder had to come all the way out here to give it to him

Not wanting to let the question burn away, he quickly opened up the letter and pulled whatever was inside of it out.

It came as another surprise of the day for him when he found that it was just a plain, ordinary photograph.

To be more precise, it was a picture of the apartment building where he had lived for most of his life, with him, Hiruzen Sarutobi and the apartment supervisor herself standing in front of it, smiling towards the camera. Naruto took his time in admiring the three people in the foreground, acknowledging the fact that the village leader hasn't aged a day, that he himself was as young as _he'll_ ever been, and that the manager hadn't changed one bit either.

The one peculiar aspect Naruto _did_ identify within the picture was that the pigeon now sitting on top of his head was _also_ in the photograph. He was in fact perched on the fence directly behind the three of them, with Naruto's apartment balcony clearly visible above that.

He definitely didn't recall spotting the dove before, although it was highly possible that he just plain forgot about him. Still, the picture did take him back to the day when he was first given the keys to his new home, which was now his former place of residence.

Smiling warmly at the memories, Naruto glanced up towards the fringe line of his hair, where he saw the dove staring down at him and over his headband.

"I guess… Miss Manager _did_ care about me after all," the jinchuriki grinned. "Don't you agree, Woo?"

The pigeon suddenly pecked him on the head, making the boy wince.

"Ow! S-Sorry… Mr. Woo."

XXX

To say that Yim and Ran weren't surprised when Naruto arrived at the dining table in time for rice with a side of stir-fry with a pigeon on top of his head was kind of underselling it, since it raised one of the strangest conversations a group could have ever shared before a meal. Because the question 'why is there a bird on top of your head' really wasn't a topic tossed around that frequently between regular groups of friends and family, it did make a couple of the residents present in the room giggle at the incongruity while also making a couple of the others recoil in bemusement.

After the confusion and laughter had died down enough, the three, counting five residents of the household, quickly adjourned to a delightful dinner around the table. By the time they started eating, the sun had fully set and the lights switched on within the house completed the serene dinner setting.

Of course, even though the jokes about 'Naruto-kun's brain being on the fly' or 'being a bit of a birdbrain' and stuff like that had all been swept underneath the table, things still seemed a little bit awkward for some of the residents. In fact, the four individuals sitting around the table continued to act like they were thrown into some sort of steaming cauldron of barely organized chaos.

While the pigeon and the kitten perched on the floor beside the table were sharing a plate of cream and a side of the stir-fry, Naruto was continually trying to make things right with their newest resident Kin.

Even though she had been told she was allowed all the freedom possible as a prisoner and that she would be in their keep, the kunoichi was still looking incredibly peeved. She picked away at her rice and beef the entire night with her fork, all the while being fussed over by the energetic owner.

"So? So? How's your meal, Kin-chan?" the blonde exclaimed, tilting his head in the girl's direction. "It's good, huh?"

The raven haired youngster just glanced at him with a clear expression of negativity, before looking back at her plate. "I… I guess so…"

"Heh! I think it's delicious!" Naruto exclaimed, forking another mouthful so that his cheeks ended up puffed out and stuffed.

"I concur!" Ran also shouted, cramming rice into her own face and filling her mouth. "Dou-lu-cious…" Was her brief and muffled response, with which she so generously sprinkled across the table in the form of bits of grain.

**CONK!**

**CONK!**

Both teacher and student were whammed over the head painfully by the rice scoop wielded by their very own Yim-chan. The female martial artist glowered at the two whimpering barbarians, who finally recalled the common courtesy to swallow the food in their mouths and cower away under her 'mighty' weapon of iron.

Even though it was made of wood, it still left red marks on their foreheads resembling the utensil.

Yim waved the spoon at them dangerously, "Table manners, you two! Talk _after_ you have swallowed, or do you want me to tape your mouths shut and feed you through your noses?"

The samurai paled and lowered her head, "No ma'am."

"B-But Yim-chan!" Naruto cried out, his eyes visibly tearing up. He leaned back sharply when the 'weapon' from the annoyed lady rounded on him and prodded his nose.

"No buts!"

The two characters did well to heed the woman's warnings from then on and made sure to eat their food in silence and in _tiny_ bites. While it was understandable for one to be scolded like a child because he was one, it made the situation all the more hilarious since one of them was a grown woman and acting _like_ a child. Both victims wore the same expression of disenchantment and worry as they munched away with their spoons in their mouths.

Kin, distracted momentarily by the trio's antics, blinked at the commotion and snickered under her breath when the details of the situation caught up to her. However, her mood sunk away as quickly as it had changed and once again became replaced by a frown, bringing her back to square one. The kunoichi resumed her meal, just like Naruto beside her and Ran sitting across from them, while Yim remained comfortably situated at the end.

Noticing his companion's continued sulking, the jinchuriki became a bit concerned for her wellbeing and decided to inquire on her conditions. He smiled in her direction, making sure his mouth no longer had any food in it, "Hey, Kin-chan, what's wrong?"

"Nothing for you to worry about," the kunoichi mumbled, looking away from him and shutting her eyes. "Just concentrate on eating."

"Aww, come on!" Naruto grinned, bringing his hands up and gesturing towards his face. "There's a great dinner made up for us, we have charming company… even Mr. Woo and the fur ball are having fun. What's there to be so upset about? Come on. Why don't you cheer up and give me a big smile? Come on! It's easy. See!" He pulled on his cheeks and widened his grin forcefully, clearly amusing himself with his own antics if it wasn't doing anything for her.

When Kin looked his way, she saw his smile and saw how he wished to accentuate this expression upon her own face. However, she brushed off his actions as mere stupidity and looked away again. This disheartened the boy somewhat and he relinquished his cheeks in resignation, allowing his face to snap back to normal

However, though he failed with his juvenile approach, he was far from giving up.

"I'm just trying to make you happy, Kin-chan," Naruto exclaimed, closing his eyes yet still beaming happily at her. He saw the girl twitch at the end of his statement, to which he then followed-through without skipping a beat. "I'm worried about you."

"What for?" the kunoichi rounded on him with a hard glare, showing how displeased she actually was. Yim and Ran stopped eating momentarily when the girl's voice rose, but seeing that the conversation was taking place between Naruto and her, and was in no way directed towards them, they wisely decided to stay out of it. "I'm a prisoner here! Extra baggage for you and your friends! What reason do you have to be concerned about my wellbeing when I'm clearly just an inconvenience? Why do you care so much?"

Naruto grinned, scratching his cheek awkwardly, "Uhh… I… umm…"

Kin growled and narrowed her eyes further on him, "Well? Is it true? I'm just some nuisance to you, right? If not, then why?"

"No, it's just," the jinchuriki chuckled and gazed back at her lightheartedly.

Boy… this was quite a hair brazing situation.

Naruto was hoping to settle this whole thing without incident. Though being around angry girls was nerve rattling to the point of forcing men like Iruka to head for the hills, he really wanted to make sure that the air was completely clean between the two of them, so that maybe a mutual friendship and understanding could be formed. He wasn't expecting to turn her over in one day, oh no. This seemed like a prolonged battle of about a week, give or take a few days.

As opposed to public opinion, Naruto still had quite a few cards left to play that he was certain would make a definite impact on his infuriated guest. After all, what was the point of having the ability to improvise on the fly and still be able to hold all of these game plans in reserve if you weren't confident?

Maintaining as composed an expression as was humanly possible with his sincerest of smiles in play, he gazed towards the girl with a hint of admiration visible on his face, "I really like you, Kin-chan."

The girl fell silent.

Eyes widening, she leaned away from him in surprise while her cheeks flushed a bright red, "W-What?"

The boy giggled and rubbed the back of his head. He was not sure whether he was using the right words or not, but he was pulling out everything he had on hand to show that he was being genuine about his feelings. "I know it may sound like I'm just uttering nonsense to everybody else, but… I think you are a really nice person. I mean… why would I have invited you into my home so willingly if I didn't know you were good underneath?"

The kunoichi just stared at him, flabbergasted.

"No matter how dark a person may seem on the outside, I know for certain that there is always some good inside of them," Naruto stated, giving the girl a considerate stare, "And I can tell that underneath all of that bad stuff you really are a good person at heart."

"H-How?" the Sound Genin gulped, blinking in confusion, "How can you possibly know that?"

"Well… there's no way everyone can be _all_ bad," Naruto replied, scratching his head and shrugging. "I guess I'm just weird thinking that way."

Kin gazed back at him in astonishment, watching him grin, watching him nod and watching him intently as he turned back to his meal to finish it up. It puzzled her greatly.

True he answered her question as to why he even offered the least bit of concern towards her, she still wondered why? What made him like this? Why does he grin and act foolishly all the time?

He pulls jokes, creates nothing but chaos, and if Mizuki were an appropriate example for her to use, then shouldn't he have attracted a lot of unsavory attention? How could someone like that smile all the time? It made no sense to her, no matter how hard she tried to think about.

There he was, smiling and grinning, never faltering.

Just staring at him gave her a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach. A little bit scared of what this feeling was, the girl turned away quickly and grabbed her knife and fork to resume eating. However, after taking in a couple of forkfuls of rice and giving her troubling thoughts over the jinchuriki further consideration, unbeknownst to most of the people at the table, she hid the butter knife she was using in her pocket. After which she continued on as if nothing had happened.

While she ate her fill, she failed to notice Ran glancing at her in-between bites of meat…

XXX

**Later that night…**

With a stupid smile plastered on his face and drool pouring freely from his lips, Naruto buried himself further into his pillow.

He cuddled up against his blanket, mumbling all sorts of nonsense while tossing and turning from side to side… rather violently for someone at peace. Still, despite all of the sounds coming out of his mouth and the unconscious racket he was making with the bed springs bouncing every few seconds, he failed to rouse any of the others from their sleep.

There was of course a logical explanation behind that.

After dinner was done and all the dishes had been washed, the gang decided to hit the hay to prepare for an early morning start. Understandably, Naruto was all for it, diving right into his frog-patterned pajamas and slithering directly underneath the covers of his bed, where he nestled into the folds till he lost consciousness.

While Yim and Ran hadn't expressed the same enthusiasm about going to bed like their student, they were still enthralled by the prospects. Hence, immediately after all the late afternoon chores had been taken care of and everything was put back into place, they retired to their chambers a few feet down the hall from Naruto's room.

Since the corridors were made mostly out of shoji doors and frames, the natural lighting of the moonlit sky outside creeping in through the windows effortlessly cast small amounts of light blue illumination here and there, setting a perfect midnight scene for the interior of the cozy home.

The barrier's also muffled any unwanted noise, so Naruto's mumbling didn't reach any further than the next room.

However, while this was all well and good, the sights and sounds of the night failed to impress one particular resident still up and about…

Like a shadow creeping along the wall, Kin Tsuchi tiptoed across the floorboards towards the divider blocking her bedroom off from Naruto's. With tender fingers, she pressed them into the gap of the door and slid it open.

Once the translucent barrier had been pushed out of her way, she shuffled along towards the boy's bed that had been placed in the middle of the room against the wall, with the headboard positioned directly underneath the window.

Quiet as a mouse the girl loomed over him, furrowing her brow as she brought her right hand out from behind her and allowed the butter knife she had concealed at dinner to slip into her grip.

The sight of blunt silver flashing in the moonlight, she drew even closer to the boy, so close that her shins were nearly touching the mattress, and raised the knife above her head. Her proximity to him allowed her shadow to cast over his sleeping form like a devil in the night.

Seeing the stupid smile on his face turn towards her as he snored and mumbled away had Kin grit her teeth uncomfortably and clench her weapon tightly between her fingers. She held the blade up even higher, stretching her arm out and tensing to maintain control. Soon enough she had it at a level necessary for her to deliver the killing force required.

A hit to the jugular, throat, heart or forehead would end it instantly. There would be no room for a scream.

Naruto mumbled nonsense again and rolled over, exposing his front to the girl completely.

The kunoichi shook at the sight and brought the knife further back, from which a nice arc could be formed from the swing; a superb kill.

"_I… I'm… sorry…"_

And then…!

…

…

…

…

"_**Kin Tsuchi?"**_

…

…

"_**It's a very nice name."**_

She stopped.

The kunoichi's eyes literally widened when she heard _that_ person's voice in her head, resulting in her hand's movements stopping altogether. Heck, her weapon arm hadn't even begun its descent in any way, shape or form, and she was already withdrawing herself from her attack.

Sweat appearing on the side of her face and her eyes shimmering under the strain of resistance, Kin started trembling on the spot, attempting to will her arm to move and snap herself out of her reverie. But, much to her utter shock and disbelief, she found that no matter what she did or how hard she tried, she just could not find the strength to bring the knife down upon the boy and end his life.

She could not move… _at all_!

"_W-Why?"_ the kunoichi thought, her face scrunching up fearfully as she glared down at the still sleeping youngster. Her fist tightened around the knife in her hand, _"Why… can't I kill him?"_

She tried moving again…

…

…

"_**You have a strong sense of loyalty, that's so cool!"**_

The girl's face reddened at that memory and her irises shrunk in bafflement.

"_NO!"_ Kin tensed, recoiling with an ever growing look of fear and uncertainty on her face. _"Why… Why can't I kill this idiot?"_

When the sleeping boy rolled over again, showing the girl his back and muttering senseless stuff about 'ramen' and somebody named 'Tenten', Kin thought about making her move. However, while struggling against the invisible restraints holding her in place, causing her to question her inability to move even further, Naruto turned back toward her and…

…all Kin was able to see was his stupid smile.

That smile…

That grin…

His life-filled, happy, out of this world grin, just glaring at her like a bright light! It was a sight she could plainly see and a sight that kept popping up in her head that she couldn't get rid of!

It was stuck in front of her face, like her world had just been displaced by his idiotic smirk.

"_Why?"_

It flashed past her blindingly. The sight of him smiling directly at her had her back away even more, the trembling in her legs becoming so bad that they threatened to give way at any moment.

Step by step, she retreated, her shadow leaving him and her body succumbing to the memories burned into her mind. It was just an endless slideshow…

"_WHY?"_

…

"_WHY? WHY? WHY?"_

…

…

"_WHY CAN'T I JUST END IT?"_

…

…

…

"_**Hey, Kin-chan, what's wrong?"**_

The kunoichi's mouth hung open, her shock literally silencing her words and allowing her full registration to the voice echoing inside her head. At the same time, the knife she held above her slowly lowered itself to her side, where it would hang limply.

All strength in her previous actions just dissipated like smoke on the wind, leaving her as an empty shell, echoing with the words spoken by the boy she wanted nothing to do with…

The strange boy that had shaken her so…

"_**Why don't you cheer up… and give me a big smile? See. It's easy!"**_

…

"_Liar…"_

…

"_Why would an idiot like you… care about me, a person who tried to take your life? Why?"_

…

"_**I'm just trying to make you happy, Kin-chan."**_

…

…

"_You're… a liar. H-He's lying…"_ Tears began to fall freely from her eyes, something she had absolutely no control over. _"L-Liar…"_

…

…

"_**I'm worried about you."**_

…

…

"_**I know… that you're really a good person at heart…"**_

His smile popped up in her head again, and by its sheer intensity alone…

It stayed.

…

Gritting her teeth, Kin lowered her gaze and clenched her fists angrily, fighting back with all her willpower against the urge to just collapse where she was standing and start crying. After what seemed like hours, the girl managed to hold on, but her distress was made clear.

Whether she was frustrated at her inability to follow-through with her last-ditch effort to settle her mission once and for all or was just angry at the montage of grins from the boy flashing through her mind, she had no idea. However, looking down at the knife in her hands, she knew it was impossible.

Contemplating on the blade, on her reasons for trying to do this, the kunoichi was able to discern in those few minutes of deliberation what the truth was, and what the real lies were from the thoughts going through her mind.

For everything she had done in service for Orochimaru, after all the blood she had shed for him, after all the hard work she had put forth to please him, after the years of her life she had given up for him, where was he now?

Nowhere…

And in all that time she had known him, there had not been a single word of thanks or a single smile that didn't bare any malicious intent whatsoever. No words of comfort. No words of praise. She had devoted her entire being to his cause and for what? To please him? Really? To earn no thanks in return? For empty promises?

While _that_ 'man' had never given her a second thought, a damn thing or any real words of value, this…boy… the one she had tried and has been trying to kill all this time… for _him_… someone who was so kind and, by her knowledge, meant absolutely nothing to her village leader, had given her more to hold onto than all her years of serving the Snake Sannin.

This feeling she was having, the same she felt at the dinner table, this warm glow she could feel burning deep down in the pit of her stomach, begging her to hold that knife back… she didn't want to get rid of it, not now.

It was the strangest, most comforting feeling she'd ever experienced and there was no way in this world she was going to snuff it out.

Not for a moment of satisfaction for her pride…

Not for a man living in the dark…

Not for anything…

"_I… c-can't…"_ Clenching the knife tightly once more, Kin shook her head furiously and turned around, lowering her head in resolution. _"I won't!"_

And _that_… was her final answer.

Leaving the knife on the floor quietly, she stormed out of the room as quickly and soundlessly as she could, sliding the doors shut behind her. The translucent paper barriers managed to muffle the noise she made in her own chamber; her heavy footsteps as she made her way over to her bed, the sheets being ruffled and spread, and the sound of her sobs as she curled up under her covers.

Even so…

Though she did cry… for the first time in a long time, she fell asleep while still carrying that warm feeling with her.

…

…

The exact moment the girl hit the futon and had switched off for the night, Tsukikage Ran stepped out from the shadows of the corner of Naruto's bedroom. Having watched the entire ordeal with her hand on her sword, the female wanderer was left completely speechless as she glared across the way toward the shoji dividers placed between both rooms, concealing the kunoichi behind a layer of white.

It was quite a surprise, even to a person as iron clad as herself.

The samurai quietly made her way over to the floor space where Kin had been standing moments before, picking up the butter knife from the cold surface and examining it carefully.

A few quick glances between the weapon and the girl's room sitting just several feet away brought a small smile to the woman, who then looked back over at Naruto still sound asleep underneath his blanket.

"_Though he may not realize it,"_ the samurai thought, pocketing the kitchen utensil while smiling down at the snoring goofball and rising to her feet, "_The strongest weapon he has is his indomitable spirit and his words."_

Assured that Kin was finally asleep and that the danger was far gone, the samurai left the room.

However, the moment the woman closed the doors behind her was the moment Naruto himself decided to perk up to the occasion. His snoring stopped suddenly and his expression eased up a little, a solitary eye opening up to reveal a sleepy yet observant boy watching from underneath the covers.

His teacher left barely a minute before and missed the genuine smile that crossed over his lips as he looked over towards Kin's room.

He stared for a moment, partly glad that the girl's mind was made up and happy that his words had managed to get through to her.

They sure took their sweet time though. Honestly, he was sweating there for a moment.

However, once he himself was certain that everything would be alright from now on, he closed his eyes and drifted back to sleep.

He couldn't wait for what tomorrow would bring…

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> This was to be a short chapter, one which introduces the Konohamaru episode and also carrying on with Kin's own subplot. Obviously the girl wouldn't take becoming a prisoner and everything all too well, so I wanted to incorporate the idea of the kunoichi going through a state of conflict early on before getting into the Konohamaru bit.

Since she's staying with Naruto and everything, it was definitely going to be a depressing haul.

It's a well known truth that Naruto's words are his strongest weapon, since he was able to change the hearts of all the people he meets over such a short period of time. I figured his words would have the most profound effect on Kin since she was a ruthless kunoichi and has been immersed in Orochimaru's influence for some time, and I think it worked nicely how that conversion took place.

Kin was hollow at first after the questionnaire with Naruto. This was where the confliction began as she explored her surroundings and continued to look through his journal of past pranks. Being in an environment constantly radiated with Naruto's presence would definitely make a person as dark as her smile.

It was subtle and slow. Naruto attacked her through a combination of compliments, kindness and smiles over the course of the day (P.S I think Naruto has one of the best grins out of any anime character ever, period). Even a hard girl like Kin would be able to turn if Naruto could get through to people as emotionally traumatized as Gaara, as stubborn as the Kyuubi, as fanatical as Nagato, or as cold as Zabuza. Don't take these words harshly though, they're all awesome characters. So anyway, Kin struggled with whether or not she'd be able to continue on with her mission, or just accept where she was and hang around. Obviously, she went for the latter.

All the little things just pile on, as they say.

And the story moves on. Kin will be recovering further now that much of the inner conflict has passed her, Konohamaru will be further introduced and Naruto continues his training before the team assignment day. Yay!

Oh yeah, and his land lady… well… we never really get to see the apartment manager Naruto refers to in this story so I figured I'd introduce her as that character that makes a brief appearance and then disappears. She's not a permanent character, and I have my doubts we'll ever see her again. I basically took the _**Dormitory Manager**_ from _**To Aru Majutsu no Railgun**_ and slapped her in here, because she's just awesome, I guess you can label her as cameo.

The main cameo character for this chapter is _**Mr. Woo.**_ He is the pigeon that hangs around with the Paper Sisters from the anime _**Read or Die The T.V**_, which is one of the best anime I'd ever seen. I think he'd make an awesome tagalong for Naruto, besides the kitten, that latter of which will probably just be hanging around the house most likely.

Finally, if any of you are wondering about the place Naruto is living in, try finding _**Naruto Shippuden Episode 238 – Sai's Day Out.**_ The scene where Sai is walking out of the woods and comes across the ricefields and looks around, _that's_ where Naruto's new home is.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	12. New Home Arc: Konohamaru! Part 2

**NARUTO**

**The Art of Appropriation**

_Konohamaru! Part 2_

**The next morning…**

Of course, things wouldn't turn out exactly as Naruto anticipated. This form of eventuality sort of came with the privilege of being taught by two powerful teachers whose interests and ways of confronting the real world differed entirely. It gave him more than a few aches and pains…

He always wondered why that was the case.

The jinchuriki woke up early the next morning to the sound of metal swiftly cutting through the air. Wondering what could possibly be making such a racket at five o'clock, the boy quickly got himself dressed into his green trousers and orange, short blue-sleeved jumper from yesterday, and hurried on outside to confront the source of the noises. If it was some garden-crazed neighbor out trimming _his_ hedgerows, he was prepared to raise hell.

Slipping on his sandals at the back entrance the boy stumbled through the sliding doors and out onto the walkway, from which he then stared out over the wide-open space of his backyard. It easily escaped his knowledge that the two newest residents to his household, the kitten and the pigeon, were sitting comfortably on the very same porch right next to him.

Missing them entirely, the boy instead focused all of his attention and surprise towards his second teacher training over by one of the trees standing at the edge of his yard.

Ran was currently assumed in a narrow fighting position, her left hand clutching her scabbard at her side and right hand hovering over the handle of her sword.

It looked as though she was waiting for something, something dangerous or elusive, but for what exactly the blonde had no idea.

His questions were shortly answered when a gentle morning breeze suddenly filtered through the area, causing leaves from the aforementioned tree to come floating down. The air carried them directly in front of the samurai's line of sight. In response the woman immediately took a steadier stance as if she were confronting the foliage head on, and readied her grip.

'…'

Naruto blinked in amazement when she suddenly drew her sword and with lightning fast speed, slashed out at a random, solitary leaf hovering in front of her. The swift attack took the form of a streak of light cutting through the space and made a heavy 'whooshing' sound as the blade sliced through it completely. The next thing he became aware of was the leaf she had attacked splitting in two in mid fall.

The accuracy of her technique was truly astonishing _and_ terrifying. The leaf was segmented into perfect halves, directly down the central vein.

"Whoa…"

His current level of amazement was to be short lived.

She wasn't done yet.

There were more and more leaves falling in front of her, and she was devoting all of her attention marking each and every one of them. Furrowing her brow, she rotated her sword and began slicing across at every individual leaf that fell within her sight, her blade cutting crisply through the air in a streaking flicker of metal.

She was fast, she was precise, and she was absolutely calm. That level of concentration was by no means something an ordinary warrior could pick up from just experience.

"_Iaido Sword Technique?" _Naruto gulped, quickly identifying and labeling the attacks she was executing, having learned about that particular iaijutsu before.

The basics involved the drawing of the sword from the scabbard and striking swiftly at the target, before cleaning off the blade and sheathing it once the attack was concluded. Ran's technique differed slightly from the textbook methods, but the foundations were all there. This meant that she had pretty much honed her strikes to perfection.

All knowledge he had on it however was but a prerequisite to seeing the real thing up front. The cutting actions looked more remarkable in contrast to how he had previously envisioned them to be.

Slicing several more leaves, not just into halves but into _quarters_, Ran finished up with a final strike, taking out two leaves at once, before twirling her sword around and sheathing it back into its scabbard. The moment it clicked into place, the leaves stopped falling and she was able to take a breather from her early morning practice.

Smiling, she turned towards the jinchuriki sitting attentively on the porch, staring at her with his jaw hanging open.

"Morning sleepyhead," the samurai exclaimed, absently adjusting her katana hanging at her side, "Ready to begin your training?"

Blinking out of his stupor, the boy brought his fist up and thumped his chest. "You bet I am! Why else do you think I'm up so early?" He immediately leapt off of the deck and ran out across the lawn to join his friend.

Since the aggregate backyard space constituted a flat bed of grass of dimensions 40 X 30 meters, with the hedgerow lining the outside accompanied by several trees that in no way subtracted any value from the land itself, it was safe to say that there was definitely ample space for Naruto to train at his own leisure. The area would also be sufficient enough even if he were to add a platoon's worth of clones to the equation.

There was no doubt in anyone's' mind that he was gonna make good use of _this_ space in the foreseeable future, and that future was right around the corner.

He skidded to a halt in front of the woman, grinning widely and thrusting his chest out proudly. "So? Where do I start?"

Ran beamed at him, inwardly commending him for his liveliness. "Good to see that you're in the mood…"

XXX

**A couple hours later…**

**Some ways out of the Rice Fields…**

"Now… where the heck does that jerk Naruto live?" Konohamaru mumbled, glaring around at the heavily forested area surrounding him.

After several seconds of contemplation, he then shrugged off his uncertainty and continued on down the dirt path he had taken to get here, which was now leading him further and further away from the residential areas of his home village.

"He's gotta be around here somewhere."

The honored grandson of the Third Hokage, having left earlier that morning to avoid the nosiness of his damn bodyguard and private instructor Ebisu, soon found himself far outside of the packed streets of the central parts of the village, marching along some dirt road to God knows where.

He found the whole thing a might bit perplexing. The transition from buildings to being surrounded by trees on all sides was so sudden that he didn't even realize he was walking through a tunnel made up of the damn flora till after about half an hour of walking. The rays of light poking through the gaps in the leaves above from the sun rising over the hills were perhaps one of the only aspects on his route that came as some interest to him.

Judging from his current pace and the way he seemed to glance about him with great intent, would tell anyone within the area watching him that he was a boy on a mission.

His efforts to actually wake up earlier than usual to evade detection from both his parents and his troublesome 'guardian' were proof of that. Now that he was out and seemingly on the run, all he had to do from this point onwards was make his way over to the location his grandfather had provided him details with the afternoon before.

He huffed furiously as he quickened his stride.

It was easier said than done.

This Naruto character lived on one of the far sides of the village in the agricultural area. Though he rarely visited those places, Konohamaru knew that it was a long trip to get there. He just didn't know _how_ long.

His scarf fluttered on the breeze as he quickened his march to a jog, grinding his teeth together agitatedly.

"_That jerk sure doesn't want to be found easily!"_ Konohamaru thought, smirking as the mood dictated. _"There is no doubt about it; he truly is a formidable foe."_

He was clearly eager.

Though the reasons for his enthusiasm may have seemed a little bit warped from another person's point of view, the truth was that the boy was ecstatic. The blonde haired kid from the other day who had stood in his path, the teen that had gone out of his way to foil his plans to seize the grand title of _Hokage_ from his grandfather… he was undeniably strong.

After being stopped by him, after grappling with him, after _losing_ to him, the adolescent knew without contest or dispute that this was true.

_That_ young man that had stood in his way and held him back… was the answer to ALL of his problems. If not having been the problem to begin with.

Either way, Konohamaru wanted nothing more than to confront that boy…

He wanted to confront him and _fight_ him…

Well…

Giving it a little more thought, he wasn't exactly sure whether he wanted to fight the blonde jerk or not. The guy did make his point absolutely clear. After stretching his arm behind him to the point it hurt and forcing him to concede defeat with so little effort, upon reviewing this information the youngster started having his doubts about whether he could actually go toe to toe with such a monster.

Nevertheless, he was still determined to find him. Even if he had to scour this entire village he was going to locate this Naruto and make him answer for his crime!

"_He's not like everybody else!"_ Konohamaru exclaimed in his head, the tunnel of trees suddenly ending and opening up to a wide open valley that stretched far over the horizon. _"The people of this village call me 'honorable grandson'. That moron didn't even acknowledge me or treat me with any respect whatsoever, even when grandpa addressed me directly."_ The boy stopped as soon as he reached the mouth of the path leading out of the forest, and he looked around with an aura of awe at the landscape laid out before him._ "He's somebody else entirely."_

Across the hills he could see a couple of houses, rice fields dominating the center, and off in the distance the enormous wall surrounding _Konohagakure_ jutting into the sky.

The boy smirked. _"I will hunt him down and make him pay!"_

XXX

**Meanwhile…**

**Back at the house…**

Unfortunately, Naruto was already _**paying**_ the price for his lack of focus on the immediate situation… _or_ it could simply be attributed to his level of personal bad luck. As it turned out, in comparison to Ran's training, Yim's delicate touch when it came to his development was a blessing from heaven. His current session was turning into a spawn from hell, agonizing, one-sided fight altogether, as the wandering Ronin close to literally drove him into the ground.

How she was doing this was the most astonishing part.

In an effort to familiarize the boy with fighting against weapon users of a high caliber, Ran was first getting him to come at her bare-handed. She felt that this was the best she could do with him at this point after filling him in on the basics of what she planned to teach him in the future, by first learning what his current level of skill was up front. True, she had watched him train from days past, but that was to a limited degree.

Now she was putting him through his paces at a level she deemed suitable. While he came at her with an enclosed fist, she attacked him with a rolled up newspaper.

Yim and Kin, along with their newly acquired house pets, sat comfortably on the porch directly in front of the back door, with drinks in hand and eyes pasted firmly on the pair as Naruto went after his sensei. The morning for them had started out fine, with a light breakfast after being rudely awakened by the two squabbling and a quick bathroom routine. After which they then went out back just in time to witness the end of the introductory lecture, emphasis on movement, and working on technique.

However, when technique moved on to an immediate strenuous assessment, things started getting exciting from there.

While the martial arts master smiled pleasantly as she sipped at her tea, Kin propped her head on her hands and watched in a deep state of awe as the boy who had beaten her and her team, opened up with guns blazing on his instructor. It was really quite incredible.

Hopping back several paces, Naruto panted heavily and reassumed his _Blocking Fist_ stance, bobbing on his feet as he set his sights on the samurai.

"_Dammit!"_ the boy cursed in his head. It had only been two hours in and he was already knackered. He had removed his jacket and was fighting bare-shirt, but this only served as the canvas for the mess to follow.

Ran may be using just a rolled up morning paper, but the marks she was leaving on his body were unbelievably prominent. He was bruised, bleeding at the lip, and there were red welts all over him. If you were to look more closely at some of the inflamed areas, you would easily be able to make out some of the texts from the newspaper's front page inscribed in the marks left all over his chest, shoulders and face. Though it looked funny from a distance, that didn't mean Naruto wasn't hurting.

It felt like he was being hit by actual kicks and punches, and the results stung like a bitch.

Still panting, Naruto ran his knuckles across his chin, brushing away the blood and sweat dribbling down. _"She's cutting into me every time I close in… and I haven't even touched her yet!"_

The samurai smiled, her right side extended forward with the newspaper held out in front of her. "Come on kid. I'm waiting."

Naruto growled, "Alright!"

With that, he charged in.

Dashing across the lawn, he zigzagged left and right, before coming at Ran with a swift jab from a dominant right position. Yim and Kin watched closely as he lunged at his opponent, with the latter subtly admiring the speed and precision the jinchuriki possessed. However, just as it seemed he was about to hit his mark, the youngster was suddenly blind-sided by Ran slapping him in the side of his face with the newspaper. The attack stunned the boy and forced him to back up, hopping from side to side before getting away safely.

The samurai stepped back as well, smirking. This served to frustrate the boy somewhat, but after a few seconds and a few deep breaths to calm himself down he was able to focus on a follow-up route of attack, and instantly acted upon it. He dashed at her again, throwing a kick out as his forward offense. Ran however was able to out step him and moved beyond his reach to his far side. She responded to his threat by lowering the newspaper, continuing to maintain the movements of her sword and kenjutsu style, despite not wielding one.

Naruto gritted his teeth and pursued her while she circled, throwing a left-right combination, with hooks and an arcing kick. Ran however, effortlessly managed to stay safely outside of his attack range, jabbing him in the chest with the paper before slapping it across his neck. The boy responded, yet couldn't block it in time and he was forced into another clumsy retreat.

Not willing to give up his continued pursuit, he changed up to straight-lined movements as opposed to his staggering left-right maneuvers.

He tried chasing her down across his lawn, cutting through the air as swiftly as he could with his opponent locked firmly in his sights. While he was focusing so much effort in his sprints and lunges, Ran kept her cool and continued to evade him.

True she was many leagues ahead of him, but in truth she was fighting on _his_ level. She made sure to go as easy on him as she allowed herself, just to give him a fighting chance.

Another punch, followed by a roundhouse kick! As soon as Naruto's kick was dodged and his foot hit the floor, Ran expected him to follow-through. However, he was unable to get the balance in time, in which her impatience was acted upon by slapping him in the side and then dragging the newspaper across his face in a laid-back motion.

Honestly, there was a bit of a gap between each of his attacks that was quite worrisome. Or maybe it was just her. Either way it was fun teasing the kid like that.

Ran smirked as she circled around, watching him stagger forward to her previous position and continuing to face the other way.

"Come on. What are you doing over there?" His technique and concentration was fine for his level. He should at least be able to keep up with her.

The blonde's eyes tracked her down easily even though his body couldn't and as soon as his focus locked onto her, she stopped, holding the newspaper in front of her to keep him in her sights and at a distance.

"Your attacks won't reach me from that far away. You have to close in fast. Stop dragging your feet."

"Yes ma'am!" Naruto shouted again, pivoting around and bobbing on the spot with his hands comfortably position in an offensive guard.

Ran smiled at his determination to keep on going, despite his apparent exhaustion. "I've killed you over a hundred times already. I'll keep doing so unless you step up your game. Continue!"

"Yes!"

The fight resumed, with Naruto attempting to catch his opponent while she danced around him. It was indeed a good work out.

Kin blinked, her eyes widening a little bit more when she saw his swift combinations open up, despite them not hitting their target. If he were fighting somebody else though, she was sure they'd hit. "Amazing…"

Hearing the girl's comment, Yim turned toward her in surprise. Seeing the look of astonishment drawn across the kunoichi, the martial artist stared at her for a moment, before smiling and turning back to continue reviewing the session. "He's good, isn't he?"

"He's _very_ good," the raven haired girl murmured. "No wonder my team couldn't beat him. His taijutsu alone is far above the level of an ordinary graduate. It's unreal."

"Yeah," the foreigner agreed, drinking in the girl's words just as much as the sight unfolding before her.

The raven haired teen gave her much to think about, especially after seeing her mood the entire time the other day and how she responded to her student's presence. Though much of her positive outlook flashed in only brief intervals, it was still there and visible.

"_It'll take a while, but I'm sure she'll grow to enjoy this place."_

Back to the fight, Naruto was still desperately attempting to follow Ran's circular and zigzagging motions. She was keeping her distance and sharply closing in unexpectedly. It was kind of annoying for him.

The worst part about the whole thing was that he was always _at best_ a foot or so away from her _or_ her weapon at all times. Whenever he attempted to close in, before he could even get into his own range his opponent would simply clip him and retreat, just as he was in the process of lunging. Though he should have been able to guard, parry or catch her arm at every intersection, it was incredibly difficult because she was constantly on the move.

There was no way he could counter or catch her if she kept up that distance and speed.

He growled and tried again, throwing a jab.

Barely avoiding it, Ran slapped him in the cheek again. It was after that quick hit she then noticed something off about the way he was moving, particularly in his lower body area.

"_Something's not right. His martial arts skills are the best I've ever seen in a kid his age, so why is he having such a hard time?"_

Yim also came to notice the sudden yet ever-present abnormality in his fighting patterns when Ran circled around him and Naruto shifted his gaze after her. Though this was the first time either of them took any real notice of it, it was a problem that had continued to persist since the beginning of the spar. When his legs maneuvered around for his body to keep up, the martial artist spotted a discreet wobble in his calf muscles, as if he was throwing himself off balance with his sharp turns.

But that couldn't have been the case… no way.

Yim had ensured herself that his balance was close to perfect, since it was one of the main focuses for him while he was learning _Spring Chant_, which explained why he was able to maintain his footing even after getting hammered so many times. He could even use techniques that required an insane amount of control over his own body to execute.

So why was he struggling keeping up with Ran?

"_He's using the offensive capabilities of his Blocking Fist Style to try and catch her. It's a smart move, switching between two different forms for attack and defense. Though he hasn't practiced it much it suits him well as his natural fighting style. But there's still something wrong with him," _Yim lowered her tea to the floor, and with her hands free she leaned forward and narrowed her eyes down on his legs a little more closely. _"What could it be?"_

Ran had no trouble whatsoever shifting directions and attacking while on the move. She was doing this all backwards without cause to worry or extreme effort.

Naruto however kept on stopping and starting over and over, and his legs were almost buckling every time he shifted weight.

The observing Yim then focused on the jinchuriki's range and his attempts to close in. Yup. Every time he attempted to engage he was countered swiftly. His use of a flexible style did allow him extreme maneuverability, but there was one important aspect missing from it that was becoming all the more clearer as the spar progressed.

"_I've been teaching him __**my**__ style of fighting all this time and I never even noticed,"_ Yim brought her hand up to her chin and rubbed it worryingly, furrowing her brow when she realized the actual seriousness of the situation._ "At first I thought he had the speed necessary for him to cope with the training, but the problem that has surfaced now is that his level of skill and technique has far exceeded the tempo required for his level, so as a consequence he's lagging behind. Spring Chant is mostly a stationary style and concentrates primarily on defending while attacking. He hasn't had the time to focus on developing his directional speed to close in on fast moving opponents. As a fighter of his occupation, that's bad…"_

There was also one other thing that was bothering her and it was becoming a real issue for Naruto…

Kin noticed the troubling expression on the woman's face and looked up at her curiously. "W-What's wrong?"

"Naruto-kun is weak against out-fighters," Yim replied, plain and simple.

Hearing this, the raven haired girl blinked in confusion. "Huh? Out-fighters?"

The traveler looked down at her, "It's a term used to describe a certain type of martial artist who chooses to fight their opponents at the outermost range of their hands and feet."

The kunoichi stared blankly for a moment, before tilting her head and raising an eyebrow. "You've lost me."

"How should I put this?" Yim scratched her cheek, compositing a reply that she was certain the girl beside her would be able to understand. Looking back at the fight between Ran and Naruto momentarily, the martial arts master then turned back around and restarted the topic conversation from scratch. "Okay, imagine the basic scenario; two fighters in contest with one another. Whether one of them is attacking and the other is defending it doesn't matter. Just take one of those fighters and imagine _that_ person in particular."

The kunoichi nodded, signaling the wanderer to continue.

"If you were to pit that person against the other with no weapons, and only their hands and feet to settle the confrontation, what do you think is the maximum range of that person's attacks?"

Kin raised her hand, "Well… that depends on the reach of either the punch or the kick…"

"Exactly," Yim said, raising a finger at that point and moving on to the next, "Distance is the key to this definition. Before tackling an opponent, one must first be able to accurately gauge the distance between themselves and their target. Once they are able to do that, they can then move in to attack. However, there are certain spots between two fighters that individual martial artists prefer attacking from. This determines their ideal distances of fighting in close combat."

To illustrate her point, Yim raised her fist and brought it close to her chest. The kunoichi followed the movement of the woman's hand closely as she continued on with her explanations. "An in-fighter is a martial artist who prefers fighting his or her opponents at an extremely close range. This is best suited for compact movement of the hands, arms, elbows, knees and feet, and an ideal grappling position, as is my understanding of the concept." She then moved her fist out so that it was fully extended. "This is an out-fighter's range, close to the limit of a punch or kick and the perfect place for a martial artist who uses their footwork excessively. Anything outside of range of the opponent's fist is the area dominated by the out-fighter, who uses quick movement and long-reaching attacks to inflict damage on their target in hand-to-hand combat."

Kin blinked, nodding her head in understanding as she slowly began drawing up an accurate, mental picture involving the two fighters. The martial arts master turned to face her fully, seeing the young girl piece it together herself.

She decided to help her along. "Now try answering me this. Imagine that one of the two fighters prefers using long-reaching punches and kicks as opposed to their opponent, who needs to get in past the effective distance of their foe's attacks to get really close in order for their own attacks to have any effect. Where does the in-fighter need to be?"

Kin used her own fist and positioned it within a few inches of her chest. Ensuring she had the right distance, she looked back up at the woman, "Uhh… around here?"

"Yup. To get extremely close to your opponent, to stop their feet, stick behind their fists or to hang beneath their line of sight is the best distance for an in-fighter. There, they can put all the power they have behind their attacks or mess with their opponent's form. It's also quite risky for the attacker too because their opponent could also have some unexpected tricks up their sleeves in dealing with them," Yim explained, looking over at Naruto and watching him run straight to try and catch the samurai, only to get swatted the thousandth time. "In Ran's case, she's assumed the role of an out-fighter to help uncover any weaknesses in Naruto-kun's style. What she's done is show us that he is unable to catch a fighter who knows how to keep their distance and is constantly being picked off as a result."

"He still seems pretty quick," Kin murmured, looking back around to watch the jinchuriki nearly trip over yet continue on as if unhindered.

"To someone of an amateur skill set, yes," Yim giggled, rising to her feet and dusting her robe down. "But I assure you, Naruto-kun is no lightweight. He can do much better."

The raven haired girl scowled uncomfortably up at the wanderer, who was still smiling ever so cheerfully in spite of her comment. _"Wait… was she poking fun at me?"_

Seeing her friend rise to her feet from the corner of her eye, Ran stopped hitting her opponent and straightened up. Her sudden drop in guard prompted the blonde haired energy bag to cease movement and do so in kind, and with the knowledge that the session was over, he buckled to the ground.

Hitting the floor with a heavy thud, the boy panted and gulped, catching his breath. Through a river of sweat, he looked up to see Ran and Yim standing over him.

It quickly occurred to the new Genin that the two of them were eyeing him with incredibly analytical expressions in play. This struck him as troublesome.

"W-What's up?" the boy breathed, wiping the back of his arm over his forehead.

"We've come across a major setback," Yim stated, grimacing at the conversation that was to come. The two teachers patiently waited as the jinchuriki forced himself to his feet, staggering a bit before assuming a distinguished standing position. "It's about your speed."

"I… I know that I'm slower than Ran-chan… b-but I know that if I try hard enough, I might just be able to catch her…"

"It's no use," the samurai interjected, drawing the boy's attention to her suddenly. "No matter what you tried or how fast you moved, you still couldn't get a handle on my rhythm. Even if you were to look at my previous style from a distance for some time, you wouldn't be able to find a way to catch me even if you were fighting for your life."

"Th-Then… what's wrong?"

Ran raised the newspaper and waved it in front of her, causing the boy to pale at the sight of it. She was damn near capable of beating someone with it; that much was clear. "The power in your attacks, balance, and your techniques are spot on. You also have sharp reflexes, good response time and a keen eye for breaking down an opponent's style in order to effectively break through their defenses and counters, since you attempted to do so against me multiple times. I believe you can thank Yim-chan for a lot of those acquired abilities."

The martial artist giggled and rubbed the back of her head bashfully; receiving a headshake from the still seated Kin and the pigeon resting on the walkway next to the now napping kitten. This family could easily be mistaken for a pack of misfits if it weren't for the fact that they were all strong individually. The observing kunoichi was a bit uncomfortable thinking about how _their_ opponents felt after being beaten by a person of _their_ character.

There must have been really depressing defeats…

"_No shit…"_ the kunoichi muttered in her head, scrunching her face up like an annoyed child and pulling her knees up to her chest. _"The punch that hurts the most comes from the person you underestimate."_

"However, there is one serious weakness you have yet to cover in your fighting style," Ran continued, breaking the silence and earning the full attention of her student once again. She then pointed down towards the ground in the direction of what Naruto assumed were his feet.

He looked down at his toes and wiggled them, "These things?"

Ran nodded affirmatively, withdrawing her arm. "Leg strength is the most important element for a martial artist, even for a style focusing primarily on the upper body. The legs need to be strong enough to carry you on in a fight, from the muscles in your thighs to the strength in your toes. That's the main reason you couldn't catch me back when I was sparring with you, because you lacked strength in your toes required for shifting weight and your speed wasn't that up to scratch."

Recalling his earlier fights with Kiba and the Sound Genin, Naruto meekly raised a hand in an attempt to defend his side, if with little chance of success. "B-But I did well in my taijutsu exam against one strong fighter who was really quick… a-and against three others…"

"While that certainly is true, it was only because _you_ were being incredibly reserved and highly conservative in your fighting. Your opponents acted aggressively and stepped towards you rather than having you attack them. Imagine if you encountered an intelligent fighter who exploited that? Though it is true you have attained a certain level of speed," Ran began, lowering her head a little as she contemplated on how best to express her next points, "That strength only shone in short, sharp bursts… brief intervals of offense that you rarely conducted with _Spring Chant_. A majority of your speed comes from your forward dash, which is just a straight and direct line of attack. When it comes to changing directions or zigzagging to throw off your opponents though, your techniques and rhythm get sloppy. I could tell because your lower legs were shaking every time you shifted weight. Your outer toes and your lower legs have very little strength in them, meaning when you're fighting an opponent who uses their feet to evade, you won't be able to catch them at all."

This definitely dropped the weight of an anvil down on top of the jinchuriki. He nearly collapsed a second time altogether. However, through sheer effort and determination he managed to remain conscious and confront this daunting news head first. Still, that didn't mean he didn't act like somebody had just recently been run down by a train.

Everything she said was true though.

Shinobi in _Konohagakure_ were swift and agile. Having observed some of them in action on the training grounds, when engaged with opponents on a wide open field, the attackers tended to cross a great distance in predictable, linear fashion. They put the full weight of their body forward and rushed with their arms held back for balance for performing zigzagging movements on the fly, but the attack pattern was still incredibly direct and straight. It was a habit all shinobi fell into when in combat; rush in hard, fast and head down. Their taijutsu was overly aggressive.

This is where his and Yim's fighting styles differed greatly. Both of them had incredibly reserved fighting forms, something the jinchuriki picked up from his teacher, and attacked with no wasted movement whatsoever, as opposed to the shinobi of Konoha and most likely other villages. Naruto had learned that the best attack was a superior defense, and he had taken in this skill set and dropped it on top of his already seasoned taijutsu tactic of rush in swiftly and nail em'.

Today, he found out there was a third and just as important skill to be developed; indirectly chase down your opponent and match their rhythm.

"So what are we going to do about it?" Naruto asked, looking down at his feet again. He bent his knees outwards, trying to get a feel for a problem that only existed during a particular, strenuous activity. "I can't move on to anything else that is too advanced until I've gotten rid of my weakness."

"Which is why we're going to begin transforming your weakness into something you can use against others," Yim exclaimed suddenly. This earned a glance from Ran and more than a surprised gaze from her student, whom stared at her with widened eyes. The martial artist grinned and folded her hands in front of her. "On top of the leg strengthening exercises, we'll also start throwing you into several arm extension workouts. The _Spring Chant_ is apparently most effective as a defense and counter, it being primarily a stationary style. By strengthening the techniques associated with your foundation style, you'll be able to strengthen your natural style. We won't just be improving your speed to get you into an in-fight, but we'll also make you work on out-fighting swiftness and techniques that'll make your opponents uncomfortable fighting against you, no matter what the range."

"Increasing the limited distances of his punches and kicks, aye?" Ran exclaimed, giving the idea a bit of a run over. "Not just distance but also adding more power and speed. That ought to work." The samurai turned back to Naruto with a renewed battle plan. "It's settled then. For the next couple of months we'll focus most of our time in strengthening your legs. In between sessions the two of us will divide our time spent with you to work on your individual styles and techniques. Agreed?"

Seeing how eager they were to help him, Naruto just couldn't say no. He grinned and nodded his head vigorously. "Yup!"

"Starting right now!"

"Wha-" _**SLAP!**_

The next thing Naruto became aware of was being chased around his backyard by Ran, who had begun the enjoyable activity of slapping the newspaper over his head repeatedly while he started bawling like a baby.

The boy cried out and covered his head as he ran, forcing his tired legs to keep him, or at least _try_ to keep him, at least two steps ahead of the woman. The Ronin wasn't gonna make it easy for him, as indicated by her wide smile and laughter as she chased him down like a bird defending its nest.

"GAAARRAAAHAAAAAAAAAA!"

"RUN! RUN YOU COWARDLY CUR!" Ran laughed, taking another swipe at him.

The samurai kept on chasing Naruto till he was at that elevated stage of being two steps ahead of her. After several laps in which both participated in their respective roles of cat and mouse, the wanderer stopped and decided to hang back beside her companion to continue watching the boy sprint rings of his backyard. Since it was a sprint it would essentially drain him of his stamina much quicker than a long-distance run, and since his teachers had such a profound effect on him mentally, as well as physically, he would continue running at a strenuous pace no matter the obstacles.

He didn't want to get beaten into the ground or flailed like a fish again.

"_I was right all along!"_ Naruto thought, tears in his eyes, _"All the girls I know are trying to kill me!"_

Yim and Ran retreated to the porch to sit with Kin and the house pets, so as to better observe his progress. Every time he passed them the group could hear his distinctive panting, a sign that he was quickly growing exhausted.

That was exactly what they wanted from him; hard work.

Mr. Woo took off from his place on the walkway and began following the boy just as Ran had before. The dove glided directly over him and maintained that height as he ran, shadowing him and watching him from above. If he slowed down in even the slightest, he would descend and peck him on the head. Whether this was some form of encouragement or harassment nobody knew, but either way it did the trick.

However, while he was excessively running his feet raw and pouring sweat, amidst the giggling of Kin and the sly smile from the kitten, Yim and Ran once again engaged themselves in conversation.

They weren't naïve. They knew that Naruto's problem wouldn't be one that was easy to overcome.

"We can put him through as much leg work as we can, but it still won't completely cover his weakness of directional speed," Ran said, glancing over at her friend to see her share the exact same look of concern. "He's quite bulky in spite of his small size and isn't that graceful, so summing up his current characteristics, I'd say he's more suited to be an in-fighter then an out-fighter. He has to get in close to his opponents to deal any real damage to them. You and I both know _we_ are more suited for close range in hand-to-hand as opposed to distance fighting, so our experiences in this matter may be a little bit shallow for him. He needs an expert to completely transform him into an ambidextrous of ranged combat."

"We can still try the best we can," Yim murmured, glancing back towards her student. "However, I agree with you. If we're going to cover this issue properly, we're going to need someone who will be able to match and train Naruto in terms of fighting character, resilience and control, and get them to teach him how to utilize attacks excessively with pinpoint precision. Do you know any out-fighters that are compatible for him?"

Ran rubbed her chin thoughtfully, trying to recall if she had met anyone in the past from this village or anywhere else that was good at in and out fighting. Of course, running into somebody whose fighting personality matched Naruto's was a little bit difficult. She couldn't just pick anyone; it had to be someone she knew intimately.

"There may only be one or two shinobi in this village that has mastered out-fighting capabilities, but the odds that their characteristics are compatible are extremely low," Yim stated, rubbing the side of her face, "If not here then maybe… somebody _outside_ of this village?"

Suddenly, it hit her!

Ran looked up with widening eyes when that particular person came to mind. Her companion noticed her unexpected expression change and looked in her direction completely, where she saw the samurai smile triumphantly.

"You thought of someone?"

The wandering vagrant nodded affirmatively.

"I can't believe I nearly forgot about that idiot, she's perfect for this job. I just need to find her…"

XXX

**Speaking of which…**

**The Entertainment District…**

"The day is warm and sunny, my heart is sunny too! The day is bright and cheery, and the sky is blue! Oh, it's great to be alive!" the strange girl dressed in pink sang happily as she skipped down one of _Konohagakure's_ busy streets. Her cheery mood, odd appearance and voice carrying on over the gentle breeze drew a lot of attention from various passers and shop owners, who simply stared after the stranger as she sang and danced all the way down the road. "Oh what a beautiful morning, the heavens are sunny and blue, and that makes my heart sunny too!"

The woman, who looked to be around her late teens but was in fact around her twenties, was wearing a long sleeve, cherry blossom colored martial arts top with darker trim, a dark pink, sleeveless blouse with a white, fabric belt wrapped around her waist, holding what looked to be a short stick on her back. The same blouse also formed a skirt, which concealed a pair of light, skin colored spandex shorts. Her shapely legs had a pair of lightly colored leg warmers and traditional martial arts shoes adorning her lower body, making up her outlook.

To complete her appearance, long brown hair wrapped tightly into a bun on top of her head with a red brocade and a braided ponytail that reached down to her waist, and tied at the end by a ribbon. She had fair skin, a cheerful disposition, and sparkly eyes that made her face shine like the sun she was so passionately singing about. Though it seemed strange to others, it was completely natural for her.

There was no other person in the world that was as cheerful or as carefree as her.

"My, what a beautiful day!" the girl exclaimed, hopping to a stop and raising a hand above her brow. She surveyed the area, taken in by almost everything. "The sun is warm, the breeze is cool and soothing, and this place just smells so pleasant! There is nothing like a peaceful village filled with wonderful people going about their daily lives."

She sniffed the air, sighing in satisfaction before skipping her way over to one of the stands at the side of the road. Seeing that it was a fruit stand, the girl leaned in and admired the collection of goods categorized into boxes. Though it wouldn't necessarily make somebody eager, this girl was just fascinated by the smallest things, and went about marveling over each individual basket before her eyes fell on a collection of oranges at the far end.

Picking one up, she held it out to the man sitting in the shade behind his counter. "Excuse me sir, one orange please!"

"That'll be two ryo, miss," the owner replied, extending his own hand patiently.

Reaching into her belt, the girl pulled out the necessary funds and handed them over. With her treat in hand, she popped it into her mouth and happily bounded away, like a dog that had just caught a tennis ball. The fruit stand owner watched her leave with a strange look on his face, shaking his head once she was out of sight before going back to keeping tabs on his sales.

The woman grinned happily with the fruit in her mouth, her trek across the village soon taking her to the very heart of _Konohagakure_. The town center was formed into a wide circle surrounded by various three-story buildings and businesses, where the various roads spread out throughout the _Hidden Leaf_ intersected into a roundabout. Directly in the center of the clearing stood a massive tree bordered off by a fence, which towered over the other smaller constructs lining the square. If the Hokage were to stand on top of the Academy's Main building where his office was situated, he would be able to see and recognize every individual present in the area.

However, it was a noteworthy fact that the locals wouldn't be able to recognize _this_ newcomer on sight without greater thought, in spite of her reputation. She could have easily been mistaken for somebody else.

The cheerful person dressed in foreign clothing giggled when she stopped in the middle of the ring road and gazed lively up at the large, red building and the monument further along. To her, it was one of the most amazing sights she had ever seen in her life…

…and she'd been traveling for quite a while.

"Wow, look at all of those old faces carved into the mountain!" she exclaimed, pulling the orange out of her mouth and raising a hand over her eyes to better look at the massive monolith. "It's amazing! How were they able to do something like that? The head architect of this place must be some kind of genius! Oh!" She switched up to a thoughtful pose and rubbed her chin in consideration. "That reminds me, where exactly am I? Let's see, I was heading east… or was I heading south? Hmm… well, in any case, I haven't been to this village before. Things are going great so far! The people are friendly, the air is clear, the sun is warm… it's paradise!"

"You there, hold it!"

Hearing a voice calling out behind her the girl in pink quickly turned around, where she saw two men dressed in shinobi garb running up to her. When they came within about ten feet of their target, which was pretty much perfect range for throwing weapons, the pair stopped in their tracks and took confrontational stances. This showed just how weary they actually were of the person they were approaching.

By the way their hands were clenched at their sides and how tensed up their bodies were, it was as though they were welcoming the idea of a fight, or preparing for one at least.

Too bad the girl didn't register to this. "Oh, it's you two?"

She remembered seeing the pair over by the entrance gate to this village. Since they both wore the same uniform, she was only able to discern them by the characteristic additions to their appearances. One wore a bandana with a fringe of brown hair covering his right eye while the other had black spiky hair and a bandage covering the bridge of his nose. Both wore the same insignia identifying them as a part of the village and both of them were looking pretty agitated.

"Finally!" Kotetsu barked.

"That's as far as you go," Izumo also added, straightening up and pointing in the woman's direction. "Identify yourself?"

"Huh?" the girl swiveled towards them and, with her free hand, pointed densely at herself, "You mean me?"

"Yes, you," Izumo lowered his arm, scowling.

"We called you at least three times but you didn't answer us," Kotetsu informed, still maintaining a challenging stance with his feet spread shoulder width apart. "You were supposed to check in at the front gates before entering the village. However, since we've passed that point, we would like you to hand over your papers please."

"My papers?" the girl parroted, giving the two Chunin a puzzled look before bringing her hand up to her chin in thought. "Oh, do you mean toilet paper? Sorry, I'm afraid I don't have any on me at the moment. I always use leaves whenever I have an emergency and… well… when yah gotta go, yah gotta go!"

Both Kotetsu and Izumo staggered at her answer, almost falling head-over-heels in shock. However, managing to maintain their footing, they fell back into what could have been described by onlookers as rattled expressions of composition, and simply glared irritably back at the girl. The two of them grounded their teeth in annoyance.

"We mean your _passport_!" Kotetsu shouted, "Papers, identification, documentation, geez!"

"Don't make our trip across the village looking for you a waste of our time," Izumo warned, folding his arms towards the girl as she gazed bewilderedly at them. "We were scolded by our superior when he came by on his rounds to assess our progress and saw you stroll idly by without checking in, saying we needed to put more effort into our work. If you cooperate with us now, we won't cause you any trouble."

"Oh! Okay!" the traveler exclaimed, reaching into her belt for the aforementioned material they were inquiring her about. "So you want my passport? Let's see uhh…" Her hands rummaged around her pouch, finding nothing bearing any relation to what she had in mind. Biting her tongue, she continued searching her belt. "They're umm… uhh… let's… no… uhh…"

This went on for the next minute or so, with both Kotetsu and Izumo staring at her through odd looks drawn across their faces. How thick could a person possibly get? If you didn't have identification in the pockets of an outfit that… well… to be quite frank, in an outfit that shouldn't have that many places to conceal things in the first place, wouldn't you know whether you had the items on you or not? A smart person would know that.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the girl spoke up suddenly, interrupting their shared train of thought with a nervous grin. "I'm afraid I don't have a passport. You see I normally just travel about at my own leisure; I don't really need any identification papers. I get by borders easily. Nobody would ever think of picking on little-old me." She smiled proudly while placing her hands on her hips, pumping her chest out.

Yet another reason for the Chunin to be suspicious; brilliant…

She then remembered the orange she was holding and took a bite out of it, as if the problem was over and done with, simple as that. It was after taking a chunk of raw flesh out of the fruit that she soon remembered that she was supposed to peel it first.

"Ugh! Sour!" the traveler spat, doing the smart thing and ripping the skin of the fruit off. "Let's see… you do… this?"

Kotetsu and Izumo's expressions quickly changed from catastrophic annoyance and distress to deep-seated distrust. They glanced in each other's directions before fixating their glares on the woman as she began picking away at her food.

Finding her strange behavior in public more than a bit forthcoming, Izumo decided to call it in. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out an earpiece and hooked it up. Immediately getting a link through to the other end, he turned his attention to the rooftops surrounding the village square.

"We have a questionable customer here. Back up, now!" He then glared over at the woman again, who was now delighting in her orange treat, piece by piece. _"You think I haven't seen acting before? __**No one **__in this day and age acts like that and can be considered normal."_

Clearly he had forgotten all about their resident troublemaker… and several other noteworthy names in the Third Hokage's filing cabinet.

More on them later.

The girl giggled and looked up at her interrogators, holding out the orange, "You guys want some? The fruit is sweet and refreshing, and I'm sure the vitamins inside will brighten up your day."

"I'm sorry miss, but I'm afraid we must politely decline," Kotetsu said, stepping back to line up with Izumo, who still had his finger on the earpiece. "You're gonna have to come with us."

In the blink of an eye three individuals dressed in black and grey armor, arm guards, porcelain masks, and armed with swords sheathed onto their backs, suddenly leapt down from the rooftops and surrounded the woman.

Obviously the people Izumo had been getting through to were the shadow guards or, more precisely, the ANBU squad from the gate they had previously been overseeing. This particular team was a part of a larger platoon personally assigned by the Hokage in the wake of the _Scroll of Seals_ incident to keep an eye on the various entrances, in the shadows of the Chunin who were assigned to each checkpoint.

It goes to show that the regular forces weren't the only ones constantly on duty.

The few bystanders within the vicinity of the tree jumped at the sight of the ANBU, with those with the right sense of mind quickly vacating the danger zone. Their appearance was quick to draw a crowd, most of which were passers using the intersection to get from place to place, and stopping at the sight of the commotion. The number of contenders also told them to stay back.

The woman who was actually the target of all of this drama gasped and looked around her wildly when she unexpectedly found herself the center of attention of some very sinister looking people.

"W-What is this?"

"Don't resist!" Kotetsu shouted, throwing his hand out and signaling the ANBU to take her.

It was routine; if this woman was a spy and a powerful one at that, then the ANBU were the logical choice to handle the situation. They were the most skilled and could take down targets quickly; hence there was minimal risk of property damage.

Drawing their weapons the squad dove at her all at once, lunging in their attacks to capture her as swiftly as possible, preferably without a fight. Their movements were but a series of dark blurs shooting down the ten feet of distance between themselves and their target smack-bang in the middle of the picture.

It seemed like an incredibly precarious situation for the unfortunate traveler…

XXX

**Back at the house…**

It had been about an hour since Naruto had gotten into the pace of his laps and so far things seemed to be going well for him, in spite of his winded condition which continued to gradually increase over a certain period of time. However, while he was making a breakthrough on his stamina level his routine was forced to an unexpected and abrupt stop at the appearance of what could only be described as…'a cardboard box painted to match the texture of the ground beneath it, with two eyeholes poked into the face of it.'

It was unexpected and, in a word, creepy.

The thing just slid out from around the corner of the house unannounced, at the same time making an awful racket since whoever was inside of it was muttering a substantial amount of complaints about the surface texture he was traversing on his hands and knees.

Initially the group wasn't all too fussed by it; simply chalking it up to the weirdness they had already encountered inside of the village and carried on with their training. But after a while, in which the box scooted that much closer and started 'observing' them, those with the most common sense and courtesy about them decided to drop whatever it was they were doing and help the poor bastard struggling with whatever reconnaissance he was trying to pull off.

Pressing pause on their activities, all members of the household gathered around the box and started staring at it.

Forming an orderly semi-circle in front of it, Naruto, Ran, Yim and surprisingly enough Kin, gazed at the object silently with sweatdrop expressions. The animals also joined them, coming to appear on the shoulders of the latter two to join in the face-off. Had it been an actual inanimate object the entire situation would have been immediately classified as a waste of time. Too bad for the rock, the four of them knew better.

Kin blinked, "What is that?"

"Good question," Ran murmured, kicking it a couple of times. Their expressions deepened into their peculiarity when the 'rock' scuttled away. The samurai raised an eyebrow, "This is ridiculous."

"This place really does have a lot of interesting foundations," Yim exclaimed, placing her hand on her chin thoughtfully as she admired the box that had once again decided to sit still, "A mountain with faces on it, diversity in the arts and rocks that move. Fascinating…"

Naruto, Ran and Kin gave the woman a deadpanned look.

"_**Is she actually serious?"**_ they all thought at the same time.

No way. Whatever this thing was, it was no disguise. It was a desperate cry for help.

Quickly growing bored, the battered Naruto with a towel slung over his shoulders walked up to the upside-down packing container and, taking a page out of Ran's book, kicked it. "Hey, this clearly isn't a natural land formation. Who exactly are you trying to fool with this thing?"

It didn't answer.

Eyebrow twitching, the blonde then suddenly grinned when a sinister idea popped into his head. Stepping back several paces, he turned towards Ran with a hand extended in offering. His teacher considered his gesture as well as the direction of his shifting gaze for several moments, before she too developed a sly smile when she eventually picked up on his proposal before it could even be put into words.

"Ran-chan, would you mind-?"

"Oh, it will be my pleasure," the ronin chuckled and stepped forward, her thumb flicking her sword an inch out of its scabbard. The base of cold, slicing steel flashed in the open sun in preparation for her draw. "I've been looking for something to test the sharpness of my blade on. This conveniently placed _rock_ will do just nicely."

By some huge impossibility, the box broke out into a sweat. The next thing the group witnessed as Ran stepped towards the container was the whole thing going up in a cloud of multi-colored smoke. It caused everyone standing next to it to flinch at the blast's enormity and proximity.

The explosion, though as brief as it was, didn't really possess a very climactic finish when a boy nearly half the size of Naruto came crawling out on his hands and knees, choking on the fumes.

"Stupid smoke pellets! I hate it when they do that!" Konohamaru cursed, pushing himself to his feet.

After dusting off his shorts and knees, he looked up at the four people surrounding him. The samurai stepped back to allow him some breathing space, at the same time retracting her sword completely back into its scabbard. Upon looking over each and every one of them, the adolescent's eyes then landed on the familiar, beaten up version of the punk that had grappled him the day before. Immediately identifying him by his hair and whiskers, the child grinned and pointed at him accusingly.

"I found you!"

"Wha?" Naruto blinked, dumbstruck.

I mean, how else did audiences expect him to respond? A roving box, a colorful explosion only used in Tarantino films, and a pint-sized kid with a missing tooth crawling out of said explosion, more than warranted a thunderstruck response.

At first Naruto was confused by the child's opening statement, as was everybody else. However, it didn't take the jinchuriki too long to piece together his lingering thoughts in which he was soon able to recall why this brat's face and voice seemed so familiar to him. His eyes widened when he finally remembered the incident from yesterday and pointed down at the adolescent in kind.

"AH! It's you! You're that noisy kid that tried to challenge the old man!"

"By 'noisy kid' I believe you mean _me_ and by 'old man' I believe you're referring to my grandfather, the honorable _Third Hokage_," Konohamaru smirked while placing his hand on his chin in thought as he looked the teenager from head to toe. "You are pretty rude for a commoner, but I could be mistaken. You're more like the village idiot then a commoner."

Naruto huffed and folded his arms, raising an eyebrow with an irked glimmer reflected in his eyes. "If I'm the idiot then tell me, who was the _idiot_ that came charging into the office the other day screaming 'I challenge you old man'?" the blonde inquired, attempting to imitate the boy's character but unable to grasp the concept completely. Instead, he let it be as it was and went on with his point without tripping. "Ninja don't do things like that. They don't go _diving_ into a room shouting at the top of their lungs, nor do they use a shuriken if their intentions are to stab their target. A kunai is a much better choice of weapon."

Konohamaru reacted immediately to his reply, puffing out his cheeks and chest furiously, and producing a look that told everyone that he was about to burst… literally.

The jinchuriki had intended for his retort to carry resolute quality, something which he prided himself on when dealing with insolent brats who wanted to mess with him. This proved that he was still a child at heart and would even sink so low that he'd joust it out with a kid at least a year or two younger then himself. Kin quietly praised him for his well composed riposte, but also shook her head at his immaturity.

A real man would have taken the insult in stride. Naruto was clearly one who wanted to tackle verbal abuse head on, which was commendable, depending on the audience's outlook.

However, when it looked like the grandson of the honorable Third was about to pop his cork, he then suddenly assumed the position of attention, his arms and legs snapping together sharply. He tightened his glare and, while keeping his eyes fixated on the blonde haired boy towering over him, the child let loose a great, almighty shout.

"I've decided!" he announced while pointing up at the jinchuriki again, "You're going to start training me from now on, boss!"

Naruto started at him in bewilderment. The words hit him like any physical punch thrown by a person would and the effects sunk in just as quickly, as it did for the others.

Kin snickered, placing her hand over her mouth to muffle her laughter. "Pft. Boss?"

The teachers standing beside her had an almost mirrored response to her own. While Yim giggled and held in her sides, Ran shook her head to cover her rather uncharacteristic grin.

"Huh? Wait a second." Rubbing his forehead Naruto gave himself a moment to compose, before glaring down at the shorter kid through squinted eyes. "Let's start over. First of all, why am _I_ the one who's going to be training you? Secondly, for what reason, and thirdly… what's with the 'boss' thing all of a sudden?"

Konohamaru grinned "Simple! I'm calling you boss because you're going to be training me, and I can tell from yesterday's clash that you are definitely strong!" He pumped his fist and took a hold of his bicep when he tensed his arm up in a power pose. Since he was so small it was more of a comical gesture than an impressive one. "You're _very_ strong! Being able to trap me and see through my excellent disguise is proof that you must be an awesome ninja! That's why I want you to take me as your student!"

Naruto tried not to think much of his compliments, despite the smile threatening to appear on his face by way of the twitching corners of his lips.

So he got the kid in an arm lock? It was textbook stuff he'd learned from his taijutsu encyclopedia some time ago back in the academy when he was preparing himself for the exams. Big whoop. Then there was the 'disguise'. Well… obviously it's not every day a person sees an oddly shaped rock scuttling about on the floor or on the street, and one that's sufficient in size to fit a whole person underneath. The shrimp could have at least made it a challenge for him.

These thoughts quickly had the jinchuriki withdraw from his initial responses to the praise, and he went back to staring oddly at the boy with a small smirk. "Thanks for the kind words. However, I can't help but notice that you didn't answer question number two, and that is for what reason do you want me to train you?" He looked over at Yim and shrugged in wonder, who also smiled back.

"_If you're curious, then don't hesitate to ask,"_ the martial artist thought.

Konohamaru frowned and folded his arms, looking away with an uncomfortable crinkle in his brow. "I want you to train me so that I can become strong… strong enough to beat the village leader, become Hokage, and be acknowledged for just being _me_… and not for what my grandfather makes me." He straightened up abruptly and glared up at the blonde without flinching, "Everyone refers to me as 'Honorable Grandson' and don't even bother using my given name. I want to change that!"

It took but a bat of an eye for these facts to stick and once they did, Naruto smiled that much wider. He devoted a little bit more time and thought towards the cause the kid was presenting him with, just so that he could come to a reasonable understanding of the facts and work out a fair conclusion.

It was understandable that people wanted to be recognized for themselves, if not just for their own accomplishments and skills. It seemed kind of selfish, but that was human nature. A lot of people in this world are attention hungry, social animals. This brat must have gotten fed up with being labeled a higher prospect and wanted nothing more than to just be a normal kid like all the others. Naruto could understand that completely, only the difference between himself and this youngster was that _he_ started out life at the bottom of the food chain, the lowest form of life.

Even so, he could sympathize with the adolescent one way or the other.

Naruto nodded his head affirmatively upon a swift breakdown of his thoughts and decided to address the issue directly. "Alright, I guess I can help you out. Uhh…" He trailed off shortly afterwards, scratching his head. "Sorry, I don't think I really… _know_ your name. Or do I?"

"Konohamaru Sarutobi, boss," the youngster exclaimed excitedly, thumbing himself in the chest. "Nice to meet you!"

"Wow, you have the same name as the village. Okay then Konohamaru… I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to teach you just yet, but I'll think of something," Naruto stated confidently. "Every single shinobi in this village started from the bottom of the ladder. So the way I reckon it, the ground is the perfect place to begin."

The adolescent's expression brightened considerably at that news and he clenched his fists tightly to convey his excitement.

A pat on the jinchuriki's shoulder drew his attention towards Ran. The samurai looked down at him with a serious expression in play and once she was certain she had his attention, she spoke. "Remember Naruto, we're focusing our time and efforts towards training _you_ at the moment. Don't you think you should prioritize your commitments from your activities a little bit more appropriately?"

"Don't worry. I'm just taking him on for the day. It's not like this will be a fulltime gig for me," Naruto replied with a warm smile. "As long as I teach him something good that will take him a lot of time to master then I'm sure he'll be satisfied."

Not entirely convinced at his assurance but figuring it was really the best for both worlds, the ronin nodded in understanding and stepped away, folding her arms back into her sleeves. "I'll give you the rest of the day to work this out. We can pick up where we left off in the afternoon."

Yim had also come to the same agreement with Naruto's logic and decided not to intervene. However, nobody could really make an accurate assessment of the thoughts currently going through Kin's mind. Since she didn't know any of them… _that well_… at all, nor did she know anything about this new boy, she chose simply to hang back, listen, and silently laugh at the slapstick material that rolled in.

The kitten on Ran's shoulder licked its paw absently, whereas Mr. Woo tended to his feathers.

"So! Where do I begin, boss?" Konohamaru jumped excitedly. "What's the first lesson?"

Naruto smiled, bringing up his towel and wiping his face down. After which he shoved it into his pocket so that half of the cloth was hanging out. "The first lesson involves figuring out what you're going to be working on. Are you… going to the ninja academy yet or…?" He saw the boy shake his head. "Alrighty, so we can call this a… uhh… an uhh…"

Pausing for a moment the blonde thought carefully about the possible right words he could use next. The world's dialogue was as big as the ocean and after years of living in it he was still having trouble finding out what to say and how to say stuff. He then snapped his fingers successfully and grinned, "We can call this a _prerequisite_, yeah, something to get you rolling on the road to your future career as a shinobi."

Abruptly turning, Naruto wandered on over to his porch to collect his jacket. His sudden shift of focus and movement meant that he missed Konohamaru's grin vanish and the boy stomp forward with his foot slammed firmly into the ground.

"Not shinobi. HOKAGE!"

Catching onto this, the jinchuriki glanced over his shoulder at the youngster now glaring stubbornly at him. Narrowing his eyes when the information was relayed several times over in his head, allowing him to gain an understanding of his disapproval, the blonde then slipped his jacket on and left it unzipped, hoping the breeze would cool him down from his training. He decided to leave his shirt behind and went with just the short-sleeved hoody.

"Looks like we're gonna have to start from the _**very**_ beginning," Naruto murmured, slipping his hands into his pockets and waltzing over to the boy, stopping just short of him. Yim and the others watched curiously from the sidelines as to what he was going to say next. "I'll begin with the first lesson Iruka-sensei taught us on orientation day."

"And that would be…?"

Naruto smirked and placed his hand on top of Konohamaru's head, patting it hard and causing him to wince under his helmet. "Love the village and help to preserve peace and prosperity!"

"Huh?" the adolescent yapped, glaring up at the grinning blonde with his hands over his head to protect himself. "W-What's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what it means," With that point made, Naruto took the boy by his shoulders and turned him around. He then started scooting him out of the backyard around to the front. "We'll talk about this more on a walkabout. Let's go! Let's go! There's much to teach you, young shrimp!"

"IT'S NOT SHRIMP! IT'S KONOHAMARU!" the boy yelled in protest.

"When you're a student of Naruto Uzumaki, you're a nobody until you've gotten through lesson one!" the jinchuriki laughed, allowing the child to slouch away while muttering under his breath. Seeing him take stride at a labored pace, Naruto then looked over at his friends hanging behind him with a curious glance. "Do you guys have any plans?"

Ran smiled and adjusted her sword at her side, at the same time removing the kitten from her shoulder and setting him in Yim's waiting arms. The samurai then strolled on over in the direction of her pupil with her answer leading her.

"I'll come with you. I could use a long stroll… not to mention this little 'student' of yours looks to be a very interesting prospect."

Naruto grinned toward his tagalong before glancing over at the others. While Kin folded her arms and looked away, asserting her position clearly, Yim smiled and waved.

"I'll watch over the house and prepare lunch for when you get back."

"Sweet!" the jinchuriki exclaimed, waving back towards her and then specifically towards Kin, to which he then pointed, "Look after my cute little bedroom buddy while I'm out!"

The kunoichi developed a tick mark and viciously rounded on the blonde, red-faced. "I DON'T NEED A BABYSITTER!"

The boy laughed good-naturedly and walked off, aiming to catch Konohamaru before he reached the front gate. Ran followed suite and, surprisingly enough, so did Mr. Woo.

The white bird, not wanting to be the typical stay-at-home pet, decided to join in on the roaming, training team and took off from Kin's shoulder to then land on Naruto's. He of course still had his own duties to see completed, showing just how committed to his master's orders he was.

Once the four of them left, only the former Oto Genin, the wandering martial arts master and the kitten were left standing in the backyard.

Cooling off from her outburst, Kin glanced up at her guard with a slight glower. Though she was reluctant to engage in conversation with her, who else was she going to express her excess thoughts towards?

"Does he always act naive or is his timing just… _bad_?" the girl inquired.

"It's his nature," Yim beamed down at her warmly. "He's energetic and quite unordinary. Isn't that wonderful?"

Kin breathed and looked away, her expression softening somewhat. "I don't think I'll ever understand that…"

OOO

Back with the convoy, Naruto, Ran and Konohamaru had hit the road and were well on their way, with the youngest up front and the caretaker of the duo at the back, shadowing them.

The wandering ronin gave them all the space they needed to get their lessons on the move and in peace no less; since she knew how taxing a training session could be on the trainer if they had some overprotective mother, breathing down their neck. She'd been there before; not good.

Understandably, she was also deeply curious as to how this whole thing would pan out for her student, and kept a weather ear open to soak in anything of interest that just happened to be blurted out.

The jinchuriki had decided to lead them down the main road back towards the central parts of the village, while also resolving to engage his 'disciple' in the lectures Iruka himself had conducted in the classroom when he first got into the academy. He covered them quickly and simplified the various chapters enough so that even the stubborn adolescent could understand him.

It would be some walk back at their pace, but Naruto had traversed the roads with his clones enough times on the move-out so he was confident in the shortcuts. They soon left the rice fields well behind and arrived at the small forestation circling the outer-residential parts of the village.

Taking a moment to get off topic, Naruto glanced over his shoulder passed the roosting pigeon towards the samurai amiably following in his footsteps.

"So Ran-chan, what are you _really_ going to the village for?"

The woman smiled in his direction, silently extolling him for picking up on her true intentions so quickly.

"Yim-chan and I mentioned that we were going to transform your out-fighting weakness into a strength that you can use against your opponents. In order to thoroughly cover it though, we're going to need someone who possesses a far greater insight into the training methods and techniques then the two of us combined."

Naruto blinked, "Y-You're not out-fighters."

"Not wholly. My experience in out-fighting is limited to only kenjutsu and as you may already know, Yim-chan isn't aggressive enough to push you into that type of fighting. It's uncomfortable for her," Ran stated while closing her eyes, expressing her concern and seriousness of the situation entirely. "We'll need a person who can break the concept down for you on your level and help build up your strengths quickly. Fortunately, I know someone who is a master in out-fighting and can switch between all distances effortlessly."

The jinchuriki became even more curious as to who this person could be and whom Ran was speaking so highly of. Even Konohamaru had taken interest in their discussion and was looking over his shoulder at the samurai lady.

"Is this person a friend of yours?" Naruto queried.

The ronin shrugged, but smiled all the same. "You could say that. The two of us are a pair of unlikely characters who constantly run into each other along the roads we travel. By some strange coincidence, we almost _always_ meet, no matter the circumstances. She's a good girl, who is pure of heart and as lovely as a flower. However…" The samurai smiled down at the boy with an amused glimmer. "She takes after _you_ quite well. In fact, I think she's the reason why I'm so attached to knuckleheads like you."

Naruto blinked. "So she's energetic?"

"Oh, definitely."

"What does she look like?"

Ran chuckled, "You'll know her when you see her. She has this rather nasty habit of finding trouble and attracting a lot of attention."

XXX

**About… let's say…**

**Forty-five minutes later, **which unfortunately seemed like an eternity for the shinobi currently fighting it out right in the middle of _Konohagakure_, underneath the shadow of the massive tree, against a foe who was seemingly invincible.

In spite of her outsider-like appearance and abnormal personality, the wandering female that had previously been marked by the gate guards for strolling into the village without presenting her credentials at the entrance, didn't seem like that much of a threat to the local enforcers… _at first_. The three ANBU and two Chunin originally tasked with apprehending their 'intruder' and bringing her in for questioning, first took her for a poor actor or some sort of nuisance spy, and decided to take her on without second thought. It was to be a textbook snatch-and-grab maneuver, with little resistance expected.

They were now paying the price for their misjudgment.

Before they even knew what hit them, the girl dressed in pink swiftly and soundly defeated the shadow elite that went at her first, before taking her frustration out on the bewildered Kotetsu and Izumo who were reduced to gawking morons after watching her knock one ANBU out, and batter around the other two like ragdolls.

Following their shocking defeat, backup soon arrived. Chunin and Jonin alike came in from all sides and from every street. Since Konoha's central square was a busy intersection packed with small stalls and couriers, it came to no surprise that there were a lot of passers in that area who were really members of the regular shinobi forces.

The first wave considered itself lucky when their readily available support came in to help. But this would only be the start of the massacre to come.

Now, the word 'massacre' wasn't really something tossed around too frequently in society, even amongst shinobi. Sure there had been battles in the past that were actually considered by most veterans to have been a 'slaughter fest' or something along those lines, nowadays it was mostly used as a way to describe something vaguely similar.

The carnage that was taking place in the town square could be considered as such, as the attacking force was getting its ass handed to them over and over… and over again…

… but there were _**no**_ deaths.

Littering the streets were about thirty or more shinobi in total, most of them Chunin, with a handful of Jonin and ANBU. To sum up the conclusion of the fight thus far, all of the ninja scattered around the street were cut up, bruised, and knocked senseless to the point of excruciating pain or unconsciousness. However, though there was an impressive collection of bodies piled up here and there, it surprisingly wasn't that bloody.

As opposed to shinobi, who mostly used sharp, pointy stuff to deliver staggering blows in a fight such as this one, the person who was actually causing them so much trouble was someone who was using only their fists. Most ninja wouldn't even dream of facing such an overwhelming force in such a manner, but this individual was no shinobi.

Speaking of which, the above-mentioned fighter stood firmly in the center of the road, looking around wildly at all of her beaten up opponents lying about her on the floor. Uncomfortable and pain stricken groans could be heard echoing throughout the area as Chunin and ANBU licked away at their wounds. Many of them were rolling around clutching bruises all over their bodies, others tended to headaches that wouldn't go away, and a small handful were nursing unusual, cat-like scratches on their faces.

The girl huffed and spun around, turning her attention to the ones who started this whole thing. She glared down at Kotetsu and Izumo lying sprawled out on the ground, both of them with nail marks crisscrossing their faces. They gritted their teeth in panic and crawled away when the woman focused her attention solely on them.

"What the heck was this all about then, huh?" the martial artist asked, maintaining a wide, defensive stance. "Don't you men know who you're dealing with? I am Lady Meow of the _Iron Cat Fist_ you fools!"

The two Chunin gulped.

"She's strong…" Izumo murmured, bringing his fist up and rapping it against the side of his head, "Really strong!"

"Why is every woman in the world so damn powerful?" Kotetsu growled, rubbing a particularly sore wound across his face. He was going to need some serious ointment to get rid of all of these. "It's completely unfair, dammit!"

The woman identified as Meow stuck her nose in the air and took a more offensive stance. The two men still on their knees freaked out and backed away several feet more, "You men are all cowards! Only cowards would ever think about ganging up on a pretty young maiden like me! It's disgraceful. Where's your pride as men and skill as warriors? Where's your sense of honor?"

Izumo furrowed his brow, looking quite taken aback, "I think I left them in my other vest pocket back home…"

Meow frowned even deeper, punching her fist out in a new fighting pose. She started doing this repeatedly, striking various other stances as her words continued spilling out like a tap opened up on full. "That tears it! Fine then, BRING IT! I'll take you hoodlums on anytime, anywhere, whatever the occasion in whatever numbers you choose to seek conflict. For I, Meow of the _Iron Cat Fist,_ will _never_ back down in front of an enemy!" The unconscious men she treaded on while striking these poses groaned out uncomfortably.

Kotetsu sweat dropped, _"Does every fighter with an epithet act like this or is it just her?"_

At the end of the Chunin's inner comment about less than half of the attacking forces in the square had gotten back to their feet and in the eyes of their spectators, were once again staring at the odd girl continuing to strike peculiar fighting forms. Heck, thanks to having the stupid smacked out of them, those who were still in fit enough condition to continue fighting weren't even thinking twice of tackling her a second time. She was crazy strong.

Just as the pink martial artist was about to resume her battle with whoever wished to step up next, a call from down the street echoed throughout the area and resonated with those of able hearing. The voice was loud, booming and full of energy, and it only took a split second for those conscious to realize who it was on the approach.

"YOSH! What energy, what passion, WHAT YOUTH! Please, allow me to join in this battle of the fists!" Every individual shinobi present in the area nearly cried when they recognized that voice.

"Oh no… not _him_," Kotetsu bawled while being pulled to his feet by his partner. "Anyone but him…"

The next thing everyone became aware of was a strange green blur leaping down from the rooftops above. Spinning through the air, the object then landed explosively right in the heart of the circle formed by all of the people clearing the area, causing a dust cloud to shoot up from the impact. All the wounded and unconscious littering the road was quickly carted off to the side, with the ones who were still able to stand helping out with transporting their comrades, albeit with great difficulty. The civilians who were also on hand as audience helped out, just to make sure no more unnecessary injuries resulted.

The green blur soon revealed itself from the cloud to be a man dressed in green spandex, wearing a vest, and had bowl-cut, black hair with huge bushy eyebrows; those being his most prominent features. Stuck in a cool landing pose with his arms extended out to his sides, the lean newcomer then grinned up towards the crowds and in particular towards the girl now standing flabbergasted at his sudden emergence.

Meow then became completely conscious of the 'awe-inspiring' warrior that had arrived on the scene and upon assuming her defensive stance, grinned excitedly. "My, my, who do we have here? Do I detect the presence of a new foe?"

The strange man rose to his feet and in response, struck a narrow fighting pose with his left hand held forward and right fist held behind him, his shining grin clearly visible on his face. "The Leaf Village's fiercest beast of battle, also known as _Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey_;

Might Gai!" the Jonin exclaimed with vigor, his teeth sparkling in the sun. "Now, if I may be so boldest to ask, who is this most youthful of opponents I see standing before me?"

The woman smirked, taking a new fighting pose, "How kind of you to acknowledge my existence! Since I am a fair maiden, with a heart as pure as a mountain lake and a body more beautiful than the hillsides over a sunset's horizon, I shall honor your question with an answer. I am Lady Meow of the _Iron Cat Fist_!"

"Well, it certainly is a pleasure to meet such a strong young lady," Gai exclaimed again, retaining his stance, "It will bring me great joy to do battle with a warrior as fierce as yourself, one who burns so brilliantly with the flames of youth! Meow of the _Iron Cat Fist_, you shall be a most worthy opponent!"

Meow struck another pose, thrusting her fists out repeatedly. "Ha! Ha! Such enthusiasm! Your words vibrate with raw power and reflect a most keen level of insight, far above the level of an ordinary fighter! You will do well not to underestimate me _Green Beast_, for I am a warrior of justice, one who does battle on behalf of heaven!"

"A most noble practice," Gai exclaimed again. "Clearly, you are one not influenced by the temptations to do ill intent, fueled by hatred towards the common man or spurred on by the thirst for blood. You are a warrior of peace, one who supports the ideas of freedom and embraces life passionately. I will take your words to heart, Lady Meow, for with this coming battle I shall, in no way, underestimate your abilities. This fight that will transpire between us will be a duel of youths, where our certainties and ideals will be pitted against one another in epic combat!"

"Then our coming situation has been made clear!" Meow shouted, striking another pose. "I, Lady Meow, shall do battle to clear my name and ensure that justice is swiftly dealt. Mark my words, for as long as I am still breathing, my actions today will determine the path I walk down in the future. My foes have been but obstacles for me to cross with their accusations being nothing but a crossroads, leading me up to this being, whose very words, raw power and certainty rivals that of my own!"

"My fist has been longing for a challenge," Gai stated, sliding his foot forward that much more. "Whether this confrontation was organized by fate or the winds of change I cannot say, but what is most clear to me now is the present _and_the future. With this village as our witness, we shall show everyone what the true power of youth is. Get ready Lady Meow, for this battle will shake this village to its core!"

"And so it shall! For you see…"

For some otherworldly reason, this just kept on going.

The audience, who had been expecting their most famous taijutsu master to clash fists with this powerful foe the moment he arrived on the scene, was actually having a face off of words. To call it an epic clash of words was a bit of an overstatement. Their lines were cheesy, basically took them round in circles, with some of it making no sense whatsoever. It was kind of weird that the two understood one another so well and knew what to say next, yet made no progress whatsoever.

Every man and woman in the area sweat dropped when Gai and Meow continued on without missing a single step. Their 'discussion', if you could call it that, dragged on for so long that the likelihood of a fight actually breaking out between them started to decrease by the second.

"What is he doing?" Kotetsu asked, looking over by the ANBU standing next to him.

"_Having it out_… as they say," the masked man replied.

Izumo slapped his hand to his face and ran it down till it covered his mouth. The suspense was killing him, as was the peculiarity of the situation. "Should we stop them?"

"Oh, let him have his fun," Kotetsu replied, folding his arms, albeit the pain coursing throughout his body. "How often does he get to do this with somebody else anyway? Maybe he'll be able to get it out of his system."

"Besides," another Chunin elbowed the man in the side, grinning while gesturing towards the feuding pair in the middle of the circle. "It looks like Gai-sensei is having the time of his life."

This 'battle' went on for another few minutes. It shocked and exasperated everyone that the pair could actually continue finding words to hold each other off from going at one another physically. However, all of that quickly changed with one final declaration from the foreigner, who clawed her hands and lowered herself, readying for battle.

Her movement had everyone draw breath at once.

"Prepare yourself, Might Gai, for I am going to attack!" Meow shouted, earning an excited smirk from the man in spandex. The woman lunged with a war cry, intent on raining hell down upon her opponent and gain control of the fight first.

However, just as she was launching herself from the ground all ready to go with her muscles pumping, she suddenly felt a powerful force grip her by the collar and literally hold her back. With a cry of surprise, the martial artist was lifted off her feet and suspended several inches off the ground. She began punching and kicking out angrily, trying to shake herself out of the grip of the unexpected mediator.

"HEY! LET ME GO!" the woman yelled, kicking out some more. "UNHAND ME FIEND! I WILL SHOW YOU NO MERCY!"

"What are you doing, you idiot?" the soft voice from the person holding her up flowed in.

Meow stopped thrashing about and straight away looked over her shoulder, where she saw the amused smile from Tsukikage Ran gazing down at her. In all its brilliance and tranquility, the martial artist was immediately calmed at the recognition of her closest of companions from years past.

"Oh. Hey sis!"

Ran sighed and plopped her back down on the ground; once she was certain that the girl was able to acknowledge reality. "You're causing trouble for the locals again, aren't you? Honestly, why do I always find you thrust into these kinds of situations?"

The girl pressed her fingers together meekly. "I'm sorry… I can't help it."

The samurai sighed and turned away, revealing Naruto, Mr. Woo and Konohamaru standing beside her and looking at the new girl with odd expressions in play. While Meow sulked after her scolding, the wandering ronin decided to address the issue directly by facing the audience that had been partly involved with the incident. After all, why come to a full resolution when it was best to sweep things under the table?

"This has all just been a big misunderstanding, folks. Please forgive my friend for her actions and kindly continue on with your daily activities. I promise that she will not be causing anymore problems for you from now on," Ran spoke up, directing her voice towards the crowds and the shinobi present. Receiving no response but a collection of shocked stares and wide eyes, the samurai then began strolling away, leading her traveling companion and students out of the vicinity. "Thank you."

The crowd parted to let them leave, unwilling to put up any form of resistance. Once the quintet was out of sight, all witnesses and participants in the area then looked back towards Gai; their resident challenger and part-time moral support guide.

The man dressed in green, the best taijutsu master in all of _Konohagakure_ and probably the shinobi nations, the person who had been most looking forward to an epic clash of fists in the middle of the village, dropped his arms to his sides and gawked.

He became teary-eyed almost seconds later and sniffled when he saw his prospective opponent simply depart without another word.

Kotetsu and Izumo snickered when they saw the man start bawling out in despair, and grinned at one another.

"It looks like he just lost his new favorite playmate," the former exclaimed.

"It's kind of sad," his companion agreed.

XXX

**Sometime later…**

Ran immediately dragged Meow back home following the incident in the village square, obviously to have a long talk with her. Before they left however, Naruto expressed his utmost astonishment of having actually encountered a person outside of the village whose personality and habits rivaled that of his own. While Yim-chan possessed a handful of his quirks and was incredibly close to him, and Ran didn't want anything to do with anybody else outside of their group, to actually meet a person with a level of energy that was just as, if not higher, then the jinchuriki's… was unheard of! Her personality was also questionable.

How she has been able to survive for so long on the outside without being locked up in one of the villages' asylums was a real mystery.

She damn well nearly got taken in today.

Anyway, after Ran bade Naruto and his student farewell, this left the young pair all the time in the world to get done what they were really out here to accomplish. Konohamaru immediately confronted his teacher once the samurai and the bumbling fool were gone, and took an attentive stance. This signaled that he was as ready as he'd ever be.

"Alright boss!" the boy huffed, "Bring it!"

Naruto grinned at him as they stood in the middle of the road, the passers paying them little to no mind since… well, they were just kids. Mr. Woo on the other hand was resting on top of the jinchuriki's head, choosing to silently observe the proceedings and not at all upsetting the image of experience the blonde he was watching over was currently conveying.

"Very well," the jinchuriki stated, holding up a finger as he began projecting his thoughts clearly towards the adolescent in a manner befitting his age and stature. "Now I should warn you, training to become a shinobi isn't easy… something that I found out the hard way and ended up failing miserably for a lot of my later year at the academy. If it wasn't for Iruka-sensei's encouragement, Yim-chan's training, or my final push into the exams I would have definitely failed. It's a mistake I don't intend to repeat. Are you sure _you're_ up to it?"

Konohamaru nodded, bringing his clenched fists up as he listened intently to his young instructor. "If it's to become Hokage, I will go through anything!"

"It's a long road. You can't become Hokage just like _**that**_!" Naruto snapped his fingers, frowning. "I plan to take up that position someday myself, but I'm never gonna get there without great sacrifice and hard work first. I need you to understand this before I can teach you any techniques, which is why I'm going to go over the three basic rules of shinobi practice in my own unique way. I think it will work well for you since we're basically of the same mind."

"Awesome!" Konohamaru grinned. "I'm ready!"

Delighted to see that he was at least enthusiastic about the whole thing, Naruto then began counting the three basic principles he had on mind. He figured this out after going through his final exams and found them to be quite useful when reviewing certain material, which is something he was hoping to pass on. "The most important things a shinobi must possess are stealth, intelligence and speed. Anything else that any individual shinobi may possess, like talent and strength, they're just bonuses. Consider these three the main elements. I've found that the best way to keep in practice of all of them is by following a set of straightforward guidelines, like being creative, hitting the books as much as you are able, and training strenuously."

"Got it. Train hard and work hard." The adolescent nodded.

"And not just that. I believe you also have to be as active as possible. This works well for me because I have a lot of stamina, and it takes a while for me to actually break into a sweat or actually absorb stuff," Naruto smiled and gestured for the boy to follow. The duo began strolling down the street, with Konohamaru keeping close to the blonde so that he can listen. "I found that my greatest outlet and workout for my younger years was pulling pranks, since it helped boost my practical creativeness, speed and stealth. It was my lack of focus during classes that barred me from actually putting these to work during my first two years and is also the reason why I failed those exams. It was my poor results that forced me to start hitting the books to cover my weaknesses."

"So… it's good for ninja to be both active and book smart?" Konohamaru asked as the pair weaved through human traffic. "Will this prank-stuff make me stronger _faster_?"

"It will make you work, yes. But this is just to start you off on the road to _becoming_ a shinobi and the first thing I will show you today," Naruto stated, slipping his hands into his pockets as he began navigating his way out of the marketplace on his way to one of the residential areas. He stopped briefly at an intersection to recall the right directions, before turning left and heading onwards, with his student in hot pursuit. "We'll work our way up. Pulling good pranks isn't as easy as it sounds. It requires you to think first, be light on your feet, stealthy, and forces you to develop a good sense of timing. This stuff transmits quite well onto actual shinobi training."

"And… what rule would you say this 'prank-stuff' falls under, boss?" Konohamaru inquired.

Naruto grinned and poked his nose with the tip of his finger. "This will be rule number one: stealth!"

XXX

**A few minutes later…**

**Inuzuka Residence…**

Naruto grinned excitedly as he and Konohamaru stood outside of Kiba's home; a two story, traditional style building surrounded by a wooden fence with a big front yard and courtyard, which was clearly visible through the archway gate they were now currently standing under. The two youngsters figured that the courtyard was probably the area where a lot of the clan members went to train with their battle companions, and because there was a wide open space to cover from the building to the entranceway, this felt like the perfect place for the jinchuriki to start his lessons.

Sensing where this was going, Mr. Woo hopped off of Naruto's head and landed on Konohamaru's. Though the child initially made a fuss over it, after a few persuasive pecks on the forehead the adolescent piped down and accepted his fate.

The Uzumaki rubbed his hands together as if to warm himself up, before looking down at his student, who was still looking a little bit confused as to the reason of why they had come all the way over here.

"This is where we'll learn _stealth_. This practice as I will now demonstrate combines three different elements: careful planning, timing and swiftness," Naruto counted, before pointing towards the building. "Now Konohamaru, I want you to visualize."

"Visualize?"

"Yes. _Picture_ this place as some sort of fortress or base in another country," the blonde stated while putting his hands up in front of him, using his fingers to form a square frame. He started the process of like how any artist would, selecting particular aspects of the scenery and making plans, before ultimately moving on to the canvas. "High level missions require shinobi to sometimes break or sneak into well-guarded areas. Use this as an example. Before any action can be taken, shinobi must first circle the area, survey the scenery, take in all the defenses, guards, memorize their routines, and make notes. This is important for and during the stealth aspect of the mission, as the planning requires you to be light on your feet, and if there is going to be an eventual break-in then you're also gonna have to be _extra_ sneaky. This, I think, is good training for that."

"How?"

"It gets you into the mood," Naruto threw his arms out. "As you can see, I've checked out this whole area. No guards, no defenses and not a clan member in sight so far. As long as I can successfully mask my movements and presence from _them_, then the people inside this compound won't know what's coming next. At least…I think that's how it goes…"

There was a moment of pause. Naruto vaguely remembered all of this literary stuff from his textbooks and punishments during classes, in which he had to stand by the door and hold buckets of water, with his only source of entertainment being the lectures. It was all hazy, but he managed to break all of this material down quite well, especially for something he loved to do. Shinobi practices and his pranks… they almost fit _perfectly_!

"And what would that be, boss?" Konohamaru inquired while turning towards his teacher. He started getting a little bit more excited at what was going to happen next, a grin spreading across his face and fists clenching tightly, "A quick attack, an explosive entrance, and a fierce battle? Will you be rescuing damsels or stealing important information… or… or maybe…"

Naruto chuckled and waved his hand at him. "It doesn't always work out like that, shrimp. Perhaps stuff like that will happen, perhaps they won't, you never know. Anyway, don't get your hopes up too high. Shinobi are supposed to be stealthy. They're meant to hide, act smart and be as quick as they can, using the shadows and blind spots to their advantage. This is something I've learned from causing so much trouble in the past. At this stage I _know_ I'm ready for field work, since I'll be able to move my skills in causing dismay over onto missions. I can't wait!"

Konohamaru, though initially crestfallen at the lack of excitement in the introduction, then became enthralled again at hearing of Naruto's development into the shinobi world. If stuff like this will help him be successful, then no way was the adolescent gonna pass up an opportunity to learn.

"So? So? What happens next?"

"Remember, this is a demonstration, so I need you to watch me carefully. You need to get a good idea of what it is to be stealthy, because it's this type of training that can save your life. At this stage you should now know to be observant, smart, and give yourself plenty of time to form a strategy, right?" The blonde tapped the side of his head, to which Konohamaru nodded towards affirmatively. Acknowledging this, the jinchuriki turned back towards the compound. "Okay, so once you have formed a plan and you are confident you will be able to pull it off, you can finally move on with the rest of the assignment. You have to decide here and now whether you will be able to go through with it, because it is the next move that will determine the success or failure of the mission."

It was an incredibly tense moment.

It became even more so as Naruto dug his feet into the ground and assumed a stance, preparing himself for action. His adolescent pupil responded to his movement by holding his breath and watching tensely from the side. The grandson of the Third wanted to make sure he got everything his teacher was relaying him, and did so by observing his actions intently while attempting to break down his plan. Unfortunately though, his boss had failed to conceive any bit of information or specifications related to his plan, with the only known aspect being that he had notably spent a lot of time looking over the front entrance of the Inuzuka compound.

He was also incredibly unpredictable, so in terms of execution there was no telling what the jinchuriki had come up with. Whatever it was, it wouldn't be revealed until the very end.

Grinning, Naruto sucked in a few gallons of air and held it, his chest and cheeks puffing out.

The suspension was building and Konohamaru was hanging on by the edge of his finger. His body lifted itself up on his toes with great anticipation.

It was then, after several seconds of baited breath, the jinchuriki executed his mission.

He cupped his hands around his mouth, "YO! KIBA! ARE YOU THERE? HEY MAN, I JUST WANTED TO THANK YOUR HOT SISTER FOR A GOOD TIME LAST NIGHT! TELL HER I'LL BE BACK FOR SECONDS!"

Naruto then legged it, sprinting down the road and leaving a dust version of himself standing in place for several seconds.

To say that the whole thing was all one big surprise didn't exactly cover it. Shocking and hilarious would have been the better words, though this didn't exactly reverberate with the audience.

Once the cloud faded it unveiled a rather bewildered Konohamaru and an equally dazed Mr. Woo staring in utter silence. The sound of dogs barking furiously filled the air and disrupted the peace that had once embraced the whole of the neighborhood.

The child remained where he was, planted to the ground whilst staring after the blonde as he ran down the street and made it a descent two blocks in sight. It was around about this time something else surprising happened.

The sound of footsteps fast approaching drew the adolescent's and the pigeon's attention back towards the Inuzuka Clan compound, where they saw a teenage boy with short-brown hair, red marks on his cheeks and wearing a grey jumper with a fur-hood running out of the house at an incredibly fast pace. A closer look from Konohamaru told him that the boy was pissed to the point that steam was bellowing out of his ears, a sight that wisely told him to step to the side as the teenager came barreling out and onto the road.

Breathing heavily and growling through bared canines, Kiba sprinted after his target, also leaving a cloud trail in his wake.

"NARUTO! I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!"

Laughter and screaming rang out over the entire district as the enraged Inuzuka gave chase to the amused blonde, with the intent of ripping him to pieces. The pair of troublemakers though soon ran out of sight and out of earshot, leaving a stunned Konohamaru and several other villagers on the road wondering what the hell just happened.

The impact of the sudden pursuit remained with the spectators for quite some time, even when the participants were long gone. Actually, the stunned responses stayed for so long that the adolescent standing over by the gate of the compound thought about following after his teacher.

However, everything that had happened seconds ago had begun and ended so quickly. It was swift and precise. Bam-Bam! The next thing Konohamaru knew was that the jinchuriki was gone and he had absolutely no clue as to whether he was safe now or lying in some gutter bleeding out.

So, deciding to be smart, Konohamaru opted to wait. He calmly strolled out from under the shadow of the archway to stand in the middle of the dirt road. From which point he then stared in the direction Naruto and his quarry had run off in, crossing his arms and sighing exasperatedly.

"And that's how you do it."

The ready-waiting boy nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard that voice. Quickly registering to the fact that the statement had come down from up high, the grandson of the Third looked up towards the top of the compound gate, where he saw Naruto sitting cross-legged with his arms folded and characteristic grin in play.

Stumped by the turn of events and just starting to fall into a spluttering fit, Konohamaru watched as the jinchuriki leapt down from his position and landed right in front of him. Mr. Woo ruffled his wings, expressing his surprise as well as his disapproval of the situation.

Adjusting his jacket, Naruto smirked down at his bewildered student. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"H-How did you do that?" Konohamaru asked, astonished.

The temporary instructor chuckled and thumbed over his shoulder. "Like I said, you have to think first, plan ahead, and be quick on your feet. If you're going to sneak in and attack unexpectedly, you have to make sure that the attack hurts!" He slammed his fist into his open palm, grinding it in for added effect. "_But_, and this is the most important thing, you also have to have a reliable plan of escape. Being quick while also concealing your movements is what stealth is all about. He-he! I'd say it works well for assignments like these, dattebayo!"

Slipping his hands into his pockets, he began walking away as if nothing had happened, wisely choosing to go in the opposite direction.

The trial was a success. Kiba played his role well, the execution was sound, and Naruto had managed to turn his everyday tomfoolery into an enjoyable lesson, in spite of how warped it was.

And that was that.

However, it was clear that the shock of the whole incident wouldn't go away that easily. This fact was made apparent by how Konohamaru stared after Naruto with a dazed expression in play for several seconds longer than necessary. Afterwards though, the boy clicked back into reality and looked over his shoulder to make sure they weren't being followed, before jogging after his teacher. Pulling up beside the jinchuriki, the adolescent stared up at him intriguingly.

"That guy was pretty mad. How did you manage to lose him?"

The blonde giggled through a wide grin. "He took a wrong turn. I just went around in one big circle. He'll probably be looking for me the entire day, so we'd better get out of here."

"Oh," the child blinked, tilting his head up at him.

Naruto's toothy smile grew even wider while his expression continued to convey absolute confidence. "I have to say though; Kiba's sister _is_ quite attractive." The jinchuriki put his hands behind his head and marched on at a faster pace. "You don't rig the hot spring barriers to collapse without investing some time in a couple of other observational activities." He blushed stupidly when he remembered that particular outing.

While Konohamaru was still generally perplexed over the entire ordeal, the adolescent couldn't help but laugh at the end of it when he went over the entire scenario in his head a second time. He had to admit, it was a pretty cruel joke…

Mr. Woo, still perched on top of the boy's helmet, tilted its head up at Naruto a couple of times before moving to tend to his feathers.

XXX

**Some hours later…**

**Afternoon…**

The rest of the day pretty much went at this pace for Naruto and his easy-to-please student. Though the technical stuff from the actual books wasn't exactly the jinchuriki's strong point, he knew how to physically demonstrate the material quite well and provide good explanations for each of them.

It was a fact of life. If you're good at something, it will come naturally to you.

Hence, throughout the following sessions he continued to perform exhibition after exhibition for young Konohamaru, all at everybody else's expense. The blonde achieved this by showing him around to all of the hot spots where sneaking for his pranks was absolutely essentially.

He accentuated the concept of stealth in several unique ways, such as crawling through vents in stores without anybody noticing, using actual camouflage that worked and wasn't oddly shaped, clambering through windows into businesses, scaling buildings without the use of chakra or tools, and all that other stuff. He even took the biggest risk of all and attempted to sneak the two of them into the hot spring on the woman's side… which ended well.

'…'

In the end though, Konohamaru learned at face value how taxing sleuthing around like a ninja could be. Hell, the stuff he was being educated with wasn't even the hardcore ninja stuff he was first expecting to be taught. All of today's demonstrations and practices were done without any help from chakra or jutsu whatsoever. The jinchuriki was sticking solely to the basics, the stuff that essentially made a ninja a ninja before they even began to move on to the metaphysics of hand seals and what not. It was lessons well learned and something Naruto hoped would give the youngster something to think about in relation to the path he wanted to take as a shinobi.

Throughout their time together, Naruto repeatedly stressed how difficult the road to Hokage was. The adolescent was just as thickheaded as he was so it made relaying this note once or twice completely irrelevant. He had to make sure he drilled this in good and tight so that it stuck. It made the rest of the day a whole lot more interesting.

Things progressed nicely over the course of the three rules the jinchuriki spoke of in his lectures. There was stealth through pranks, which combined all three aspects into one, there was intelligence gained through observations, listening and studying, which Naruto talked about when they popped into the library, but not as extensively as he liked. Then, finally, there was speed, which the jinchuriki emphasized yet again when Kiba caught onto his trail and chased him down. The blonde lost him a second time around the central parts of the village, before dragging Konohamaru out toward the training fields to avoid a third encounter with his aggravated classmate.

For his attentiveness over the course of the day, Naruto rewarded Konohamaru by teaching him _one_ technique from his book of jutsu.

He decided to teach him the _Transformation Technique_, since it was basically the first thing the jinchuriki ever completely mastered at the academy and one of the only jutsu he was most intimate with. He had first thought of teaching Konohamaru one of his _Sprint Chant_ moves, but he knew the boy would just complain at the lack of awesomeness behind it and bitch, not to mention the kid didn't appear to be the type to use such a style. His cross counter or rib blow didn't look that impressive unless he combined it with his other techniques.

For the rest of the early afternoon, Naruto sat on a nearby log in the deserted training field watching Konohamaru attempt to complete several different transformations, using models taken from pictures in a sports magazine he had bought from a local stall. The jinchuriki had planned to add diversity to the exercises by having the kid take the forms of different girls in bikinis, not just for the sake of getting body shape, simplistic clothing and appearances right, but also because it gave Konohamaru something else interesting to learn.

Not to sound weird or anything, but the transformation jutsu made things pretty real and convincing. If not buying that reasoning, then here's this; both of them were growing boys, immature enough that they would purposefully use this as a part of training, and were curious of the female form.

Or this was simply just another interesting experiment. Take your pick.

It had taken some time for Naruto to explain the concepts and correct methods of the technique to Konohamaru, and a little bit longer to set the whole exercise up. Much to the blonde's satisfaction though, the kid was able to get the practice down pretty quick, which showed just how much talent he had behind jutsu.

Getting it _right_ however, was a different story.

Unfortunately, even though Konohamaru understood the concept of chakra well and was able to execute the hand seals successfully, his transformations weren't quite up to scratch.

Actually, they were just horrid.

Instead of curvy and smooth, Naruto got bulky and rotund. The jinchuriki was appalled at his first several attempts to perform a 'successful' transformation, making him wonder what kind of nightmares the kid had been exposed to back home.

Under the sun now slowly setting over the horizon, Naruto shook his head in dismay for the twentieth time that day after watching yet another failed endeavor when young Konohamaru henged into a dumpy redhead in a purple, one-piece swimsuit.

There was only one thing the blonde could praise the boy about the transformation this time around and that was, 'Thank Kami for the one-piece swimsuit.'

The girl burst into a puff of smoke, revealing an incredibly flustered, tired and angry boy stomping his feet. "Damn it, boss! I can't get it right!"

"No shit, you can't get it right," Naruto barked, running his hand down his face. _"Geez… what is this kid into anyway?"_

"Well… what am I doing wrong?" Konohamaru shouted, waving his hands about him in an agitated manner. "I get the chakra stuff and my hand seals are good! I just can't get my transformations to match the pictures, so what's the problem?"

"Maybe you're over thinking it," the blonde sighed and stood up from the tree stump, leaving a roosting Mr. Woo to watch from his perch. He strolled over to the mentally 'traumatized' child and gave him a thoughtful look-over. "Perhaps you're worrying about too many things at once, like concentrating your chakra and producing the transformation on top of the image."

"R-Really," Konohamaru blinked, looking down at his hands and thinking the process over several times. The sweat visible on his face was clear indication of the amount of effort the jutsu was already costing him. "Maybe… Maybe I am."

"Take your time," Naruto smiled while folding his arms. "I got it down in one go. However, getting it perfect was the real challenge. Just picture the person in your head. Your subconscious control over your chakra will do the rest. As long as you focus, it won't fail you."

Konohamaru nodded in understanding and tried again. The jinchuriki backed off to give him his space and to watch him give this next one his best shot. All it took was a little bit of chakra and a whole ton of concentration, with the youngster gritting his teeth under the pressure. At such an age and already exhausted from his dozens of other tries, it was no surprise that the adolescent was struggling with this next shot.

His body soon became engulfed in a cloud of white smoke exploding outwards, blocking Naruto's view of the transformation taking place.

It was sudden and it was fast, as expected of an instantaneous jutsu. However, it wasn't the process that mattered that much here; it was the end result that the teacher was really looking for.

The jinchuriki grinned when the cloud finally lifted and, standing in Konohamaru's place, was the redhead from the double-page spread, wearing her one piece suit and, _finally_, looking finer then the most exquisite of artworks.

The supermodel doppelganger grinned and winked in Naruto's direction, the cheeky child adding a bit of an extra flare to the part as 'she' thrust her reasonably sized endowment outwards. The instructing Genin had to sniff away a small nosebleed when he checked the full extent of the work out.

"Not bad, eh, boss?" the girl exclaimed in a breathy voice, running a hand down her long hair. "What do you think?"

"I think… congratulations," the jinchuriki chuckled, giving the transformed youngster a thumbs-up. "You've performed your first successful _Henge_, Konohamaru. Good job."

"Yes!" The girl pumped her fist, exploding into a cloud of smoke and revealing the grinning child underneath. He jumped about excitedly, punching the air and openly celebrating his accomplishment in spite of the fatigue now rattling his body. "I did it! I did it! Yes!"

Clearly he was more than satisfied at performing his first real jutsu.

Of course, once the excitement had been drawn out in his variation of a delighted performance, Konohamaru then turned back to Naruto and took a stance. He clenched his fists at his sides in victory and took on a look that almost said he was raring for another challenge.

"Hey, boss! Do you think I'll be able to take on my grandfather with this? I know I'll be able to put it to good use."

The jinchuriki gave him a lopsided smirk before unexpectedly thumping him across the head. As a result the boy winced at the knuckles that dug into his skull and while rubbing his newly formed bruise, looked up at the taller boy now reprimanding him.

"Haven't you been listening to the words I've been saying to you all day?" Naruto asked, earning a perplexed glance from the child. "I told you, becoming Hokage is no easy task. There are no short cuts, no exclusive rights to the seat, and no straight and easy paths to get there. Every shinobi who'd earned that title in the past has had to work extremely hard every single day to get there."

Konohamaru looked up at his towering figure in awe, soaking in his words as they came at him like some perpetual downpour.

This response sort of reminded the blonde of how Iruka used to scold _him_ back in the academy. This made him feel a tad bit miserable, since he now knew what it was like to deal with a kid much like himself and figured he should make it up to his teacher some time.

Naruto smirked down at the brat. "The shinobi who earned the title of Hokage, including your grandfather, they were recognized as the strongest shinobi in the village. He may not look it, but that old man currently sitting in that chair and wearing the funny hat, he's probably one of the most powerful shinobi you'll ever meet, so you'd better show him some more respect." His inner self kicked him in the shins. _"I'm one to talk; I've called him gramps more times than I can remember." _Clearing his throat, he continued on without skipping a beat. "If you want to become strong, then do what I've been telling you to do all day."

The adolescent briefly looked down at his fists. Opening and closing them several times, he then looked back up at the Genin with a nervous glimmer. "Work and train hard every day…?"

"And never give up," Naruto said, patting him on the shoulder before pulling back. "It's gonna be a rocky road from here on out. You'll need guts to get you as far as you're gonna have to go and though you may fall down a lot along the way, just pick yourself up and keep on going. If you study your jutsu, practice them, and work hard every day, then I'm sure you'll become Hokage in the future… that is…" as the jinchuriki stepped out, his grin grew even wider, "Unless you can defeat me first."

It was this that had Konohamaru gulp.

Turning heel, the blonde began marching away, leaving the boy to his own devices and to contemplate on the thoughts he had left him with. "I'm gonna be Hokage myself, so don't think you're not the only one going for the funny hat. I want to wear it too." If the boy was as determined as he was to become the leader of this village, then there was no doubt in the jinchuriki's mind that he was going to simply throw in the towel. The real world was tough after all and that kid had spunk.

He was going to need a lot of it to carry him up the mountains standing in his path.

While Naruto was halfway across the clearing and on route towards the village, Konohamaru eventually recovered from his stupefied state and rushed forward. Slamming his feet into the ground and coming to a screeching stop within vocal distance of his target, the adolescent then cupped his hands over his mouth and bellowed out towards his parting teacher.

"Alright boss, I accept your challenge!" Konohamaru shouted, grinning. "One of these days, I will fight you for the title of Hokage! I swear to you, I _will_ work hard, I _WILL_ become strong, and I will _NEVER_ give up! From now on… we're rivals!"

Naruto stopped in his tracks momentarily, staring ahead of him for what seemed like minutes. However, when a gentle wind hit the training area and blew a cluster of leaves between the two of them, the jinchuriki looked over his shoulder and grinned towards the child glaring back at him. Both exchanged smirks when their eyes met.

"I'll be looking forward to our match."

As the jinchuriki walked away and Konohamaru saluted him, with Mr. Woo flying off to once again take his place on Naruto's shoulder, unknown to the pair they were being watched by two sets of eyes from the shadows. While one pair of the two belonged to Hiruzen Sarutobi smiling widely on the other side of his viewing orb up in his office, the other belonged to one Ebisu, who was at that very moment hiding behind a nearby tree on the same field.

Having watched them closely since arriving at the clearing and initially shocked at the besmirching material that the Lord Hokage's grandson was learning from the boy, he had bravely reframed himself from interfering early and snatching up the child from his lessons. Instead, he decided to hang back and observe, curious to see if there was something more to this whole business, as well as to look further into what Naruto was actually teaching the child.

He was more than a little bit taken aback when he found that what the Kyuubi's jinchuriki was actually bequeathing the normally troublesome youngster were confidence, determination, and a sense of hard work. His lectures had all been based if not structured in its own unique way and, though his methods had been questionable, the Jonin could see that there had been no ill will or intent subtly being leaked into the younger child's system. He actually took the lessons of a shinobi seriously.

Not to mention he knew how to communicate with the adolescent. This gave Ebisu further food for thought as he adjusted his glasses and smirked.

"_Perhaps… I was being a little bit ungenerous with my previous opinions about that boy,"_ the man thought, slipping his hands into his pockets as he watched from behind the tree as Konohamaru kicked away at a couple of stones, and began making his way home once Naruto was out of sight. _"Though some of his more unsavory qualities may have rubbed off on Konohamaru, I'm sure that the youngling was able to obtain something of value from his time spent here as well."_

When the child began running off at a more hurried pace, the Jonin decided to follow, leaving the vicinity with one final thought.

"_You've given me quite a bit to think about… Naruto,"_ Ebisu shook his head. _"You're such an arbitrary fellow…"_

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>

Yes, another chapter. I dragged out the Konohamaru bit as much as I allowed it. I wanted to include a bit more, but then it would have been too long. I wanted to settle the scene like it was in the manga. The episode had a bit of filler in it, as was this chapter with the introduction of the second character from Carried by the Wind, but it ended well.

No cheesy Ebisu butting in but a more mature one, as expected of an 'elite' shinobi to first observe, and no fully developed Sexy Jutsu (I may introduce this later down the line). Clearly, he did despise Naruto before for the Kyuubi, but I figured that as a result of the boy's previous accomplishments against the Sound Genin a lot of people would be talking about him on a high note, as was Dosu's prediction of word getting out about his fight. This would then transmit on to Ebisu, who instead of looking down on Naruto too much, would be a little bit weary of him but also curious.

Even in Shippuden it showed how Ebisu grew to silently respect the boy over the years, so as a subplot that didn't really make an appearance here, Ebisu would choose to watch from a distance and see how things played out for him, rather than jump in recklessly.

Naruto continues to train, unveiling a flaw in his fighting style that Ran and Yim have decided to make a strength, and have recruited Meow to help them.

**Lady Meow** is the second main character of the anime series _**Carried by the Wind:**__**Tsukikage Ran**_ that makes her cameo appearance here_**.**_ This world just fits her perfectly, as she reminds me a lot of Gai-sensei, who by the way also made his appearance. A lot of you want Naruto to run into Lee and Gai later onwards because of the whole taijutsu thing, which I will go about working on, so please be patient.

Anyway, thanks for reading this chapter and hope you enjoyed it!


	13. New Home Arc: Fix Up

**NARUTO**

**The Art of Appropriation**

_Fix Up_

**Early the following morning…**

Meow sat cross-legged at the dining room table with a very nervous look drawn over her face and her head lowered to convey what was clearly an image of vulnerability. While she shifted and fidgeted uneasily, the newcomer to the household was also being looked over by Ran and Yim across the way, whereas Naruto and Kin shared a separate length of the table, eating porridge with bacon and eggs on the side.

It was funny seeing one scenario of the newbie being scolded, while at the same time the jinchuriki and his next-door roommate were taking dull spoonfuls of their food in perfect sync with one another.

This whole scenario was turning out to be a very interesting breakfast. Since everyone had been so busy the other day performing errands and what not, they had been unable to address any of the issues or new topics to have surfaced until the next morning. Now that things had quieted down and slowed to an easy pace, a smooth, calm discussion was able to slowly unfold.

"S-So… let's see if I understand this correctly," Meow began with a stammer, smiling anxiously.

"Feel free to give it your best shot," Ran murmured in response, arms folded. "If you fail, don't feel too bad."

Scolding her friend briefly, the martial artist soon turned back to the other faces around the table. "You would like me to train Naruto-kun in _my_ style of martial arts, the famed _Iron Cat Fist_, right?" she inquired, earning a nod from Ran and a delightful, more energetic nod from Yim, who was grinning brightly with peach colored cheeks. "As you've explained to me, you wish for him to master both in-fighting and out-fighting through the martial arts that has made me famous from coast to coast, from here to the mainland to the far west, the very style feared by a-"

"Don't get carried away," Ran interrupted before she could get her ball rolling down the hill, opening her eyes and smiling at the young lady. "I felt that you were the most sensible choice, because I knew how good you were and I know how much you love helping others in need. This job should be right up your ally."

"R-Really?" Meow smiled. She bashfully rubbed her reddening cheeks and averted her gaze, like she was some love-sick schoolgirl. "Well… I don't mean to inconvenience others so much."

Judging from the expression on her face and her adolescent-like response, Kin sweat-dropped and looked over at Naruto sitting right next to her. In contrast to the boy's current look, his appearance by way of _his_ smile with the spoon wedged in between his lips, told the kunoichi everything she needed to know for her assessment.

"_Oh damn… another one,"_ the raven haired girl sighed, feeling like she was about to pass out. She instead settled for ramming her head against the table, an action that didn't draw much attention.

"I really appreciate your help, Meow-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, removing the spoon from his mouth and grinning at the woman in question. "It's really nice to finally meet a friend of Ran's. If you're planning on staying in Konoha for a while, you can bunk here for as long as you want."

The martial artist giggled and waved her hand at him. "Thanks very much. It's no biggy anyway. If Big Sis insists on employing me for my skills then how can I refuse? After all, she's done so much for me in the past and we've been through so much together. We're like tea and biscuits, coffee and sugar, night and day!"

"Not to mention I saved your life twice," Ran pointed, closing her eyes and completely shooting down her theory of natural order. "That's got to count for something, right?"

That point had the girl take on an animated crestfallen expression and she glanced away awkwardly. "Eck… I guess you're right about that. It looks like I owe you one… or two…"

"Well then, if you're staying here then allow me to welcome you to Naruto-kun's home," Yim greeted while clapping her hands together and leaning forward, giving her fellow kung fu practitioner a wide smile. "I can see that all of us will be getting along splendidly!"

"Speak for yourself," Kin muttered, taking another spoonful of porridge and cramming it into her mouth. She looked away with a sour glare. "I'm a prisoner. It's my sworn duty to despise you people."

Naruto grinned at her. "Oh, don't be so glum, Kin-chan."

"And another thing; stop calling me 'Kin-chan'! We're not even that close." The kunoichi directed her best glare towards him instead, wishing she could open up on him with some punches and kicks, but not really sure that was such a good idea.

The guy was a tank. He could literally take just about any kind of punishment and throw it back with even more force.

Maybe that could be considered a good thing on his part? She would have nothing to worry about if she just clobbered him and left it at that.

Disregarding the dirty look she was throwing him, the young jinchuriki, sly as ever, slid ever closer to her on his chair till he was pressing his shoulder up against hers. Once he was in position, he grinned happily in his 'companion's' direction. "What are you talking about? The way I see it now; we're pretty _close_."

Irked, a throbbing tick mark suddenly appeared just above Kin's forehead. At the same time the metal of her spoon squeaked in protest as it was bent at a very disturbing angle under the crushing grip of her hand.

"Get off me."

"Why would I, Kin…_chan_?"

Naruto blew on her ear, tickling the back of her neck and, by extension, her nerves; so much so that her face turned bright red again.

The air became filled with a light mist, which was really just steam wafting off of the kunoichi's boiling head.

While Naruto attempted to earn Kin's favor by way of a charming smile and good-natured teasing, though it was obviously coaxing the exact opposite reaction out of her, Ran, Yim and Meow continued on with their discussion. Besides the interesting subplot taking place just a couple of seats from them, which looked like it was about to implode at any minute, the three women resumed with the current topic of interest.

The newbie martial artist sat up straighter in her chair, rocking back and forth a few times and looking between the other two, more mature warriors. She smiled at Ran, while at the same time throwing curious glances towards the other traveler, whom she had very little knowledge of.

She decided to address this immediately, so as to settle the brainstorming sessions she had going through her mind.

"So… who are _you_ exactly?" Meow exclaimed, smiling brightly. "I don't think we've ever met before. Are you a friend of Big Sis?"

The woman spoken to nodded, bowing her head respectfully towards the young lady. "My name is Yim Wing-Chun: student of Grand Master Ng Mui, one of the Five Elders of the Shaolin Temple."

"Oooh!" Meow leaned forward in awe, blinking several times as she looked the woman over. "You're the student of a Grand Master?"

"I was one of the lucky few," Yim informed, slipping her hands together and resting them comfortably on the table. "After perfecting the fighting style bequeathed to me by my master, I became a traveler and decided to explore the other countries to learn. Judging from your attire, I can assume that _you've_ traversed many great lands yourself, including my own."

Meow nodded enthusiastically, holding her fist out. "I learned a great many things on my own journey, including a fighting style that I developed myself from the style taught to me by _my_ master; the feared _Iron Cat Fist_! HA!" She struck a pose, clawing her hands and grinning widely.

"So you are an innovative martial artist?" Yim exclaimed, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "Interesting."

"Yup!" Meow grinned. "And I'm proud of it!"

Ran smiled across at her, before picking up her tea cup and having a sip. "So… do you believe she'll be able to help out Naruto-kun?"

"Certainly," the woman beside the samurai responded, turning towards her other companion and beaming. "Not only is she charming and friendly, but she's also energetic. She'll be an ideal mentor and sparring partner."

"Oh, stop," Meow giggled, waving a hand and looking away bashfully. "You're embarrassing me."

"The only question is though," Yim said, waving a pointed finger with a small smile. "Will Naruto be able to handle the pressure of being under the tutelage of three instructors?"

**BAM!**

The three women turned suddenly to see Kin standing with her back facing towards them, her left fist extended and visible on her right side, indicating she had just punched something with the full swing of a hook. The absence of Naruto from the table raised some momentary inquiries, until the trio realized that he was actually lying sprawled out on the floor, still on his chair, with a bloody nose, a stupid grin on his face and swirly eyes.

It was quite obvious what had happened, which caused the three older women to snicker.

The panting kunoichi straightened up and brushed back her now messy hair. Smiling proudly at her accomplishment, she looked down at her left hand and admired the grooves of her knuckles, while at the same time blowing on her nails.

"Wow. That was a _really_ good stress reliever."

Naruto, groaning happily, raised a shaky hand.

"Worth it…"

XXX

**Later that day…**

The jinchuriki was informed that he was to begin his new training schedule immediately. Following the pleasant breakfast shared with all the members of the household, Meow wasted no time in dragging Naruto out of the house by his jacket collar and toward one of the local farms in the area. This time around Yim decided to tag along with them to see what her fellow kung fu practitioner had planned for the youngster, leaving Ran to look after Kin and the pets.

As per the usual routine, the jinchuriki was ecstatic at the prospects of learning something new and exciting before team assignments at the end of the week. Since _this_ martial artist was just as eccentric and invigorating as himself, he was hoping for some really wild training that threw him into the good stuff right from the get go.

He could tell just from looking at her that Meow was unique in both character and how she approached her day to day activities, as opposed to his other teachers. While Yim, who was kind, disciplined and considerate of her student's progress and wellbeing, and Ran who had straight away established herself as a tough, strict and regimented trainer, Meow looked like the kind who was _very_ practical; someone whom he could understand and relate to at a personal level.

He was definitely looking forward to the start up exercises.

However, there was one little pickle he kind of missed out on.

Unfortunately for Naruto, he kind of overlooked the possibility that the woman could be just as unpredictable as himself.

It came as a bit of a shock to the blonde when he unexpectedly found himself standing beside Yim several rice fields away from his home, staring at a wagon overflowing with large bales of hay. The farm cart had just been detached after being pulled to the side of the road by the mules that had previously been dragging it along.

Using money no one knew she had in her possession, Meow had bought the cart and hay from the farmer that had been transporting the goods across town and thanked him for the purchase. She then turned towards Naruto staring bewilderedly at the wagon and gestured toward it grandly with an enthusiastic grin on her face.

"Waddaya think?"

Yim, smiling nervously, scratched her cheek. "It's uhh… it's… lovely…"

What else could she say? This was the first time she had ever met anyone in all her life who would just decide to go out and buy a horse-drawn cart.

Mr. Woo, perched comfortably on her shoulder, tilted his head oddly at the farming equipment.

More perplexed than ever, Naruto glanced over at the girl in pink still gesturing towards the wagon in her glandulous pose. "Uhh… why did you buy a cart full of hay, Meow-chan?"

The girl giggled and placed her fists on her hips, pompously pumping her chest out. "It's all a part of your training, of course."

"W-What?" the jinchuriki stammered, looking back at the wood crafted transport now missing its engine.

It was a _dray_ style cart and a large one at that, designed for the specific purpose of carrying material upwards of a thousand kilos. It looked like it was already holding that much, which made him question the reality of his third teacher's purchase.

"What could this possibly have anything to do with training in martial arts?"

"Well, Big Sis explained to me that your legs aren't strong enough yet for you to keep working on technique," Meow pointed, gesturing toward his abovementioned limbs before then pointing at the cart. "As a martial artist, having weak legs is a really bad thing. Therefore, we're going to be strengthening your lower body the best way possible through a variety of vigorous exercises. We'll start off by increasing the power in your sprints and dashes by having you drag this cart around the valley for a couple of hours."

Her response hit Naruto in the face like a brick fired out of a bazooka.

The boy panicked and stumbled forward, gawking. "D-DRAG? A CART? T-THAT THING?" He pointed at the wagon. "T-THAT'S…"

"Impossible?" Meow giggled, walking around the carriage to the back and checking out the bales piled up on top of it. "Sure it seems a little bit extreme, but it's what I did quite a lot back when I was still training. I took up farming as a part time job to earn money and to strengthen parts of my body conventional exercises couldn't. Carting around bales of hay, wheat, grass, and machinery helped me to develop strength in my lower body."

"T-That thing…" Naruto gulped, "Looks like it weighs over eight hundred kilos?"

"Two hundred a piece," Meow said, patting the round bales and effortlessly picking one of them up. She dropped it on the side of the road as if marking the starting point. "I'll lighten the load for you, just so that you can get used to the training."

After literally picking up each lot and moving them over so that they wouldn't upset Naruto's exercise, Meow, with one arm placed behind her back, picked up the wagon by the shaft and dragged it onto the dirt road. She dropped it with a heavy thud, a sight that had her student back away in fear.

Yim on the other hand smiled, taking in the training regiment her counterpart was suggesting for their student.

"Well, give it a try," Meow exclaimed, gesturing the jinchuriki over to the pullers. "It's about five hundred dragging weight in total, so it should be fine."

Reluctantly, Naruto marched on over to take position at the front of the cart and, after stretching out his arms and rubbing his hands down, tried for the first time in his life to pull something that was meant for horses… which went well…

Loud groaning and curses could be heard echoing throughout the entire area as the blonde struggled through blunt effort alone to try and move the thrice damned transporter. Since people had been known to convey large amounts in carts, even rickshaws which seemed like a big effort in itself when moving people, Naruto had the right in mind to believe he could forcefully drag something that seemed to weigh even more then what Meow had explained to him. However, that was not to be the case.

While she could lift stacks of hay with little to no effort…

He could barely move the damn thing a few inches with a handful of bales as the cargo.

After a good half an hour of trying from different positions, different angles and different methods, whether it was pushing or pulling from the front or the back, Naruto soon found himself lying face-first in the mud, panting like a man starved of oxygen.

Even with all his strength, all his best efforts and all of his back put into attempting to accomplish his task, he had only been able to move the cart a grand total of a few feet.

Seeing the jinchuriki lying sprawled out on the ground, completely spent after dragging his feet through the dirt, Yim turned to stare down at Meow. Under the doubt filled stare of the other instructor, the girl in pink giggled and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

"Honestly, for him, this might take a while."

XXX

**Four hours later…**

**With some adjustments made…**

Naruto cried out as he ran the same road he was supposed to be dragging the cart along as fast as he possibly could, but was instead dragging one of his teachers around in the most peculiar fashion imaginable.

Having only managed to move the enormous cart along a couple of meters by the end of his first session, Meow decided that he should probably switch to something a little bit easier for him to move before trying to drag the carriage, just to help him work his way up to it. So, employing the help of Ran, they got some rope, tied it around the boy's waist, attached the other end to a disused door, and had him run laps of the rice fields with the samurai sitting on top of the wooden gate.

Bare foot and only wearing his orange pants, the boy yelped out in discomfort every time he felt himself get poked in the back by the bokken his samurai sensei had gotten a hold of. His current instructor found this task all the more amusing by means of her current assignment; ensuring he was working his butt off. Every time he wavered, she would prod him and every time he slowed down too much, she poked him even harder. She even made her method a little bit more persuasive by prodding the back of his head, suggesting that if he stopped for even a moment, he'd get conked without a second thought.

Feeling his pace slow, Ran smirked and swatted his rear end.

The jinchuriki yelped, picking up the pace.

"Faster! Even a turtle can overtake you at this speed! Come on, Naruto!" Ran exclaimed, even though he was running at a sprinters pace.

"I-I'm trying my hardest, Ran-chan!" Naruto shouted, getting poked again in the lower back and being forced to move even faster than before. His waist was getting rope burn, his legs were throbbing like they were bounded, and he was pretty sure his feet were cut up from running barefoot this entire time. Ran however, wasn't giving him the chance to rest.

"Try harder!" the samurai retorted, poking him again.

"You're inhuman!"

"That's what they all say!" she laughed, prodding him in the shoulder.

Much to his surprise, Naruto admitted that this was actually a good form of training, in spite of the torment he was presently being put through. This method helped him to not only increase his fitness and stamina, but also helped push him into that state of mind where he had to sprint while carrying a whole lot of weight, build up his legs for the cart training, and get his feet used to harsh surfaces.

If his other exercises weren't hard enough to do already, he also had to go through _this_ stuff!

The boy breathed even harder as he started on the same incline he had negotiated a dozen times before. The main road that circled the rice fields was at best a couple of kilometers long. Even though he was pulling into the second hour since starting on it he'd already passed the same points and same places several times, including his own house sitting on the right hand side of the road. It was also quite irksome because on what felt like his tenth round, he spotted Ran, Meow and Kin sitting on his front porch, enjoying a nice, hot cup of tea while watching him work.

It ticked him off even worse as well because they were all enjoying themselves leisurely and _he_ was suffering.

Nevertheless, it was all for _his_ benefit and he had to accept that.

After seeing him pass by again while being prodded incessantly by the samurai he was dragging along with him, Kin giggled in enjoyment.

This was by far one of the funniest things she'd seen since reading about his grand misadventure into the Hyuga compound in his journal recorded about a year or so ago.

"You know what, seeing him being driven into the ground like this more than makes up for _me_ being beaten by a guy like _him_," the kunoichi exclaimed and not at all ashamed to acknowledge this fact. She sighed when he heard him protest about being swatted in the rear again. "Ahh. Untainted euphoria."

Yim sipped her tea, smiling brightly with the cup's rim hiding sight of her lips. "Hard work is one of the key fundamentals associated with all forms of martial arts. One cannot hope to grow without first experiencing great pain and sacrifice. If your muscles aren't aching under the strain of your practice, then you know you're not working hard enough."

Meow grinned, rocking from side to side on crossed legs.

"Big Sis sure is a great motivator. No wonder she's so strong."

"I can definitely see Naruto taking on a few of her more appealing personality quirks by the time she's done with him," Yim nodded, tapping her chin in thought once lowering her tea cup. "Perhaps… in the next couple of years."

"_Poor Naruto,"_ Kin shook her head, but grinned outwardly all the same.

The three of them continued to provide roadside commentary throughout the next hour of live entertainment, watching Naruto run past time and time again while yelling out all sorts of obscenities and complaints.

His out of this world effort were _their_ benefit as well. It was great to see an actual impact made into his development, something that each of the observing teachers took to heart as inspiration…

XXX

**Later that afternoon…**

Gritting his teeth and sweating rivers, Naruto bit, held and maintained a seemingly impossible position while also trying to keep a sense of balance without caving in altogether.

Despite every muscle fiber in his being screaming out in protest, it was all necessary for him to get used to his exercises. His body needed to adjust quickly if he was to progress any further. However, to say that he had been put through worse was… kind of underselling it.

Assumed in a squatted stance with his knees bent at ninety degree angles, the partially crouched boy had his feet spread at shoulder width apart while not only balancing a bowl of soup on his head that was actually his lunch, but was also holding two stone statues that Meow had 'borrowed' from a nearby temple. This whole new ordeal was a part of Ran's exercise routine after he had gone through his third instructor's door dragging runs, with the former having been his supervisor throughout.

Not only was the jinchuriki's task of maintaining this position through muscle and balance control made exceedingly more difficult by the bowl of chicken broth placed precariously on his head, but he also had two cups of water positioned on his thighs, the two borrowed statues held out by his hyper extended arms on either side of him, and several burning incense sticks positioned directly beneath him. If he was to falter in even the slightest or attempt to squat even lower, he'd get a butt full of slow burning candles.

That was an experience he desperately wanted to avoid.

Not only that, but to prevent his arms from lowering back down or succumbing to the weight of the statues he was carrying, Meow had attached arm bands to his biceps with blades pointing inwards. If his arms went even close to his sides or wavered for even a moment, the blades would dig into him and he'd get cut. This established a particular idea inside of his subconscious that if he were to even think about lowering his arms or giving in, he'd regret it.

It was all the more reason why he had to press on.

He'd already gotten cut a few times out of carelessness, as indicated by the small scars in his sides.

Furthermore, to ensure he didn't move even an inch from his spot, his feet had been tied down to a plank of wood and his thighs had rope wrapped around them that were also connected to his ankles. All of this was to ensure that his legs didn't stray from either their angle _or_ position.

The only way he could possibly go from his current stance was down and he didn't want that. No way!

This may have seemed like some old form of messed up cross-examination or torture. But this was not the case. Not at all. It was in fact a very ingenious method of strength building. This exercise not only helped Naruto strengthen his legs and help him to develop good control over his muscles and stances, but it also helped him to build stronger foundations, hard work, and patience he would need for the training to come. His arms and back also benefited from this. A martial artist needed to have unyielding fundamentals if he was to conquer various forms of combat, and not just the one.

It was also about maintaining, developing and _controlling_ physical and mental strength. That was the key here.

"H-H-How much… longer?" Naruto groaned out, his eyes glaring ahead of him towards the far side of his backyard while his cheeks puffed out. If his red face was any indication, the whole ordeal was just getting worse and worse.

His back was turned to the porch, so as a consequence he could not see his various audience members snickering several feet behind him. Even so, most of them had gone about doing some other activities while he was pushed further into this new exercise.

Kin was having her soup lunch directly beside Yim, who had also split it between herself, Mr. Woo and their pet kitten, with all four of them arranged into a small circle seated comfortably on the walkway. This left Ran and Meow to oversee Naruto's progress, just to make sure he didn't injure himself unnecessarily or catch fire if he got sloppy.

The latter would be the most likely by how his body shook every so often from the strain.

Meow, seeing that the latest incent sticks had burned down by about two thirds, strolled on over and pulled out a couple more from her sleeve. Lighting them one at a time, she slipped them into the pot beside the other five still burning away and several others that have already extinguished themselves. This told everyone exactly how long he had already been at this exercise and how much longer he had to go.

"Two more hours," Meow exclaimed.

"WHA-AAT!"

XXX

**Late Afternoon…**

Naruto was rundown, beat up, dead on his feet… basically all words foreshadowing the idea of death and cruel fate in this world. If the cart dragging, door runs and squat exercises weren't enough, the jinchuriki's teachers started putting him through even more workouts before the sun was even close to setting, and he was already at his limit.

By this time the new Genin had been given the best of the best in extreme physical workouts, more squat exercises, jumping routines, pushups on elevated surfaces (a lot of them on one arm), pushing exercises, in which his teachers held up a training dummy while the blonde attempted to force them back with his leg power alone, and leg raises. However, the last of the routines for the day was more weighted training, only this one was to prove the toughest of them all.

Unfortunately for him Meow happened across a stone boulder lying somewhere in the middle of a nearby wooded area and after dragging it all the way back to the house, dumped it onto Naruto as soon as he was within sight. With his hands placed behind him to keep them occupied and to hold the rock up, and using his back as support, the jinchuriki was then instructed to do _**more**_ running exercises of his backyard. The lengthwise distance his lawn covered was ideal for a stamina test as he was timed running back and forth by Meow, with Yim keeping an eye on the end line he was supposed to reach with every round.

It was essentially a bleep test, an exercise designed to test his cardiovascular fitness. Added with the boulder on top of that, it also became a strength building exercise, so it basically killed two birds with one stone.

More like it killed two Narutos with one stone, just to give a more accurate description.

Above the pain embracing his lower body, Naruto ran round after round at the fastest speed he could go. He had first started the whole thing in a staggered walk or waltz since the damn dead weight he was carrying weighed so much, and he fell over more than once. However, as his body gradually got used to the five hundred kilo weight he was lagging behind him, he steadily got a little bit faster.

He had set a half-descent jogging pace even though he was basically sprinting as fast as he could, and was expected by both his teachers to sharply change directions every time he reached the end. This workout helped develop his stop-start speed, as well as aided him in building up his directional changing speed and the maintaining of his balance on corners by shifting weight.

Regrettably, he still had a long ways to go. It was only the one day.

Already worn out from his exercises prior, on what felt like his seventieth round he collapsed to his knees in the middle of the lawn. Panting heavily, the boy felt his entire world go almost completely hazy as everything around him within his line of sight suddenly became out of focus. He was pouring sweat, wheezing labored breaths, and his muscles were throbbing.

He was grateful he wasn't wearing a shirt, otherwise it'd be ruined. His upper body had scuffs and looked quite beaten up, as if he'd gone for several rounds against an ostrich. The worse however was his lower body.

If you were to remove his pants, anyone would be able to see that his thighs and calves were practically swollen. Not only that, but his feet were cut up and bruised, and his toes had blood blisters on them. It was a painful sight…

But it was nothing that Naruto couldn't shake off.

He was a mother-fucking Uzumaki after all!

Just when he felt like he was about to pack it in, the jinchuriki slapped himself out of his reverie and managed to push himself back to his feet. Despite his body's protests, he kept on running! Though it was mostly stumbling from the recovery, he wasn't going to throw in the towel just yet. He had to keep going. He just had to.

"_Kami… dammit! My legs are on fire! SHIT!" _Naruto thought, slamming his quivering right foot into the ground and stopping to reestablish equilibrium to his body. Once he had steadied himself, he continued lumbering on. _"Weak! My legs are too damn weak! Need… to get… stronger!"_

Carrying about a hundred kilograms on top of the rest of your body wasn't really something ninja necessarily did, but it did help him out if anything else. I mean… what kind of person in this village walked around every day with hundreds of kilos strapped to their body? You'd have to be crazy…

'Cough'

Hitting the line on the other side, Naruto pivoted and shot off in the other direction in a rather pathetic display of ongoing enthusiasm. His only audience members this time were Meow and Yim, both of whom were watching proudly on either side to make sure he wasn't cutting corners.

Yim smiled happily and folded her arms. _"It's the need to prove his worth to the rest of the world that helps carry him on. He'll bear any weight so long as it makes people recognize his existence and others happy."_

Seeing Naruto trudge up to her, Meow gave him an encouraging smile and punched her fist towards him. "Excellent work! Keep it up! Twenty more!"

"Y-yes, ma'am!" the jinchuriki shouted, turning heel and heading off.

That wouldn't be the last of his workouts.

Following the bleep test came squats with the boulder, leg raises, pushups, more jumps and shadow sparring in which he practiced zigzagging and retreating motions with his backpack companion. The sounds of Meow's loud encouragement, Yim's gentle encouragement and Naruto's yelps of pain and growls of sheer effort could be heard throughout the valley as the sun slowly set over the horizon, and the orange sky was replaced by the cloak of night.

XXX

**Three days later…**

Doing two hours of sprinting around the valley while dragging Ran along every morning at four, followed by repeated squat and jump exercises with the boulder for another hour, cardiovascular training and shadow sparring with the boulder for a further two, followed by an hour of holding the squatting position with the statues, were all just _regular_ routine. The rest of the day for Naruto after breakfast was basically varied depending on the teachers' moods.

Let's put it this way; the first day was merely orientation day compared to what was to come.

Now the jinchuriki was being subjected to even more uniquely formulated sessions.

For the past few days of training Naruto was thrown into even _more_ roadwork exercises involving the boulders he was expected to carry around with him throughout. He conducted these new running routines alongside Meow, who ran alongside him with an anvil on her back. She did this so that she could coach him and give him encouragement as he went along, showing that what he was trying to accomplish was actually possible.

It was after that particular routine with her did they eventually retreat back to his place, where the Genin could then be switched over to Ran.

This one would prove to be a more interesting challenge for him in terms of backbreaking labor, since the focus gradually shifted from leg strengthening and footwork through strenuous exercises, to strengthening his back muscles and core.

In order for Naruto to reinforce his body even further to have no problems with getting in close to his opponents to be able to use the full force of his attacks and in order to prepare him for grappling matches, Ran had asked him to lie across the ground on his back, and support himself on his head and feet. When doing so, he arched his back and pushed his stomach towards the sky as far as he could go till he was literally forming a bridge. It seemed like a tough trial when asked to do this for a long period.

However, he wasn't just told to do this and hold his position for as long as he could on his own.

Ran was sitting on top of him, arms and legs folded and a huge smile on her face as she looked down at his strained face. She was there to add weight to his training and to make sure he worked hard, if the other exercises the past mornings weren't hard enough.

Through his gritted teeth and puffed up cheeks, the samurai could swear she could hear him groaning out curses, though they were all muffled into mutterings of discomfort.

"Come on, is this all you can take?" Ran asked, starting to bounce on top of him by shifting her weight up and down. The jinchuriki groaned sharply at every interval, his body flexing at the middle. "If this is the limit of your strength, then what's the point of teaching you?"

"N-No!" Naruto cried out, biting his teeth together even tighter as his cheeks became further inflamed. "I… can take… more!"

"Well, if that's the case!" a new voice suddenly sang in.

Naruto shouted in surprise when he felt another heavy weight drop on top of his lower abdominal region and with that, his body just plain gave way to the stress. Falling flat to the ground with a loud thud and panting hard as a result of the fatigue, the youngster looked down the length of his body to see Meow also sitting on top of him.

Ran looked behind her, raising an eyebrow while the martial arts master over her shoulder rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

"Any chance I can help here?" the girl asked cheerfully.

"No! This is _my_ training time with Naruto-kun. Go away."

"H-Help… me!" the jinchuriki groaned, stretching out a shaky hand for whatever guardian angel was watching over him.

Too bad his invisible protector was rolling around on the ground laughing his ass off.

XXX

**Later that day…**

More to come; _that_ was the only thing Naruto could really hope to expect to surface over the next thousand days of training ahead of him.

By keeping this thought in mind the boy was confident that the next challenge planned out for him by his trio of friends wouldn't come as a crippling surprise, unlike everything else that was happening to him.

Speaking of which, a lot of the strenuous stuff was put on hold for a moment or so to give his back and core a bit of a rest, and simply moved on to the next task at hand of working on his toes. Once again his training had taken another interesting turn with the jinchuriki using up the space of his backyard for his exercises. The session this time involved a little more coordination then before.

In order to tone up his weight shifting and his outer toes whenever the time came for him to change directions sharply and consistently, Meow instructed Naruto to _catch_ rocks. No, you did _not_ read wrong. Catch… rocks. Plural. Not huge ones or big ones that packed any weight, just pebble sized rocks. But even though it wasn't entirely weight based or anything like that, didn't mean the blonde didn't have a hard time trying to keep up.

With his backyard being the ring and the hedgerows setup as the boundaries, the boy literally ran round in circles trying to catch things no bigger than coins, cheery tomatoes and apples. If he wasn't then he was constantly turning sharply at every random, invisible corner he came across, just so that he could return to the middle as fast as he possibly could. This direction change exercise was quite amusing, since it required the student to actually _do_ the hard work while the teacher, Meow in this session, sat on top of the roof of his house and chucked pebbles down towards the ground in an arbitrary fashion. It was mostly left and right, but she was giving the boy plenty of time he needed to recover in between alterations, which was around zero and one second.

Naruto shouted and dove for the next pebble, catching it before it hit the ground. Another down!

After tossing it away, he sprinted across the lawn again to the center, watching Meow throw another down towards him. This one arced in the direction that he was coming from like the last dozen of the damn things, which forced him to change course abruptly for the second time and catch it by the nails at the ends of his fingers. He barely had enough time to drop that one when the next one came down to the far right, to which he responded with a sudden change and a dash across the field.

Meow grinned as she threw one stone after the other, watching her student zigzag and shoot across his backyard this way and that. It was fascinating being the one supervising the exercise, because she could see the actual extent of his efforts. She also figured that it must have been just as enthralling being the one on the receiving end of all of it; different perspectives and all that.

It had been a long time since she had practiced this one, but she remembered it all too well.

"_This will help ease him into sudden weight changing without putting too much strain on his toes. They need to be laid over with clay before having bricks piled up on top of them,"_ Meow thought, grinning and tossing the next one. "Over there! Over here! Over there… and… over… THERE!"

She sang merrily to herself and provided mild background music on top of the track already provided by their surroundings as she threw the stones whichever way she pleased. All the while, the martial arts master continued to watch him intently, whistling in surprise when she witnessed him catch several stones at once across a particular path in a tumble, before seeing him leap back to his feet without missing a beat and go after the next one. Though he missed a stone every now and again, he was doing splendidly.

But this would only be the beginning of his training under Meow, as was everything else preceding this exercise…

XXX

**The very next day…**

**Noon…**

There was more running to follow after his literally back-breaking workouts for that morning. On top of planking and more pushups, Naruto was then given yet another session with Meow in shadow sparring. However, instead of trading hits like in conventional practices the jinchuriki was instructed to dodge all of the attacks launched against him, while also trying to get in and out of range as quickly as possible. It was all about working his feet and getting used to weight shifting under difficult circumstances. Everything he was doing was done for good reason.

No wasted effort. That was the true genius of his physical education.

Gritting his teeth, Naruto attempted to bite back against the strings of punches Meow was unleashing against him without end. Though he had been able to effectively dodge her in the opening stages of the spar, as the fatigue, weight and time gradually started to pile on, his teacher began to land more and more hits.

But even though he staggered, limped, and evaded clumsily, and was taking blows that not even his classmates were capable of enduring against without recoiling in pain, he was far from giving up.

While he danced around his yard uselessly with his trainer in hot pursuit and keeping him on his toes, the other members of his household Kin and Yim sat comfortably on the back porch, watching carefully as his training progressed.

Aside from all the other exciting stuff there was to do in a shinobi village, watching Naruto train was perhaps one of the greater highlights of the day for them. It wasn't just grossly entertaining but it was also fascinating to witness how the boy grew and adapted to each and every situation. His masters had a habit of continually shifting routines and patterns whenever possible, not to mention they gave him something new to do within each session he had already become familiar with.

Yim had done this several times herself, and it seemed as though that this little tendency had rubbed off on both Ran and Meow.

They literally juggled him from running exercises to strength building so that his body didn't get used to one thing and completely forget about the others. It was all about balance, repetition and consistency. His physical form needed to change even more to become used to various forms of combat, which was essential for his continued development.

Naruto winced, getting smacked in the face a few more times by the swift jabs thrown by Meow.

He staggered, but he didn't fall.

Digging his feet into the ground, he kept himself rooted in as upright a position as he could hold and shook the dizziness off, before bracing himself and ducking in for another charge.

It was clear that the fatigue was starting to take its toll, since he was now vaguely able to count the hits he was able to avoid with the ones he was being hit with. The reality was that the score was quickly falling in favor of the latter category. It wasn't just astonishing to watch from the sidelines either since the jinchuriki himself could clearly feel and see the differences in the fight while being right in the middle of it.

Meow had to be about half a head shorter than Ran and Yim, yet in spite of her noticeably smaller stature her attacks had shocking reach. She may have been about a 175 centimeters tall and though her arms didn't look that long, her fists' punching distance was greater than her height.

"The trick is to stay loose and to step in," Meow stated, guessing as to what Naruto was thinking by the exhausted expression on his bruised, bleeding face. The boy shook his head and continued to hop on the spot, his calves literally burning from the pressure of moving around with the weight of the small boulder he was carrying. "I'll teach you how to extend the reach of your punch later. For now, concentrate on getting close and retreating as quickly as you can! Got it!"

"Yes ma'am!" the blonde shouted, ducking in and dashing.

Meow kept her distance, sending out a few more jabs and a kick. Naruto backed away from the combination and was forced to restart, but after passing through yet another wave of about five consecutive lefts and rights, he got within hooking range. The moment he did so, he painfully started taking punishing, swinging blows from the woman to both cheeks, seconds before he begun an effective ducking and weaving evasion pattern.

Being kept at bay by punches was one thing. But to avoid kicks and blocking them while already down to hobbling… it was absolute _hell_.

Kin winced when she heard the impact sounds made by Meow's punches landing all over his body. If it didn't look brutal it definitely sounded brutal. Though it was clear that the woman was barely even trying and was solely sparring on Naruto's level, those hits she made had the capacity to cripple even an ordinary Genin. How the blonde was able to take such punishment and keep on going was beyond her, but the session was really starting to heat up.

The other most amazing thing that was happening was that Naruto granted he was taking more blows than the audience could count; he was actually able to dodge punches that had both great reach and great speed behind them. It was unreal.

Even for an experienced shinobi it was near impossible to completely avoid an attack effectively. There was always a chance of getting scratch, grazed or scolded. In most cases your best bets were to either block or neutralize the strikes.

"Ouch," Kin blinked, watching Naruto take a hook and duck a right, after which he tried swooping in to try and close the distance on Meow before she could dance out of reach again. When that failed and she circled, he staggered after her, keeping her in line of his body. The raven haired kunoichi tightened her fists and held them up excitedly. "Go Naruto! Go!"

It was funny.

Not too long ago Kin remembered taking nothing but pleasure and enjoyment from watching the annoying brat get beaten into the ground.

Even if they were in small doses, the raven haired girl could tell that those particular feelings of satisfaction were simply remnants of her previous, sinister nature acting up from what was left of her old life.

However, after three whole days of sitting on the sidelines and watching him take so many hits and make so many downs, where he actually felt pain to the point that he could have thrown in the towel at any given point, she actually felt like rooting for him. She didn't know what it was but after seeing him go through so much shit, the girl genuinely wanted to see him accomplish something, even the smallest thing.

In this session in particular, Kin was looking forward to seeing him eventually close that meager distance between him and his target without taking a single hit.

All she had to do was just sit and wait.

It didn't matter how long she had to wait, she had to see him _win_ for once.

Wincing, cheering, encouraging him, Kin did it all. It made the woman sitting beside her smile.

However, after the sparring match pulled into the first hour and Meow's punches started speeding up with an even greater risk of being hit by them, Kin suddenly noticed something off.

The kunoichi's excited expression suddenly boiled down to one of concern as she leaned in closer over the porch. Unblinking, she gazed at the injured boy's face during the gaps he took to catch his breath.

His condition obviously getting worse as the fight continued, it had taken Kin some time to notice the actual state of his face after taking so many light blows.

He was still on his feet. That was commendable. But his face was just completely swollen up. There were welts and what looked like gashes that didn't actually cut into his skin, crisscrossing his cheeks, lips and forehead. It had actually swollen up to the point that it looked like his skin was about to close over his eyes.

The girl got to her knees, as if about to stand, "What the hell!"

Yim glanced over at her. "What is it?"

Kin pointed at the boy as he lunged in again, taking several more punches to the cheeks. "Can you see his face?"

The woman looked across, seeing Naruto come about in pursuit of his opponent. Dodging the string of kicks and jabs, Yim saw the cause of the girl's worry and nodded her head in understanding. She looked back around at Kin as the sparring resumed.

"Don't worry about him. He'll be fine."

"H-He… FINE?" Kin turned to the spectator beside her, looking absolutely mortified. "Look at him! Forget the fact he can take a punch, that's brilliant, but it's really starting to get to him! You have to stop the training, at least just to let him rest!"

"If he says he can't continue, he'll say so," Yim glanced up at the girl to see her worried expression glaring back at her. "We're not being cruel, we're simply training him. I care very much about my student and friend's wellbeing, and if there is any a chance that what he's doing is of serious risk to his health or his life, I swear to you that I will personally step in and stop the session myself. He can stop anytime he wants to as well, but right now he doesn't want to stop."

The teenage girl cursed and glanced back at the field. When Naruto took another wide hook across the face in a failed evasion, Kin winced and looked away sharply. "He's an idiot. He shouldn't be taking so many punches, it's… it's… drgh!" Though she wouldn't admit it, after seeing his condition up close, the kunoichi just didn't want to see him get hit any more.

What was up with that?

"Don't worry. He's learning through experience. Not only is he supposed to be getting used to long term, high level fighting in this session, but he's also getting used to the types of punches Meow is throwing at him."

Catching onto this, Kin blinked and stared at Yim with an expression of utter bewilderment. "Types of punches? What kind of punches can do _**that**_ to a person?" She pointed at the panting boy as proof. "How can he take all of that?"

"You may be shocked to realize this, but the punches Meow is actually using against him are really light," Yim stated, directing both of their eyes back to the spar.

When they refocused on the action, they watched Naruto dodge several more punches and duck right in for his forehead to hover right in front of Meow's abdominals. The woman smiled and hooked at his face, to which he ducked even further and backed out to put some distance between them while she pursued. It was a successful combo.

"Normally her attacks have the capacity to knock a person out cold with just one, clean hit. However, the most astonishing aspect about her capabilities is that she can _control_ the strength and speed of each individual punch and kick perfectly, to the point that she can execute any kind in _any_ situation. She's using loose, long reaching hits to get him, which means they're lighter than conventional punches. They're not meant to knock him out, just to help him build up a resistance to them."

"Then… what kind of punches are they?" Kin asked while still curious and worry filled. "Why is his face swelling up like that?"

Naruto ducked another jab, moving in. After receiving a hit to the face from a follow-up right, he retreated to restart a new run. However, he staggered a little when he saw his world go all hazy and distorted, but managed to keep his footing thanks to his balance. He wasn't going to pack it in just because his world was going dark from his eyes swelling over. He had to get used to it.

He just had to!

With a yell, he ran in again, zigzagging in a staggered motion.

Yim smiled at witnessing his determination.

"His face is swelling up from the unclenched punches."

"Unclenched?" Kin queried, settling back down to the porch. "W-What are they?"

Yim pointed again, emphasizing the distance and speed of Meow's attacks when her jab arched through the air at rather strange angles. From _their_ point of view, they looked quite abnormal. "That particular jab is called a _Flicker Jab_. It's different from the conventional jab because it is flicked at the target rather than thrown. And _that_…" The pair watched as Meow suddenly resorted to a more close range jab with really fast shots in it when Naruto ducked in to dash at her, which he weaved through with little effort. "Instead of the fist being positioned and thrown from a vertical start, they're being thrown horizontal. That's a specialized _Mantis Jab._ Really fast one-two combinations can be thrown using it to catch opponents by surprise. However, instead of them being confined to a set, Meow can throw them consecutively and from _any_ angle."

"What's the difference?" Kin shrugged, a little bit confused.

"The jab for _my_ style is just a basic, straight, uncorked punch where the fist is held and executed vertically," Yim demonstrated, throwing one with her free hand. "However, if I was to alternate…"

Kin watched her closely as she brought her hand back and unclenched it after its execution, and began throwing lefts with a surprisingly longer reach due to the extension of her shoulder and hyperextension of her arm.

"_Flicker Jabs, Mantis Jabs, Back Hands, Hooks _and_ Open Hand_ _Jabs_, when thrown in a particularly loose manner they lack weight behind them, but they still have a lot of snap. When they hit a target, they irritate the muscles and flesh, causing swelling and inflammation. Naruto may not be getting hit by punches with weight behind them, but his skin is still swelling up from the impact, even with a guard up. We need to get him used to those punches so the swelling won't be so bad if he ever comes across an opponent who uses those types of attacks frequently. When in the middle of a battle, if you get blinded and don't know how to defend yourself when your surroundings are all blanketed over, your capabilities are cut in half."

"Oh," Kin blinked, looking back and watching Naruto take some bank handed fists to the left side of his face. When he staggered away and turned in the audience's direction, Kin saw that his left eye had swollen completely shut. The sight had the kunoichi clench her fists impatiently. "It still annoys me though that he's taking all of that and still thinks it is okay for him to fight."

Yim frowned and nodded in agreement. "He's still inexperienced after all. This is a challenge he _must_ be able to overcome. The more punishment he takes now, the less he will have to face in the future."

The kunoichi sighed, watching Naruto duck in and avoid a swinging right. "I hope you're right."

Naruto began avoiding his teacher's straights more carefully this time, shifting weight from left to right but stumbling a little from lack of energy. However, he managed to close in on his target yet again, with his sudden approach reinvigorating Kin and drawing her attention back onto the scene.

The boy grinned when his head butted against Meow's abdominals when he went in a little too far, surprising the woman at the lunge.

"_I can do this!"_ Naruto shouted in his head, leaping back while being followed by a counter punch thrown by the woman. Her knuckles brushed against his nose, but didn't make contact beyond that. _"No matter how many times I get hit, I'll keep on moving forward! GO!"_ Ducking under a snap kick and leaping away from a left shin kick, he then dove forward.

Even though half his world had gone black, he still had one good eye.

"_That's all I need!"_

* * *

><p><strong>At the end of the week…<strong>

**The Academy…**

Naruto couldn't remember ever being in so much pain before in his entire life. Aside from the fight against the Sound Genin at his old apartment a whole week ago, _that_ was a cakewalk compared to what he was experiencing right now. Broken bones and flesh wounds that dulled away thanks to adrenaline was an experience he could live with. However, having limped all the way to school with a continuous pain in his legs, feet, arms and shoulders was something else altogether. He was sure his back was sore, but the numbing feeling in his lower calves, thighs and in his toes sort of blocked that particular sensation out.

Imagine having needles sticking into you all the way to the bone and having that feeling multiplied with every step you took. That basically covered everything of what the jinchuriki was registering to right then and there.

To be frank, it had been hell for him. Heck, he even _knew_ that his ordeal was _far_ from over. His teachers had only covered the foundation aspects of the leg training for him. There was still a whole load he had to do, including strengthening his finger, hand and forearm muscles, working on his durability, upping his speed through more running exercises involving heavy weight, and extension workouts. He hadn't even begun working on the skills and technique for the _Iron Cat Fist_, _Jujutsu_ or _Kenjutsu_, but he was still pretty sure his speed had gone up by a bit. That was one thing he could at least take on over to the academy with a pained smile on his face.

It was a matter of achieving that certain velocity in his current condition that was going to be a problem for him.

This whole practice was almost reminiscent of the period when he had first started training with Yim for an entire month, only this time there were three of her. One was kind, one was quiet, and the other was him pretty much, only in girl form. Had he still been living alone after his life-choice experience with his teacher up on that balcony overlooking the training field, he was positive that even _he_ would be pushing himself this much… only… without the farmyard equipment and the rock.

No, he probably would have gone about the whole training aspect differently had he never met any of his new teachers.

He could smile brightly knowing he had friends like them. It was almost like they were his own family…

"Geez, Naruto. What the heck happened to you?" a gruff voice came breezing through to him like an unwanted gust of wind on a cold day. Naruto looked up to see Shikamaru standing over him with his hands in his pockets and looking as concerned as a sloth could possibly be. "You look like an ad for dead."

"Don't get me started," the jinchuriki groaned, his head laid out on the table and head turned towards the other boy. The rest of his body, since all the nerves had pins and needles sticking into them, was hanging limply where it was sat, limbs and all. "My legs feel like they're encased in cement and my arms feel like they're bound by steel wire."

"Well, what did you do?"

He'd looked better… in public anyway.

Naruto's outlook in terms of clothing was fine with his orange hoody with blue short sleeves, and dark green cargo shorts with hems that stopped halfway down his shins, which he wore proudly. But his physical appearance at skin level was another story entirely. He looked like a corpse left out to dry in the sun for a few days. He had razor burn on his forearms on top of the blackened bruises from his long-poll exercises, scuffs on both his cheeks and, if you were to look at his feet individually, he had gauze wrapped around some of his toes, the bases of his heels, all the way up to his ankles.

Yup, he'd definitely seen better days.

"I served as a pack mule for a whole week, that's what I did," Naruto answered, rubbing his sore cheek into the table. "Dammit… does anyone have any panadol?" His shouted question went on scantly unnoticed by the students who were already filed into the classroom.

Since it was still half an hour before team orientation started, it was no surprise that only fifty percent of the graduating group was already here; Naruto and Shikamaru included. Sasuke had decided to pop in bright and early as usual (minus the bright), and was currently situated in the chair next to the pain stricken jinchuriki and staring at the front of the class with his fingers laced together and elbows propped up on his desk. At the same time the Uchiha quietly listened in to the slackers' conversation, also finding his classmate's predicament quite perplexing.

"Sounds rough man," Shikamaru commented, earning a deep scowl from the blonde.

"Tell me about it," the jinchuriki breathed, sitting up and stretching. He winced when the muscles around his shoulders pinged uncomfortably. "Every morning I run laps for Kami knows how long with my teacher constantly prodding me in the back with a stick while I drag her around, I spend midday squatting over a fire and doing pushups with two people sitting on my back, then I run routine with a boulder followed by an hour of sleep, lunch and meditation…"

"Mmm…" Shikamaru lazily picked at his ear.

Sleep sounded good, so why was he complaining?

"Then it's back to running routine with leg weighs, throwing those damned stone statues over my shoulder a hundred times and shadow sparring focusing on footwork with that stupid rock. It's only gotten a gram lighter… A GRAM!" Naruto roared, slamming his fist into the table, which was smart of him. "GAAAAAAARRRRGGHHHH!" He gripped his pulsing limb and blew on it.

"It's your own fault," the Nara murmured, slipping his hands into his pockets. "You're so eager to train you end up overdoing it. Maybe you should take things easier, you know, just breeze through life doing the bare minimum like you've always been doing and be more laid-back, like me?"

"And become like you, you lazy ba-!" Naruto began as he rose to his feet to hit the guy in the shoulder. But just like before his muscles pinched at his bones and he found himself paralyzed. Gritting his teeth, the boy straightened up like a pencil from his decrepit posture and cried out in pain… again, "DAAARRAAAAAAGGGHHHH!"

Shikamaru rubbed the back of his head in resignation and waltzed up the stairs to find a nice quiet seat, leaving his friend to grovel and sob. "Whatever, man. I wish you well… ugh… what a drag."

Naruto collapsed back into his chair, giving himself into an immovable state. Instead of concentrating on the negative aspects of his condition though, he decided to focus on a more positive point of view. After resting back, he reached into his pocket and pulled out an instant ramen cup.

With an odd look on his face, Sasuke watched the blonde next to him pull on the heating chord at the base of the ramen package and rip the lid off of it once the contents had been cooked, to which he was then graced with the aroma of delicious miso ramen. To the Uzumaki, it certainly did seem like a treat. To the Uchiha however, the sight was rather questionable.

"You eat ramen for breakfast?" the raven haired boy murmured, observing as the blonde divided the chopsticks with an excited grin on his face. "Is that even healthy?"

The jinchuriki glowered in the teen's direction, feeling his mood dampen thanks to his classmate's personal outlook. "Shut up! I can't help it. I haven't had ramen in over a week. Look at me!" He pulled at the skin on his hands and arms. "I've been going on for so long without the needed fuel for my body that I'm malting!"

Heck, though it would have gotten a laugh or two out of the Uchiha, the teenager chose to remain silent and with good reason. Naruto's skin texture had actually improved phenomenally for lack _of_ ramen and that was the uncontaminated truth. The cold, hard reality for all addicts out there was that grease didn't make ones appeal so good in contrast… unless it was rub-on oil temporarily used in commercials to trick girls into buying that useless cream crap.

All these thoughts made the raven haired protégé wonder what would happen if Naruto actually went cold-turkey for good.

"Hmph," Sasuke grunted uncomfortably, turning to glare back at the front of the classroom. "You'll ruin your body."

"You're one to talk. You could use with some more sunshine yourself, bright eyes," Naruto jabbed back with a smirk, pointing out his longtime rival's noticeably pale appearance. There was no arguing that fact either. Dark character did warrant its own distinguishable traits.

Both boys ended up glaring at one another for a minute or so, basically silencing out the rest of the rabble going on around them. However, accepting the fact that the whole standoff was pointless, both of them decided to let it be as it was with a shared smile and a look-away before returning to their own devices.

However, the jinchuriki wouldn't exactly be left on his own for long. On top of the pain gripping his muscles and attention fixated on his morning treat, he was about to get another that was going to disturb the delicate equilibrium of his scales and tip them out of balance. Unfortunately for him, this following event would be considered as one of the unaccounted yet unwanted occurrences for the day to come…

"Naruto!"

Just as he was about to bite down on a piece of kamaboko he had picked up, the blonde youngster suddenly froze when he recognized the gravelly, vicious tone of voice sink in like the Black Death itself. The seafood stick fell out of his chopstick's grip and back into his cup with a light 'plop'.

"Oh crap…"

Shakily, he glanced to his right to see none other than Kiba glaring daggers into him with his companion Akamaru sitting comfortably in his jacket. Teeth bared and grinding loudly, the ticked off Inuzuka slammed his hand down on the desk right next to the blonde, all the while trying to strike a chord with the boy responsible for his family's public embarrassment a few days prior the only way he felt was reasonable.

In his current state of mind he was susceptible to anything.

"So…" the teen growled, his anger forcing a cocky grin onto his face as he leaned in further to breathe on his target. Naruto winced at the sudden increase in intensity of his classmate's stare, the commotion also drawing a lot of silence and attention from the children already present. "What have you got to say for yourself, hm?"

"Umm… uhh…" the jinchuriki hesitated.

Accounting his other rival's enraged condition, his ongoing muscle discomfort, and his surroundings as well as the accessories he had on hand, Naruto quickly formed a mental account of each possible scenario.

Option A: he could greet the boy kindly and hopefully shift the topic at hand to something else entirely to avoid a beating he definitely did _not_ want… at all…

Option B: he could continue on heedlessly, attempt to defend himself if necessary, and make a break for the windows.

Option C: there was always the doorway if the windows were locked, which Naruto was quite certain they were. However, the risks were exactly the same.

Option D: offer Kiba a treat… although… _that_ action would probably warrant an even worse beating from the teenager and infuriate him further.

Defending himself was a risky venture, escape was impossible, and Naruto was pretty sure his negotiation skills were downright terrible in these situations. He knew this from experience. Guess there was nothing else to do bu…

"Oh wait," Naruto spoke out abruptly and reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a couple of what looked to be smoke pellets. "I forgot about these."

Before Kiba could take any action or mount any form of defense or attack, without warning the jinchuriki raised the devices into the air and threw both balls into the ground right next to him. The paper wrapped bombs detonated on impact.

Any passers outside looking into the classroom through the window would be able to watch as a sickly green cloud of thick smoke filled the air in an instant and take up every square inch of the chamber. Moments after the pellets were detonated, loud coughing and retching from the students present inside could be heard all around, a sound that pretty much drowned out the birds singing happily outside.

The thick vapors continued to occupy the entire airspace of the classroom for the next minute or so, before eventually fading away and revealing the ultimate results of Naruto's handiwork.

It was a mass genocide.

Students were lying all over the floor in crumpled heaps, tears spilling out of their eyes and hands slapped over their faces. Everyone that had inhaled the deadly gas through their noses was all suffering for that mistake, with a couple of the students throwing up whilst others had passed out altogether. It wasn't so much that the gas was toxic; it was the stench that they couldn't stand.

As for Kiba… well… he was having it the worst.

The boy had passed out on the ground with cross marks over his eyes along with Akamaru, both of them babbling nonsense and foaming at the mouth. It should also be noted that like them, every other student in the class was either sporting a sickly green color or were dead pale. That was the full, unbastardized outcome of the stench that was now engulfing the room.

Naruto on the other hand, he had been smart.

He had pegged his nose and was grinning stupidly down at the unconscious Kiba. This was indeed a most satisfying moment for him.

Not only was he safe from a beating, but he was also immune to his own stink bombs.

"You see, Sasuke," the jinchuriki began, turning to look over at the Uchiha with a proud smile. "_**That**_ is how you do it. All you have to do is…" Naruto stopped short when he noticed that the raven haired teen he was addressing was also passed out, foaming at the mouth and twitching where he lay across the desk. "Oh… never mind."

Blinking, the blonde sighed and turned back to his ramen, picking at the contents absently with his chopsticks.

"I guess even self-proclaimed number ones fall hard since they're so high up on the podium," Naruto shook his head, a small smirk tugging at his lips. He was the only one in the class sitting upright as everybody else was either out cold or rolling about on the ground, gagging and throwing up. _"Still…I should really think about mass-producing these __**things**__. Who knew adding ammonium sulfide to the ignition powder of smoke pellets could be so effective?"_

While in silent contemplation, the blonde pulled out yet another pellet from his pocket and admired it closely.

XXX

**Half an hour later…**

Naruto, peg still on his nose, sat smiling like the sun at his desk with his fingers laced comfortably together.

He was bright, cheerful and happy, and for a few good reasons.

Number one; Kiba had lost any and all motivation of trying to take his revenge out on the blonde for the day. Number two; all the kids in the class that had regained their composure couldn't even be bothered pursuing him for an apology. Number three; the effects of the stink bomb were still hanging thickly in the air.

The odor from the gas defense was so potent that every individual student braving the classroom was pinching their noses, blocking their airways with a handkerchief, or doing their damn hardest to try and feign ignorance to the unpleasant smell. It was proving especially difficult for Iruka who had just recently entered the room… the very clean, very picture perfect, yet very foul smelling room, and was attempting to get the team assignments underway. However, every time he tried to open his mouth to speak and breathe he was greeted at every gasp by the unbearable stench of expired eggs mixed in with bad milk, sweaty socks and horse manure.

He practically had to snap a peg onto his own nose to clamp out the most of it, which he had taken out of his drawer of items he had confiscated from Naruto in the past.

The abovementioned child couldn't help but snicker at the intervals in which his teacher had to drink in 'fresh' air.

"Now… urgh… class," Iruka cleared his throat, beginning his morning lecture rather uncomfortably. "Starting today, all of you graduates… ugh… will be beginning your lives as shinobi… for this village, for its people, for its… oh, for fuck sake!" Retching on fumes, the man threw open his desk drawers and began rummaging through them.

Naruto giggled loudly, earning harsh glares from Sasuke to his left, Sakura sitting on his right, Kiba across the way, and a lot of other nearby students within earshot of him. Though he was risking his life and wellbeing showcasing his amusement of the situation so openly, man, it was well worth it. This was by far the best sendoff he could have possibly asked for.

If there was the chance that he was going down today, he had certainly taken the rest of his classmates down with him. It was a big 'screw you' to the consequences of his actions.

"_Life is good, dattebayo…"_ Naruto thought confidently, reaching up and placing his hands behind his head. His muscles screamed in protest when he did so, causing him to visibly wince. Therefore, instead of increasing his elevation, he chose to lower his upper body and place his chin on top of his desk, his eyes fixating themselves and glowering at the blackboard. _"Right… pain… muscles… training… not good!"_

After tossing out a variety of stuff from his desk, Iruka soon pulled out a can of air freshener.

Armed, he began spraying the room excessively as if he were watering a garden, wanting to rid himself of this foul taste in his mouth and nose. For the students, simply put, it was relief. For Naruto, further amusement. Obviously, his classmates had a right in mind to think that he should probably be walking around wearing a T-shirt with a slogan slapped on the front in huge, bold letters saying 'Yes, I am a sick bastard', and that he would wear it with pride. However the whole incident was in self-defense, so you couldn't really blame him.

Well, in part you could blame him. His snickering was also out of reflex… some of it.

Still unable to suppress the stench Iruka went over to the windows, unlocked them and took in whopping gasps of real air once he'd stuck his head out. Upon getting the required dosage of beautiful oxygen to continue on living, the man marched back over to his desk and picked up the roster, once he had deposited the aerosol.

He set aside a brief moment to scowl in Naruto's direction as if to say 'you're going to get it later', but the boy completely overlooked the death stare and merely waved back at him pleasantly. Shaking his head at his student's laidback approach to the situation, Iruka went on.

"Refresh!" Iruka said loudly, making some of the students jump. Arms folded with the clipboard in hand, the man glared diligently up at the rows of students in front of him, with some of them still visibly holding noses. "As I was saying, starting from today you are all officially shinobi of _Konohagakure_. But just because you've graduated from the academy, whether by the skin of your teeth or with outstanding results under your wings, don't go thinking that all the hard times and hard work for you are over and done with." Smiling, the lecturer reached up and swiped his thumb under his nose in an all-knowing gesture. "You may be real shinobi now, but you are still Genin. The hard journey that lies ahead of you has just started… and it won't be getting any easier."

"_Tell me about it,"_ Naruto breathed into his desk, still lying across it. He turned his head and gazed with a sour expression out the window. _"Meow-chan wants me to spar with her again this afternoon… and Ran-chan wants me to start doing hammer exercises tomorrow. Geez. Why me?"_

Beside him, Sasuke could clearly see his neighbor's expression drop significantly and cocked a curious eyebrow. However, he quickly lost interest and turned back to their homeroom teacher.

"As is standard with every shinobi village out there, you have all been arranged into three-person teams, with a Jonin sensei assigned to lead each one. These squads you have been assigned to will be the team you will complete missions with throughout most, if not all, of your time spent as Genin," Iruka informed, bringing up his clipboard and checking the roster on hand. Upon going over the list of names thoroughly, he nodded his head and looked ahead of him, the tension in the air feeling rather heavy on his shoulders.

This was all the sign he needed to know that his class was paying attention.

"You will live and train alongside your teammates, you will help each other grow, encourage one another, and you will follow your Jonin sensei's instructions to the latter. I cannot stress this enough. You _will_ complete your missions with your comrades, under the guidance of your instructor, _**as**_ a team," the Chunin concluded, making sure to end his statement firmly and with a well-projected voice.

He didn't need their silence and unblinking gazes to tell him that his words had gotten through. It was all written on their faces if not floating in the atmosphere. Aside from the distinctive smell of rotting fish, it was definitely there.

Iruka smiled and raised his list again, clearing his throat. "I am now going to announce the teams in order from each available number. There are a couple of teams from earlier years still active and using the single digit numbers, so don't go thinking I've missed out on anyone." It was with this note in mind that a realization popped into his head and the scar-faced man looked up at the stands with a wide grin. "Oh yes. One last thing! We have put together each team based on each individual's strengths and weaknesses in order to create balance. Remember, the team you are assigned to will be the team you will spend a major duration of your young lives with. No exceptions…"

"_**WHAAAAT!"**_ A collective cry of outrage echoed throughout the hall.

OOO

**Meanwhile…**

**Up in the Hokage's Office…**

Hiruzen Sarutobi chuckled when he heard the outcry through the viewing orb, which had him lean back slightly to better drink in the coming events. Once the class had been settled by the ever impatient Iruka, things started moving along quite smoothly. Needless to say, he was looking forward to the new teams he had approved from this year's graduating group. It was sure to be interesting.

When the elder looked up, he was again greeted by the sight of all the would-be Jonin Captains who had put their names down to take on the rookies, staring down at the crystal ball and its projections. A lot of prospective and incredibly skilled shinobi were present in the office and this gave the Third a lot of assurance that the children assigned would be well looked after. He trusted these Jonin and their judgments completely.

"An interesting line up," the raven haired woman in red and white commented, placing her hands on her hips. "You've got a great range of talent, specialists and highly developed skills in that class."

"Definitely a lot of potential in there," a Jonin in sunglasses next to her also pointed.

"That all depends on your point of view, of course." Asuma interjected, offering his own opinion on the situation. Rolling a toothpick around between his lips as a supplement for a cigarette he was currently craving, he shrugged his shoulders at the stares he received and folded his arms. The analytical expression he was maintaining took on a smirk as the viewing orb panned around the class. "Still, I have to agree. A lot of this new meat looks like it can be made into something great. Particularly… _him_…"

His point was given further emphasis when the camera landed on the spiky haired blonde sitting directly in the middle of the classroom, with his chin lying on top of his desk and a bored look drawn across his whiskered face. The Jonin beside Asuma murmured amongst themselves momentarily, before Kurenai decided to directly address her companion with the issue lingering in the air.

"That one?"

Asuma smiled and glanced back at the curious kunoichi.

"What can I say? He has a different kind of talent compared to a typical genius like Sasuke Uchiha."

OOO

**Back in the classroom…**

Iruka ticked off the next list of names and looked up with a smile. "Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno and Shino Aburame, you'll be making up Team 7. Your Jonin sensei is Kakashi Hatake."

"YES!" Sakura cheered, turning towards Ino and pulling her eyelid down at her while also sticking her tongue out at the girl. "Take that, Ino-pig!"

Ino almost felt like crying. However, instead of feeling sorry or upset, she decided on a better alternative. While she was sitting up in her row and unable to pummel her rival into the ground herself, she settled for scowling down at the pink haired kunoichi, who was pumping her fists in the air in victory. It was an odd looking ritual and earned a lot of stares from the other students, but she didn't care.

The pale blonde kunoichi bit her teeth and glared out the window, at the same time her rival turned to gaze at Sasuke. Hands clapped together and love hearts visible in her eyes, she grinned gleefully in his direction.

It was rather unfortunate that Naruto was sitting in the middle of them, looking even more ticked off than before.

It basically killed two birds with one stone, not only was Ino displeased at the results of the draw but Naruto was as equally annoyed at the intermission proceeding.

"Isn't it great, Sasuke-kun? We're gonna be on the same team!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Yeah… whatever," the raven haired Genin muttered, looking away.

As Sakura fawned on his right and Sasuke brooded on his left, Naruto ground his face into the desk. _"Please… not now. Not while I'm here."_

In spite of the commotion, Iruka continued on with his list unheeded. He traced his pen down to the next collection of names and read out the number. "Team 8 will consist of Kiba Inuzuka, Ino Yamanaka and Choji Akimichi. Your Jonin instructor is Kurenai Yuhi." He looked around, marking off the students and seeing each of those called out nod or gesture in acknowledgment to his announcement.

Assured that the information got through, the teacher glanced back down. "Because Team 9 is still registered, we had to move on to the next number available. Team 10 will consist of Shikamaru Nara, Hinata Hyuuga and Naruto Uzumaki. Your Jonin instructor is Asuma Sarutobi!"

"Goody," Shikamaru breathed, propping his head on his hand and looking off absently. "I'm stuck with the loudest of the class and the quietest of the class. Talk about equilibrium in character. What a drag…"

Hinata, sitting up in the top row, clenched her fists and subtly cheered in her own unique way. Smiling brightly with red in her cheeks and eyes closed, she held her hands up to her chin and nodded quietly. _"I-I'm on the same team as Naruto-kun. I'm so glad!"_

Naruto smiled brightly and immediately perked up after being informed that he would be on the same team as Shikamaru and Hinata. It was a sweet moment indeed; being assigned to a squad with two people he knew he would get along really well with.

However, he did express a momentary flicker of disappointment when he realized he wouldn't be on the same team as 'Sakura-chan'. Note: _momentary_. He could live with that.

The feeling just came and went, so it was no real disaster.

"_I'm just happy to be __**on**__ a team,"_ Naruto grinned, sitting up. He rubbed his hands together, showing off both his enthusiasm and a renewed sense of energy coursing through his veins. His body may have been sore, but his excitement rose and soared high above that, making his physical trauma nothing but redundant. _"Though one's a slacker and one's a little bit weird, I'm cool with that. Shikamaru and Hinata are awesome."_

"_Ugh, look at him,"_ Shikamaru sighed, smirking down at the blonde haired boy in the rows below. He could see him grinning even though his back was turned to him. The action was all in the shoulders. _"He's totally psyched now. When he gets like that… there's bound to be trouble."_ He then looked over to his right, eyes scanning for their third team member. He saw Hinata up in the top row to the far right, her fingers pressing together and a big smile on her face as she sent furtive glances towards the jinchuriki. The Nara shook his head, still smiling in resignation to his fate. _"Heh, what a hassle… even the most timid student in the class is psyched. Man."_

As those whose teams were announced celebrated in their own little ways, with Sasuke mopping, Sakura flowering, Choji eating, Kiba fist-bumping Akamaru, and Ino pulling herself further into her pit of disappointment, just to name a few, Iruka continued on. He double-checked to make sure that everything was in order and that all of the teams had been arranged, with all registered names marked off.

Eventually, once he was assured that everyone was checked out, he clicked the lid of his pen back on and slipped it onto his board, smiling up at his homeroom.

"Well class, that's all for the major announcements for the day," the Chunin concluded, watching all eyes present fall back onto him. "We're taking an early lunch break so that we can get everything else in order. In that time, I suggest you and your teammates get together and get to know one another a little better. There may be one or two people in this class you may not know that well and were put on the same team as you, so make the most of the time you have been given." Iruka grinned and placed the clipboard underneath his arm, before making his way towards the door. "You'll meet back here after lunch. Your team leaders should be here to collect you. Good luck."

The very moment the scar-faced man was out of sight and the door was clapped shut behind him, the students up in the stands began gathering together to meet with their teammates. A lot of the graduates were pleased to meet with their comrades, and even more pleased to find out that they were on teams with people they knew. After coming together to shake hands, the squads then slowly began filing out of the room one group after another with the intention to break bread with their classmates during the lunch period, so to speak.

There were a certain few however who didn't really embrace the whole 'group effort' idea wholeheartedly from the get-go.

Sasuke Uchiha took their former homeroom teacher's departure as _his_ cue to do so in kind, leaving the room with Sakura skipping after him and Shino wordlessly sticking to both of their tails. While the former wasn't really too keen on shaking hands with the pair as of yet, the kunoichi was all too willing to get involved, but only with _one_ of them. The Aburame just tagged along for the sake of getting together with the squad, even though he didn't seem like the sociable type.

While Kiba, Choji and Ino gathered at the bottom of the stairs and mingled, Naruto pushed himself out of his seat and marched up to join Shikamaru. The lazy man was as presentable as he'd ever be; asleep at his station with a sense of an unmotivated, unblemished specimen of sluggishness wafting off of him.

What a wondrous start.

Apparently the boy had taken it upon himself to catch some _Z's_ before being forcefully dragged off to some place in the village he clearly didn't want to go.

The jinchuriki stood by his dozing classmate with his arms folded and foot tapping impatiently. He shook his head in exasperation. "Is this going to be _normal_ for us? If it is then I demand a _recount_!" He looked over to his left to see Hinata standing next to him. Well… she wasn't really standing next to him. More like seven feet from him with her fingers pressing together, eyes hidden by her fringe and her face glowing red.

Naruto blinked in confusion. "Yo, Hinata? You okay?"

The girl 'eeped' and scooted a little bit further away, "I-I-I'm fine… N-Naruto-kun."

"Oh… okay then… _cool_, as long as nothing is bothering you."

The jinchuriki gave her a half-smile, mostly toward the strange manner of her response and the way she was currently acting. However, instead of pondering over the reason as to why the kunoichi was interacting with him the way she was, he reset his attention back onto Shikamaru and opted to wait for the guy to get up. He wanted to get the important stuff out of the way first before anything else.

He could afford to wait.

…

After several minutes of standing around though, Naruto quickly grew impatient… as per the traditions of his character. His patience broke with a roll of his eyes and an irritable sigh.

Swooping down and wrapping an arm around the other boy's neck, the blonde throttled his snoozing teammate into consciousness. The Nara gagged out loudly before having his voice silenced when he was lifted off of his feet and dragged towards the door. The jinchuriki grinned throughout the entire procession of their departure, with Hinata quietly trotting after them.

"N-Naruto…" Shikamaru gasped, face turning blue since his circulation was being cut off. "W-What…?"

"We're getting out of here, we're going to have lunch, we're going to talk, and we're _all_ going to get to know one another a little better," Naruto sang out, grinning from ear to ear. "Deal with it!"

The pair was the first out the door, albeit some struggling and kicking from the lazy bones, with the Hyuuga pottering along wearing a small smile hidden from view.

Well… it may have been a slow start for them, but how else could it have gone? The wheel they had started turning will keep on turning regardless and will probably start picking up speed further along the road. Only time will tell how far they will actually go in the future…

XXX

Later onwards, after dragging the unmotivated Shikamaru out the door with their third team member trailing close behind, Naruto led the entirety of the group up onto the roof to break out lunch and have a long talk, if there was even one to be had. Though the jinchuriki's outstanding level of energy was exhausting for others, the other two characters a part of the small group simply decided to go along with him for whatever reasons they had.

While the pineapple haired boy couldn't care less where he was dropped so long as it was somewhere comfortable he could rest, Hinata wasn't at all fussed about what was going on. She would have followed her teammates wherever they went regardless.

Heck, maybe there was some measure of fun that could be subtracted from some time spent together, at least that was what Naruto and Hinata believed? And what was so bad about the roof anyway? Clear skies, fresh air, nice view, it all seemed like a good deal.

The trio ended up sitting on a flight of stairs next to a small, raised peace garden built up on the roof of one of the academy's older constructs. It was secluded, provided a certain amount of shade, and not to mention gave them a great shot of the school's training grounds. It was sort of like a retreat spot where teachers and students wanting to get away from the hustle, bustle, and assorted commotion of everyday life would escape to and doodle away quietly with any work that they had.

As soon as a unanimous agreement was made on the location and everyone got comfortable in whatever seat they could find, Naruto dealt out some of the steamed pork buns Yim had made for him that morning to his two classmates, now comrades. Needless to say, Shikamaru and Hinata accepted his offering with open arms and thanked him properly for sharing. This also left a question on the former's mind about where he was keeping all of his food?

He was as good at concealing ramen as Choji was at hiding potato chips.

Though not showing it outwardly, Naruto was literally jumping for joy at the prospects of finally being a real shinobi. He had his own team, he had a Jonin sensei assigned to train them as a functioning group, and… hell, there was a well of infinite possibilities that had just been opened up for them with the formation _**of**_ the squad alone. He didn't know what these possibilities were as of yet, but he was excited all the same.

What made things even better for him as well was that unlike some of the others from his class, he had absolutely no problem with the people on his team.

While the generous, young jinchuriki feasted away at his treats, he took a brief moment of time out of inhaling mouthfuls of bun to slowly look over the pair sitting beside him, and drank in their respective characteristic expressions.

In all honesty, he could say he was dealt a really good hand this time.

Neither Shikamaru nor Hinata were stuck-up, rude or mean. They were both really nice people. In fact, Naruto got along really well with the two of them… _more so_ than others. He could have drawn up a list of who, why and whatever, but in the words of the other boy presently sitting next to him, it was too much trouble.

Shikamaru was alright and gave some pretty sound advice when he wasn't sleeping and Hinata… well… Naruto didn't really know that much about her to be able to draw up a full body conclusion at present, but there was plenty of time to perform a study. He just had to be patient.

Still, nobody was saying that he couldn't work with what he had.

The Hyuuga was always just… around. She seemed nice, she was very quiet, she smiled towards him a lot, but she always got all 'strange' whenever he tried to talk to her or get close to her. A perfect example of such was right_ now_. Whilst he was sitting on the far right of the stairs, Hinata had situated herself in between the three of them, and had very quietly scooted about six feet away from _him_ and was currently blushing like crazy in between nibbles of her pork bun.

The girl was indeed a perplexing character, very much like Shino, with the only notable differences being that the kunoichi actually expressed emotions while _that_ guy gave Naruto the creeps.

All the same, the jinchuriki had no problems with either and enjoyed hanging out with the two of them, no matter what the situation was.

Hinata had about the same amount of thought rushing through her head as blood pumping through her delicate cheeks. Subtly glancing from side to side, the timid girl slowly drew up an accurate mental picture of her team and what she knew about the two shinobi accompanying her.

She knew Shikamaru was notoriously lazy, perhaps the laziest person she had ever laid eyes on. Even so, it wasn't like she was complaining about it or anything, it was just an observational view point. If there was ever a moment where she would think she was ever looking down her nose at somebody else's characteristics, whether they were positive or negative, she knew she would never be able to face that person, or anyone else for that matter, ever again. She wasn't like that.

Of course, there was nothing bad she wanted to think or say about anybody else anyway.

Shikamaru's tendency to slack off and sleep, she could embrace that strange trait of his wholeheartedly. It was something that made him unique as both a person and an individual. The kunoichi also knew for a fact that the Nara was also a nice guy, as shown when he had often interacted with Naruto more kindly then many of their other classmates, as well as having offered people encouragement and praise whenever they needed it.

Naruto on the other hand, she admired the boy from the bottom of her heart. There was no denying that she liked him, but it wasn't something as simple as fabricated fan-girl smut or physical attraction. She admired the young jinchuriki for his kind personality, his unwavering determination to never give up, and his ability to get back to his feet no matter how many hits he took in whatever shape or form.

In fact, it was his inner strengths and his ability to show them that gave her encouragement. Though she will admit she didn't possess the same strength as him, both physically and socially, she _wanted_ to possess the same strength as him. The boy's actions and approaches inspired her to reach higher, to reach the same heights he wishes to reach. It was one of the main reasons why she desired to be on the same team as him.

She felt that the closer she was to him the better chances she had of growing stronger. It was as simple as that, to catch up to him and become strong beside him.

That very thought had her smile, but the warmth of his presence still drew stammers from her lips and brought about a deep redness to her cheeks. This wouldn't be something she would be able to suppress so easily, and she wasn't quite sure that she wanted to.

While Naruto and Hinata expressed their thoughts on their teammates highly, Shikamaru was going about his procedure quite slowly.

How else or what else could he surmise? He knew both Naruto and Hinata well enough to know that he could get along with them. But that wasn't his main focus at the moment. What mattered to him most at this point was the amount of comfort he could derive from such an arrangement.

He could appreciate the latter's company quite a lot. Hinata was quiet, hence, a better atmosphere to sleep. It was definitely something he could chalk up as a positive note. However, this whole comfort thing he was aiming for was sort of balanced out by the presence of the prankster of the group, who he knew would be incredibly loud and bothersome. Though he respected Naruto's enthusiasm and praised him for his determination, as well as his come-from-behind results at the end of the graduation period, there was absolutely _nothing_ that the Nara could do that would be able to change his friend's tiresome behavior, so why bother?

The world turned so much smoother when you didn't fight against it.

So, instead of dipping through the negatives and positives of his team of three, Shikamaru decided to focus on other things. He worked through these types of stuff one step at a time since the assurance of success was always good, in his mind anyway.

First he had to finish eating. _Then_ he could concentrate on other important matters, like when his next nap break would come or how Choji was doing on _his_ team. He was hoping his old friend would be alright, particularly in a squad of other hyped up, energetic loudmouths. Kiba was one thing, but Ino?

Put them together and it was like being with two other Narutos.

Speaking of which…

"Alright guys," Naruto grinned, raising a hand and clenching it in front of him. "Since we're on the same team together, all of us need to do our best out there and train extra hard to get stronger! We can't let ourselves get left behind!"

"Train extra hard? Ugh… that seems like a lot of effort," Shikamaru murmured, shoving the last bit of bun he held into his mouth and chewing. "Not all of us are _you_, Naruto."

"I know that." The boy grinned and thumbed his chest. "After all, there is only one me?"

The Nara would have face faulted concrete in an instant. Too bad he didn't have the energy to do so, so as an appropriate compromise a chibi version of himself inside of his head face faulted for him while his physical presence sighed outwardly in dismay.

Sometimes Naruto's thick-headedness was just way too much to deal with.

"What I mean is that not all of us share the exact same energy and exuberance as you," Shikamaru replied, propping his head on his hand and looking in his friend's direction. "Some of us just aren't cut out for hard work. Take me for example."

"Yeah… well… all _you_ need is a pat on the back to get you going," Naruto grinned, holding up a hand and waving it. "I find it can help even the most unmotivated of people. It sure as hell gets me up in the morning."

"So does my alarm clock. But at least it has the common courtesy to _not_ slap me on the back," Shikamaru groaned, rolling his eyes. "That would be pushing it."

"In any case," Naruto jabbed out in front of him, and did so several more times. "Hard work _always_ pays off."

Shikamaru blinked as he stared across at his classmate, seeing him excessively punch the wind while still fawning over in excitement. Though the jinchuriki did tend to go off topic and speak out unnecessarily, which was tiresome for a lot of people, he did more than make up for this imbalance by being honest, determined and straight out.

He would fight against all odds in arguments and it was remarkable that he could actually make a stand.

"_He has a point," _the lazy Genin thought, coming to an agreement with his friend's last statement. It actually brought a small smile to his face. _"I've seen it firsthand… the results of __**his**__ hard work. He'd been training outside of classes with somebody of a high caliber and whoever it is, they must either be very kind to him that he would do whatever they instructed him to do or are terrifying enough to get him to run fast… faster than he'd ever ran before." _He furrowed his brow in a brief moment of thought, wondering what kind of person would present that much of a force against the titan of destruction which was Konoha's most unpredictable and dangerous prank master. _"Could it have been those two women at the front gates on graduation day?"_

"I've gotten so much better at shinobi techniques since my last detention," Naruto spoke, bringing his right fist back and clenching his knuckles in front of him. "And my taijutsu prowess has never been higher. But I know I can do more… _much_ more." He then turned back to Shikamaru and Hinata, both of whom were eyeing him curiously. "I want you guys to feel the same way I feel now."

Unexpectedly, his forearm muscles pulled and he reeled forward sharply, clutching his arm to strangle out the lightning bolt of pain that had shot right through him without warning. Gritting his teeth didn't really help him though and soon enough, he was crying out in sheer agony. "KAMI DAMMIT! I HATE IT WHEN _**THAT**_ HAPPENS!"

"What? Beat, broken and hurting all over? Sounds peachy." Shikamaru continued on from where their teammate left them before his physical interjection, smiling in amusement. _"Well, so much for his exuberant speech of encouragement."_

While the boy groveled and strangled his arm to stop it from burning, the blue haired kunoichi beside him pressed her fingers together and watched him with great concern. However, in spite of his worrisome state the kunoichi received his message loud and clear, and it made her smile softly towards him. "N-Naruto-kun is a really… h-hard worker."

Mustering a weak grin through a shut, right eye clenched tightly from the pain, he gazed back at the two while attempting to make out like nothing bad was happening to him. "Y-You'd better _believe it_!"

"Troublesome," Shikamaru shook his head. "Though I know you're just going to poke me in the nose for this, but I think that maybe you should just take it easy for a bit, at least until you've fully recovered. The human body can only take so much punishment and if I know you the way I do, I'd say you've been pushing it passed its limits multiple times a day."

"I know… I've been training all week long," Naruto groaned. Panting quickly a few times when he felt the muscles in his arm ease out, he straightened up in his seated position and slapped both hands onto his legs. Breathing out in relief, he stared out ahead of him with a renewed smile. "But it's that kind of stuff that's making me stronger. All I have to do is keep at it and eventually… heh… given time, I'll be able to reach _their_ level… the level I want to be at."

"Their?" Shikamaru inquired.

Looking at the boy's expression pulled out from the depths of agony, he saw he was now gazing brightly up at the sky and towards the village. It was kind of strange seeing Naruto reminiscing, since it wasn't something he normally did. Still, it was a good moment for it.

The jinchuriki turned his gaze back towards his teammates, with Hinata moving away a little when she saw his warm smile directed towards her.

"My teachers. I want to be like them."

"Y-Your teachers?" Hinata stammered questioningly. "Like Iruka-sensei… and Mizuki-sensei?"

Naruto shrugged, "Iruka? Sure. Mizuki… ERRRR!" He made a buzzing noise and slapped his arms to form an X in front of him. His sudden sharpness had the two Genin next to him flinch. "No way! That guy was a jerk."

"Sure could have fooled me," Shikamaru chuckled, feeling Hinata's shoulder press up against him when she retreated further. The girl moved away from him as well the moment she made contact and since she had nowhere else to run to, chose to curl up on the steps and try to look invisible by hiding her cheeks behind enclosed hands. "But by teachers I'm going to assume you mean those two women Ino, Choji and I saw at the front gates with you about a week ago, right?"

"You got it," Naruto gave him the thumbs-up, grinning. "Yim-chan and Ran-chan! There's also Meow-chan, but… she's sort of a new member of the household so… I'm not counting her just yet."

The Nara rubbed his eyelid uneasily, still smiling at the amusing conversation they were having. "Geez man, why are there so many girls at your place? How is it that you're still alive?"

"Guess it's just my luck," Naruto exclaimed, shutting his eyes and flashing his teeth in his most popular and characteristic of grins. "I'll share it with you one day."

"Your luck? Nah, women are too troublesome. I've already got my mum and Ino to deal with… and… heh… _this_ one." He thumbed towards Hinata, who leaned away when his attention was unexpectedly shifted onto her. "Although I think I can manage _her_ just fine."

"I… I…" the kunoichi gulped. "Y-You don't need to worry about me too much, Shikamaru-kun. I'm j-just happy to be on the same team as you." Bucking up a smile of her own, she looked between the two boys happily. "I may not be that confident about myself r-right now, but I promise to do my best."

Though initially perplexed by her incredibly pleasant response at being singled out by Shikamaru as an example of supposedly bothersome girls in his life, Naruto was still able to smile. Though the kunoichi did act sort of weird to him, he always saw her smiling and always heard her saying nice things.

"As long as we all try." He turned to the pair completely and stuck out his fist, causing Hinata to lean away again and Shikamaru to give him a puzzled look. "Since we're a team now, we have to make a pact!"

"A pact?"

"You know… a deal, an agreement, a contract! Since we're all friends here, we have to swear to work together and work hard from now on!" Naruto stated assertively, shuffling closer. The other two opened up a little more for some space, with Hinata shuffling up one step, but still keeping a little bit of space between them. "Please, watch over my back from now on."

Confused at first, Shikamaru was a smart guy. He could see where his friend was going with this and though he wasn't much for explaining things about this kind of stuff, he definitely knew how to show it. The Nara smiled and straightened up, not wanting to appear hunched with his response and presentation.

"Heh, you're just as enigmatic as ever, huh? Always trying to garnish peoples' favors through grins and promises," the Nara murmured, looking across and seeing a strong smirk still worn across the teen's face. Shrugging his shoulders, the normally unmotivated Genin also raised his fist, but didn't connect immediately. He glanced over at Hinata seated beside them. "Come on… let's do it."

Blinking, the Hyuuga timidly looked between the two boys again, both of whom were giving her gazes of encouragement. Though Shikamaru meant well, the kunoichi couldn't help but shy away from Naruto's sweet smile.

However…

"I-I can see you really want us to be a good team, N-Naruto-kun," the girl gulped and, pulling up whatever courage she had albeit the glowing redness in her cheeks, she too smiled up at the jinchuriki. "I-I want us to be a good team as well! S-So I… I promise I will work as hard as I can!" She raised a fist, though not as confronting as her companions.

The blonde shinobi smiled contently. "Thanks guys." Sucking in air, he raised his fist out further and the three of them pressed knuckles against one another. In that one moment of contact, all three of them expressed confidence and a willingness to cooperate, which was what they all wanted to feel. It was why they were here after all. "So… we're Team 10, right?"

"Yeah… Team 10," Shikamaru agreed, closing his eyes and sparing a moment of thought. _"I can tell from this group that this is going to be a lot of trouble… but hey, I wouldn't have it any other way."_

"Team t-ten!" Hinata said loudly, nodding her head and clenching her eyes shut. _"For Naruto-kun and… f-for Shikamaru!"_

Naruto's grin widened. "Let's do our best, dattebayo!"

XXX

**A little bit later…**

**Naruto's home…**

Following a predetermined schedule, Hiruzen Sarutobi had taken each of the Jonin Captains assigned a rookie team around the village and showed them to each of their students' homes. The ones living within the village's central districts were fine and the tours were rather quick.

Getting to the public nuisance jinchuriki's place on the other hand, established way over in one of the main agricultural areas of Konohagakure, was another matter entirely.

After a long, half hour walk Hiruzen immediately began the tour of the property for the instructor of Team 10. Granted it was a really nice place with a lot of fresh air, and that the owner kept his place spotless, Asuma couldn't help but remain stunned after learning about the number of female occupants living with his soon-to-be student.

Three gorgeous women and a girl around Naruto's age totaling to around four girls all up, all of whom were in no way related to him whatsoever, had the man question his students' good fortunes.

"Don't mistake this stage of his young life for an _entire_ existence filled with good graces. You do remember he _is_ the jinchuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox?" Hiruzen stated while staring out the kitchen window with his hands behind his back. "You know what life is like for a child in Naruto's position; carrying around such a heavy burden while being ostracized by the entire village. It was only until quite recently that his living conditions started to improve and the people around him started to accept him for who he is rather than for what he is carrying. These travelers currently living with him are among the first people to truly connect with him, including Iruka-sensei, Teuchi-san and Ayame."

"I see," Asuma murmured, walking around the dining table and checking out the other rooms through the doorways. He made sure to tread cautiously because not only was the woman who greeted them at the door Yim present in the room with the two visitors, but there was also a white pigeon perched on the chair next to the martial artist that was watching him intently wherever he went.

The Jonin traded more uneasy glances with the bird than anything or anybody else in the room since it was creeping the heck out of him.

Managing to navigate the floor space uninterrupted, he peeked into the living room area. This chamber was simply a wide open space with only two couches in the middle and a TV set up at the end of the room, with these being the most distinctive features in the room. The backyard was also clearly visible through the open doors, letting a lot of natural light in.

In his studying of the main room, the bearded man spotted Kin lying across the couch, head on a pillow and engrossed in a magazine. The kitten recently brought into the family was napping comfortably on her stomach and as she read, she petted its head absentmindedly.

When the former Sound kunoichi sensed a pair of eyes glued onto her, she glanced towards the kitchen area to see the tall stranger staring down at her. She cocked an eyebrow and glared back.

"What are you looking at?"

Asuma withdrew a little at her bark, grinning nervously. "My apologies miss. I didn't mean to disturb you."

Abruptly turning heel, the Jonin returned to the dining room area and looked around a bit more. He nodded his head as he took in every little detail of relevance.

His expedition allowed him to get a better idea of Naruto's past, his present living conditions and the situation at his home, and he could see just how booked he really was as a normal person.

There was no denying he had been through a lot in his life and still had a lot going for him here. He could only guess as to what his regular routine was really like to experience. Naruto certainly was a real head turner in Konohagakure's routines.

"He's made quite a turnaround. This is nothing like the information I've read about in his file. You mentioned he lived all alone in an apartment before, right?" Asuma looked over at the elder standing by the kitchen desk. The man in the funny hat still had his eyes locked onto the world outside, as if he were in silent meditation.

Hiruzen nodded affirmatively. "His place of residence may have changed, as well as his place amongst his classmates, but his personality certainly hasn't. However, I have good reason to believe that he has become that much wiser about the world and everything else around him." The elder smiled over his shoulder at the Jonin. "He's had it tough, he learns from experience and he knows what it's like to be alone, which is why he is able to connect with other people from different walks of life. He should present a most interesting student for you."

Asuma smirked. "He's fiercely competitive, free spirited and not above bending, if not, breaking the rules entirely. Okay then. I like having a challenge." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a cigarette and a lighter.

Just as he was about to ignite himself a quick smoke, Mr. Woo suddenly swooped past him and grabbed the stick right out of his lips. The Jonin jumped in surprise, watching as the bird flew a full circle around the room before landing gracefully on Yim's shoulder. The dove dropped the offending item into her hand, which she then crushed without a second thought yet still maintaining a bright smile.

Immediately taking that as a sign that he was not allowed to smoke inside the house, Asuma shrugged and pocketed his lighter. He then smirked in the martial artist's direction while the Third shook his head in amusement.

"So what's your story?" the Jonin asked the foreigner, watching her glance towards him with a pleasant air about her. "You've obviously known him for a while and it's clear that he has some interesting character, so what do you recommend would be my best approach when confronting him?"

Blinking, the woman giggled. "I believe that it is the job of the teacher to find out about the little imperfections and perfections about their students themselves. In order to truly connect with them and to be able to turn them into something amazing, you have to work hard to get to know them. You have to earn their trust, their respect and their friendship, yet still be able to convey a sense of authority over them as their instructor."

"Very well, I can respect that standpoint," Asuma stated with a smile and a bow. "Thank you very much."

However, just as he was turning to walk back towards the village leader, Yim spoke up again. This time she had a surprising footnote to add to her previous statement that the martial artist had no problem with in divulging. "I will say this though…" The Jonin stopped and glanced at her in response. "As one of his three current teachers, in regards to any talent he may possess, it seems that most of it lies in his ability to work exceptionally hard. If you want to teach him properly, know that he learns best through his body through repetition _and_ practice." The woman grinned at him momentarily, before turning to pet Mr. Woo on the head, who 'cooed' approvingly. "Though he may not be a genius… he has incredible insight."

"I will take that under advisement," Asuma bowed, before turning towards his father to resume his previous trail of thought. "Three instructors? I guess there's no limit to how hard this kid will work."

"He's no Sasuke Uchiha," Hiruzen murmured, sensing his son stop just a few feet behind him. "But unlike the academy prodigy, Naruto-kun has his own talents; talents that he himself had built upon all by himself and has only just recently started to shine through the positive reinforcement of his numerous instructors." The elder then turned away and began to leave, with the Jonin following close behind. "Thank you for your time, Lady Yim. We will take our leave now."

"Come again!" the woman exclaimed, waving them out.

OOO

The moment the Third and Asuma stepped outside, they wasted no time in hitting the road and heading back towards the village center as quickly as possible. After all, the Jonin had to collect his team from the homeroom soon and he was damned if he was going to be late. He didn't want to make a Kakashi impression and not show up on time. A quick march was all that was needed if he was going to avoid such an eventuality.

Even so, the two continued to share a pretty relaxed discussion even though they were in a rush.

"You have some really big shoes to fill as the leader and mentor of a team of rookies, Asuma," Hiruzen stated, his eyes hidden by the shade underneath his wide-brimmed cap. "I arranged the squads the way they are for a reason, because children have the capacity to grow in interesting ways in a dynamic environment, where they may offer their companions encouragement and support one another in times of great adversity."

"As I understand it, you also took into account the other instructors' choices in regards to the teams they wished to train," Asuma stated, glancing towards the Hokage. "In all honesty, I was expecting you to form the Ino-Shika-Cho trio right off the bat, because of the skills inherited from their fathers. They seemed like a pretty solid match up, so why'd you decide to shuffle them all of a sudden?"

The elder lowered his head, taking a moment to contemplate his decision. "I had originally planned to put Naruto and Sasuke on the same team. Their standing rivalry, as well as the major differences in their skills and capabilities would have produced a unique balance for a fighting squad. However, after reevaluating their profiles and witnessing Naruto's sudden improvement, I realized that having two alpha males in the same group would have probably lead to shaky team relations and constant trouble out on the field."

Asuma snorted.

"Well… even though you say it like that, Kakashi still incessantly lobbied to have the both of them on _his_ team, because he felt that he could train the two of them to the best of their abilities," the instructor exclaimed, pulling out a cigarette when he was out of sight of the house and lighting it. He breathed on the fumes and relaxed himself. "I'm inclined to agree with a lot of his reasoning, since Sasuke is a direct descendent of the Uchiha clan and Kakashi has the Sharingan. Not to mention Naruto is the son of Kakashi's late sensei, God rest his soul."

"And your second opinion?" Hiruzen inquired.

"Competitiveness makes for good building in character, but encouragement and support helps fix up any holes in a team. Sasuke and Naruto may have gotten into way too many fights for any mending to actually take place," the Jonin concluded. "Kakashi wanted them on his squad, but so did a lot of the other teachers, which is why I can appreciate how you shuffled the talent around. One of the main reasons why I wanted Naruto on my team is because he greatly supports the people he gets along with in class, namely Shikamaru and Hinata, whom I also wanted."

There was a moment of pause in which Asuma then turned to the elder with a curious glimmer in his eyes.

"What was your reason for mixing up the other teams?"

"I wanted to go for a more diverse alternative when creating the teams for this year. I placed Naruto with Hinata and Shikamaru because the three of them already have strong connections with one another and that all they needed was some polishing up," Hiruzen smiled, looking up at his son strolling directly beside him. "Not to mention that they also have a lot of potential hidden away. You did mention before that you wanted an interesting group?"

Asuma chuckled, "I put my name down for those three as my first choice because I thought they formed a pretty solid trio."

"That's another thing. I was interested by your initial choices when you were first applying for a position as a Jonin Captain for a Genin team. I decided to go along with your preferences because I trusted your judgment. But I'm still curious as to why you chose those particular three to round out your squad." The Third was sincere in his query on this note. He knew his son wouldn't make such a decision without good reason, and it was something he would definitely have no hesitation in revealing.

The tall Jonin chuckled and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"It's not so much that their willingness to cooperate with one another makes them a good team, but it's more like their individual strengths that really seal the deal for me. I've spent a lot of time with Shikamaru before, inside and outside of classes. Though his grades may not look it he's got some serious brain power hidden under that weird haircut of his." The bearded shinobi nodded at that point, huffing out rings of smoke. "He just needs some motivation and I'm sure that Naruto can provide a huge bulk of it for both of his teammates."

Hiruzen raised an eyebrow, wondering what else his son had to say.

"Speaking of which, that kid has a lot of determination and a real potential for accelerated growth. I've seen his exam results. Though I was puzzled at first, meeting the occupants of his household face to face was more than enough to confirm my uncertainties that Naruto has a knack for hard work. Hinata also has a lot of talent that I'm sure she's hiding away somewhere. Though her clan's doejutsu will definitely give the team an edge out on the field, she also shows some promising points in combat. So summing up the three of them in terms of skill set, character and groundwork, the squad seems pretty well-rounded."

"Do you think you can handle them?"

"What, a knucklehead, a mouse and a slacker? Oh sure. No problem. I've dealt with their types many times before."

"Well then, if that's your final answer, I wish you the best of luck," Hiruzen stated, lowering his head and hiding his gaze under the shadow of his hat. "Treat them well."

"You got it," Asuma grinned, looking up towards the sky moments before the pair of them passed over the threshold and into the forest leading back to the village.

"_Who knows? This whole experience might just turn out to be a real blast…"_

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note…<strong>

_And so, the training continues. Naruto is obviously being shuffled between Meow and Ran and being put through his paces. In terms of the Narutoverse I'm trying to make both his training and development realistic. His capable recovery time topped with weight training using small boulders, moving a cart (not yet anyway), and lots of running. Hell, anyone would cave in under that kind of pressure._

_Then there's also a team. I gave a lot of thought to this one and figured I'd throw Naruto in with Hinata and Shikamaru. I have a long list of plans for them to go through in the future. Note, their first C-Rank mission will be different. It's also a surprise so stay tuned._

_And, notably, Kin is starting to support Naruto just a little bit more, even standing up for him. I mean, who wouldn't change in such an atmosphere?_

_I also took some aspects of the training in this one out of several other anime, to see if anybody recognizes any of them._

_Looking forward to writing the next chapter and hoped you enjoyed this one._

_Getting around to updating Melody of the Wanderers as well. Having trouble figuring out the time skip though._


	14. New Home Arc: The Test

**NARUTO**

**The Art of Appropriation**

_The Test_

**After lunch…**

Following their extended lunch period, the newly formed teams of graduates began filing back into the classroom one after the other. The thought of finally being shinobi with squad leaders waiting for them had more than a handful of the kids jumping with excitement, meaning that nearly most of the graduating group could be seen pouring back into their homeroom the moment the bell was rung with springs in their steps.

It came as a momentary surprise to the groups of teenagers when they discovered a small group of similarly dressed adults waiting for them on their return, with Iruka sensei standing alongside them. Figuring that the group of adults was the Jonin Captains assigned to them, the teams immediately disbanded the moment they entered the classroom and took their seats. The only ones who seemed to remain in their respective squads were Team 8 and Team 10, the members taking up two whole rows alongside one another whereas the rest of the class dispersed throughout the room.

Once everyone was back in and accounted for, Iruka took to the front and lead the class's attention into the next stage of team assignments, which would also be his last official duty as their academy instructor.

"Welcome back everyone. I trust you all had a pleasant break," Iruka grinned, stepping aside and gesturing towards the adults dressed in shinobi garb. "The men and women you see standing before you are the Jonin who will be your instructors and squad leaders throughout your time as Genin. Remember to work hard, train hard, and if you should ever find yourself in trouble, just do what you've learned over your years of practice and you should be fine."

With that announcement, Iruka allowed himself to slink over to the side of the room and allow the procession to roll on. Starting from the top of the list down, the Jonin began stepping forward one at a time to collect their teams in the order that they had been arranged.

"H-Hey… wait a second," Sakura exclaimed suddenly, raising a hand when Kurenai Yuhi stepped forward to collect Team 8. The issue came to her like a person singling out a can positioned in the middle of a row of bottles. "Y-You missed out Team 7. W-Where's our instructor?"

The raven haired woman wearing the fishnet with the white battle dress that looked like it was made out of lengths of sheets chuckled in the pink haired girl's direction. "I'm afraid you and your team will be waiting here for quite a while." The other Jonin behind her also snickered, knowing full well the mannerisms and deadlines of one Kakashi Hatake. "He's… running some errands at the moment."

It may have been a bold face lie but what else could she say? No one in this village had any idea of what that man really got up to in his spare time that made him almost constantly late.

Sakura sat back down, looking a little bit dejected at the idea of having to wait for _their_ teacher to show up. Sasuke on the other hand looked away with a huff and closed his eyes. He didn't mind having to wait a few minutes for their teacher to make his grand appearance. I mean, this was an important day for all of them. How long could it take?

Taking Kiba, Ino and Choji under her wing, Kurenai led her team out the door. However, before she was completely out she stopped and turned towards Asuma standing next in line. The man smiled at the concerned look she sent his way and placed his hand on her shoulder, which he then squeezed reassuringly.

"Don't worry… I'll look after Hinata," the bearded Jonin whispered. "You can count on me."

Hearing his words syllable for syllable, the black haired woman smiled and nodded, before exiting the room to follow after her team. The moment she was out, the Jonin she had been speaking with previously stepped forward completely. Scratching the side of his nose, the man directed his grin up towards the classroom.

"My name is Asuma Sarutobi, Elite Jonin and instructor assigned to Team 10," the man said while looking about the remaining teenage ranks for the familiar faces of his group. His focus was quickly shifted onto the row all three of them were currently occupying, to which he then smiled when he recognized the odd haircuts and unique expressions of the squad's members. "Naruto Uzumaki, Shikamaru Nara and Hinata Hyuuga, please follow me."

His words and head nod to follow was all that was needed to get the trio out of their seats and down the stairs. The youngsters trotted after the man as he took them out of the classroom to their meeting point, with Naruto lagging behind for but a second to wave goodbye to Iruka, who saw him off with a wide grin of his own and a gesture of 'good luck.'

Nobody really said a word on the trip out of the academy and across the village. This was probably due to the uncertainty of the situation that the new Genin felt. In fact, the level of anxiety was so high that time simply flew by around them the moment they left the school's grounds altogether. The fact that they were standing in the presence of such an intimidating looking shinobi as well kind of solidified this feeling.

This Asuma Sarutobi was quite large for someone who was supposed to be a stealthy warrior, with a unique, spiky hairstyle adorned atop of his head and matching beard covering his broad chin. It was in his inspections of the man that Shikamaru made the assumption that he was probably a little heavy-footed in combat, if his build was of any indication. Furthermore, unlike other regular shinobi the trio had seen around town, he also wore a strange sash around his waist with the kanji for 'Fire' marked in red on it.

It was an odd accessory to keep on his person, but maybe it was something from his past life that was important to him. Still, this badge of honor presented little significance to either of the Genin at present, who simply continued to tail the large man in front of them without inquisition or complaint.

Eventually, Asuma led the three youngsters into the shadow of _Kikyo Castle_ (the same castle in the manga where Gaara killed Dosu), a huge construct in the central parts of the village that was once occupied by a Feudal Lord. However, after the family left _Konohagakure_ in search of a new home during the _Second Great Shinobi War_ out of fear that the village might be destroyed, they left this great monolith behind in their place. It has since played host as a building of historical importance inside of Konohagakure, a tourist attraction if you would.

Still, that meant little to shinobi who had the capability of treading over it when in a hurry.

Stopping just on the steps beneath the great shrine, Asuma turned to face his team. Naruto, Shikamaru and Hinata gazed curiously up at him as he pulled a cigarette out of his pouch, slipped it between his lips and lit it.

Sighing out rings of smoke, the man looked down at each of them and made a head count, which was kind of pointless. Anyone with eyesight could tell that everyone that was supposed to be here _was_ here.

"Alrighty, before we begin, I'd like to congratulate the three of you for making it through the exams. You should all be proud of yourselves." This praise got smiles from both Naruto and Hinata, the latter of which was still twitching with nervousness, while Shikamaru just picked at his ear and flicked away the wax in an offhanded manner. "Each of you has proven on paper and in practice to be a capable group of youngsters, and that I should expect great things from you. However…"

"H-However?" Naruto blinked.

Asuma grinned. "I want to find out for myself whether passing those cookie cutter tests you were all given wasn't just some stroke of luck." Breathing on deadly fumes, he then pointed blindly up towards the castle's roof behind him without much care or effort. "Meet me at the top of that building in five minutes. You can use any method or means of access to reach the apex, so don't keep me waiting."

Before any of the youngsters could utter a single word or question, the man disappeared in a puff of white smoke. This pretty much told them that as Genin, they were expected to follow their superior's orders without query. At least… _that_ was their initial reaction. What followed up after that was annoyance.

Waving the fog out of the way, the trio then looked towards the roof of the castle many stories above the ground.

The structure was simply enormous… like… _humungous_ enormous. Heck, anyone found looking up at it from ground level could swear it was just as big as the academy's main building, which was the most distinguishable and impressive construct in the entire village next to the _Hokage Monument_. This testament of a more far off past towered over them like the great wall surrounding their home itself, and it definitely carried that air of sovereignty about it that made people recognize this place so. The design was just as impressive as its size.

However, knowing that they had to get to the top of the castle in a certain amount of time put a complete dampener on the awe the each of them was experiencing while gazing up at the damn thing. The wind whistling as it passed around it, the clouds floating gently overhead, the sounds of eagles circling the skies above it and the sun barely peaking around the side gave a pretty accurate scope as to the sheer magnitude of the task that lay ahead of them.

The shadow it cast was more than enough to make the most hardcore of the group hesitate…

"Well, I'm outta here," Shikamaru exclaimed, slipping his hands into his pockets and turning heel.

Naruto caught him by the collar before he could retreat another step.

His sudden lack of forward momentum due to the restraint had the Nara groan in displeasure, "Do we have to?"

"Oh yeah," Naruto grinned, forcefully spinning his companion around and stepping further up the stairs. He rubbed his hands together eagerly. "Sweet! I've always wanted to put my name down on this place!"

Watching the blonde march up the steps towards the abovementioned structure and hearing his comments had Shikamaru gaze at his back exasperatedly, while the stress of the assigned task had Hinata shuffling about even more anxiously then before.

"I-I'm… not too sure about this," the Hyuuga murmured.

"Aww, come on you guys! Don't be like that! Climbing this thing will be a piece of cake," Naruto exclaimed, looking behind him to see the doubt on the faces of his less than enthusiastic comrades.

"From your point of view," Shikamaru murmured, scratching the side of his head. He then looked up at the magnificent walls of wood again, furrowing his brow. "I mean, geez, we can jump high and climb stuff like trees, but _this_ thing is a completely different story. It's a castle for crying out loud."

Taking note of their expressions, comments as well as their physical cues, the jinchuriki resolved to fix the inactivity and lack of confidence plaguing their thoughts, and decided to encourage them the best way he knew how…

By giving them his characteristic wide smirk and taking decisive action. "Trees, buildings, poles, ladders, towers… to a ninja they're all the same thing, aren't they? Watch and learn!"

Chuckling, the boy rushed towards the nearest pillar and leapt at it. Landing against it with his feet as if he were landing on level ground, his teammates' first thoughts were that he was going to fall right back down. However, the blonde managed to shock all audiences once again when he unexpectedly stuck to the column's surface and immediately upon making contact began sprinting up its side, literally defying the laws of physics.

Using abilities neither of his teammates knew he possessed outside of mischief making, the two Genin still floundering on the staircase watched through wide eyes as the boy swung up from railing to railing before flipping up onto the top of the veranda making up the grand _engawa_ aspect of the castle in several seconds flat.

They'd learned how to briefly run up vertical inclines like trees and jump long distances from building to building at various heights. Truth be told, Shikamaru and Hinata had _never_ seen a person literally stand against the side of a wall, hold their position, then sprint up it with little to no effort. It was unreal.

Once he had reached the top of the first roof, Naruto peered over the side of it and stared the three stories down towards his teammates still gathered on the flight of steps.

"Whoa," Shikamaru blinked. Hinata murmured admirably at the feat the boy was able to accomplish so fluently and with zero effort.

Grinning, Naruto waved at them before reaching into his jumper and pulling out a rope. Why he had one to begin with was a damn good question. It was probably something he carried with him at all times in case he ever wanted to perform another high risk, break-in job or pull another fast one over the _Hokage Monument_.

Painting the great faces was, simply put, a force of habit for him. 'Nough said.

Unraveling it, Naruto lowered the length of line down to his friends so that they had an easy way up to him. He couldn't just leave them down there. If they were going to do this, they were going to do this together.

"Hurry up guys!" the boy called out. "We don't have all day, you know!"

Though reluctant at first, Hinata was the first to break out of the stunned silence of the two and, after tugging on the line to make sure it was safe, started clambering up. Though it took a bit of doing, she managed to make it to the top just fine thanks to all those obstacle courses they had worked on back in the academy.

It was while watching the kunoichi shimmy up the rope Shikamaru uttered his own discomfort at the situation before beginning his own ascent of the palace.

"Troublesome. What's so wrong with taking the stairs?"

OOO

A few minutes… and a lot of complaining later, all three graduates soon found themselves on the last leg of the arduous vertical climb.

Upon reeling in his rope once he was certain his teammates were safely on top of the tiled roof alongside him, Naruto then led the final charge up the slope, while a sweating and panting Shikamaru and Hinata followed after him. It was a huge relief for the latter two once they arrived at the absolute peak of the palace.

It was also one of the grandest moments for them that day, mostly for the fact that the stopping point presented an amazing spectacle for all of them.

The sight of the entire village spread out before them like a masterpiece from the renaissance era was breathtaking.

"No shit," Shikamaru gasped, straightening his back out and greeting the sun. "Damn… that killed…"

While the above stretched and caught his breath, Naruto stood proudly in the center of the trio with his hands on his hips and a wide grin on his face as he stared at the sight of his home village canvassed so perfectly in front of them. Hinata on the other hand was kneeling on the roof beside him, still winded and looking beat like she had just returned from a twenty mile sprint (shinobi standards btw).

"Not bad."

The familiar voice on the far side of the building caught the team's attention. His announcement caused the three youngsters to turn and face one of the two large _shibi_ on either corner of the roof, where they saw their instructor leaning against the back of the statue with his arms folded.

"You made it with only half a minute to spare. That's good, considering that two of you don't know how to stick to or climb up vertical planes yet. Props for creativity" He was clearly singling out their little rope performance provided by their most eccentric member.

Naruto blinked and pointed at him. "Hey. How'd you get up here so fast?"

"I climbed," Asuma grinned, getting off of his post and strolling on over. It was perplexing for the kids since he didn't have a single bead of sweat on him at all. "Not the way _you_ did though. You're a few months too green to be able to do what I did without exerting any effort whatsoever."

Looking between one another momentarily, the teens glanced back around once the Jonin was standing right in front of them and they had all recovered from the shock. The wind blowing through them didn't upset the pace of their conversation in the slightest.

"C-Could you teach us… how to climb things easily as well?" Hinata asked.

Naruto nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! Yeah! Teach us some cool stuff, sensei!"

"Geez, why are _you_ so excited to learn so much?" Shikamaru moaned, giving the bouncing blonde an odd look. "You already know how to climb walls. Isn't that good enough for you?"

The jinchuriki gave his teammate a hurt look. "Aww… but I wanna…" He stomped on the ground like an impatient child, earning an eye-roll from the unmotivated graduate.

"Okay, okay."

"You too, Shikamaru! We can learn some awesome new techniques together."

"No way… too much effort."

"Aww, you're no fun," Naruto scowled back, feeling a little bit shot down. "Even Hinata has more motivation than you!" With that in mind, he turned to the blushing, blue haired girl and grinned. "Right, Hinata-chan?"

"R-R-Right!" the girl squeaked, trying to smile back, only to lose some of her confidence. "W-We should all learn new stuff… _together_."

"Awesome! It's decided then," Naruto grinned, holding up his hand and earning an odd glance from Shikamaru. "It's two on one, pal, in favor of learning new stuff together."

"Ugh… why do you have to be so set on training? Can't we do something that we can all enjoy, like taking a nap or just standing around and thinking up stuff?"

"That's boring!"

"Precisely the point."

"I-I… don't mind taking a nap either, Shikamaru," Hinata exclaimed, raising a hand meekly.

This didn't really bode well with the jinchuriki. "Hey, I thought you were on my side, Hinata!"

Asuma laughed. "My, you really are an interesting bunch of brats." He placed his hands on his hips. "You're such an odd mix of peculiarity, levelheadedness and nervousness, that I can't tell whether the three of you are gonna break or excel as a team in the future. Guess your future growth all depends on what and how I'm gonna train you three from now on."

This statement immediately silenced the little bicker and had all eyes locked back onto the Jonin. The man with the now almost completely used cigarette still lodged between his lips scratched his chin in thought as he looked from one curious face to the next.

After sizing up the troublesome ones from the more collected ones, Asuma then folded his arms and huffed. "I'm going to be honest with you guys… _dead_ honest with you, and none of that beating around the bush kind of crap or team motivational speeches about 'youth' and whatever. I'm gonna give it to yah straight and serious. Whether you like or hate what I have to say next, I leave it up to you guys to decide for yourselves how to respond."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Naruto murmured curiously.

The man pulled the cigarette out of his mouth and, after extinguishing it against his sleeve, flicked it away. He then proceeded to draw another one, all the while keeping his attention fixated on his now intently listening students.

They were so focused on him that they subconsciously formed an orderly row in front of the Jonin, with Naruto in the center, leaning forward eagerly, Hinata on the blonde's right with her hands cupped together and held up close to her chin, and Shikamaru on his left, hands in his pockets and slouched over with a more thoughtful expression in play. This was all the response Asuma needed to lead on from there.

"Traditionally, the Jonin assigned to teams are supposed to administer a sort of final examination to the Genin under their command before they can officially be branded a functioning group within the village," Asuma stated, bringing his lighter up and shaking it to get the fluid flowing. "The formula for the test is grossly simple. What I was _**supposed**_ to do was psyche you guys up and then mercilessly tear your prospects to shreds, by saying that out of the twenty-seven or so students to have graduated only nine of you guys would be able to make the cut. It was basically a pass-fail test scare with a high chance of failure saying that if you did in fact fail, you and your entire team would be sent back to the academy… a tactic I'm sure my other colleagues will be dishing out to the rest of you little munchkins right about now."

Lighting his cigarette, Asuma calmly blew out a ring of smoke before facing down his wee little students once more. The expressions they were throwing him were a mixture of vacancy and puzzlement. He figured his explanations would have developed that sort of an impact and continued on without missing a bit.

"After scaring the daylights out of you, I would have then given you three some sort of impossible task you would be required to complete in order to earn my favor. Depending on _how_ you succeed or fail, determines whether you guys make the cut or not," the Jonin smirked, breathing on his cigarette again. "To be quite frank, it's just a cheese test filled with holes."

Blinking, Shikamaru shrugged in indifference. "So… why are you telling us this? Wouldn't it have been easier to just scare the pants off of us and force us to do this… _impossible_ test?"

"Well… I thought about it. Then I realized it was just a complete waste of time," Asuma replied, biting down on his cigarette and making some hand gestures like he was shaking off the entire thing altogether. This earned a collection of odd stares from the three graduates. "Every instructor has their own way of testing the Genin they are given, using methods they were taught by their teachers, redoing them in their own ways, and so on and so forth. _Me_ on the other hand, I'd rather just tell you guys straight out what you need to know."

Shikamaru looked at him suspiciously. _"Hmm… maybe what he plans on saying next will be __**his**__ way of covering this whole test thing up again. Is he baiting us along to earn our trust and then, after luring us in, cut us down? What's he playing at?"_

"The reality is this," Asuma said, pulling the cigarette out of his mouth and pointing at them. "All of the students to have graduated this year are officially registered as Genin of _Konohagakure_, yes. They are then put into separate teams; groups that are required for them to continue on with their training, development, and refinement as shinobi for the future, yes. However, the Jonin _Captains_ the teams are assigned to… _they_ are the ones that have the final say in whether or not the squads they are matched up with are fit to act as a functioning unit within the village. You need to get the 'okay' sign from the Jonin instructors before any of the squads are allowed to function as a working group for the village in any capacity whatsoever."

"S-So… what does that _really_ mean?" Hinata asked, afraid of what was to come.

The bearded man smiled. "What I'm saying is that the _test_ used to scare and push you guys to your limits, is indeed a _real_ test. All you have to do is meet your instructor's expectations and prove to him or her that you are ready to function _as_ a team for the sake of your village and your comrades. You see, not all graduating groups are exactly fit to go out into the world and perform missions right off the bat. Many of them are still 'green behind the ears'. As a consequence, not only are they unable to get along with each other, they are also at risk of endangering themselves out on the field. That is why Jonin are assigned to train each of the graduating teams in the first place, because you just can't go back to the academy. If we sent every failed student we'd had back to the dumps, the instructors at the academy would have their hands full and the classrooms will be absolutely backed-up with failures!"

Asuma laughed at that. Just thinking about classes filled with 'impassable candidates' was just too much. However, his explanations didn't fall on deaf ears. All three of the kids standing in front of him were able to clue into where this was all going, with even Naruto grinning and slamming his fist into his open palm, almost triumphantly.

"Oh… so that's it!"

The Jonin smirked. "It seems like you got it. If you don't pass the instructor's initial test, though you may not be able to go out on missions for your village straight away, you are _still_ given a chance to make it. You can either continue your training under the guidance of your assigned instructor until they see fit to pass you, or you can be handed over to another instructor, who will continue to oversee your training until you feel ready to take your team leader's test again or a test assigned by your new teacher." He chuckled on smoke and shrugged his shoulders. "Or you can just quit. Either way, it's not a complete loss for you guys. My comrade Kakashi Hatake failed several graduating groups, and even though he never took them on again as his own squads, they were all passed on to instructors further down the ladder to continue their training. We focus on quality over quantity in shinobi. Though we _do_ have a lot of shinobi in our village, individual skills and team skills are not to be trifled with."

In spite of his supposedly good news and illumination of the situation, Naruto, Hinata and Shikamaru still looked around at each other rather worryingly, with the blonde standing in the middle looking back and raising a hand. It was like he was still in class and that he was being lectured to, but it wouldn't have been within his character to really ask questions during class hours. Two of the three of them were normally asleep at their desks after all, but this wasn't a normal school day.

"Uhh, sensei! Sensei! What's going to happen with us then?" Naruto asked, gesturing to the other two as well.

"S-Since you now told us w-what this examination process is really like," Hinata began strongly, pausing only to gulp before continuing, "D-Does that mean you're… _not_ going to pass us? O-Or are you going to?"

"Hell, he might not even do either," Shikamaru murmured doubtfully, lowering his head and closing his eyes. "He might just give us the exam anyway or just tell us we failed outright, and hike us off to another instructor. Ugh… and after coming all this way."

"Oh, don't give up yet you sloth," Naruto poked. He glanced over at his friend with narrowed eyes, finding his negative view on their situation a little bit upsetting. "He hasn't said anything else yet."

"What, can't a guy input his own perspective on our current position?" the Nara shrugged absently. "It was the perfect time to interject anyway. I still think this is all too troublesome."

"At least try to show some more enthusiasm," the jinchuriki begged, almost groaning at the effort of trying to force the stubborn mule up the hill.

Shikamaru sighed. "Enthusiasm wastes energy. I'd rather use that extra fuel and invest it in time that could be better spent either sleeping or thinking about stuff. After all, I have to prioritize my strengths if I'm going to survive out there in the real world." He tapped himself in the side of the head while looking back at his friend. "_This_ thing takes quite a lot of effort, just so you know."

Naruto studied him briefly, before looking away with a small smile. "I guess you're right. My body wastes a lot of energy doing a _whole_ bunch of stuff!"

While the jinchuriki jabbed and Shikamaru shrugged away his comments, Hinata murmured uneasily as she looked between her teammates. They really liked taking shots at one another, but it was all good-natured, unlike the chaos Kiba and Naruto caused during their little spats. Heck, she didn't even want to get into the fuss Naruto used to cause whenever he was confronted with Sasuke.

Asuma chuckled, scratching the back of his head as he watched the trio run circles round each other.

He didn't know why, but these kids were pretty fun to be around. There was no denying that he was definitely grasping their attention with his announcements and such, unlike the whole classes he had once filled in at the academy as a relief teacher a couple times in the past. True he'd hung out with Shikamaru a few times, as a communing group; these three were proving to be quite a gag.

"_They're really honest and open… that I can definitely see. An interesting match-up,"_ Asuma thought to himself. _"Good."_

Breathing on his cigarette a couple more times as he considered their questions carefully, looking from one anxious face to the next, the man thought long and hard on how he was going to answer them.

So he'd already spilled the beans? No damage done. In terms of following protocol, Asuma tended to bend the rules to what he felt was within reasonable grounds, at most times. He was like Kakashi in that respect, only he didn't simply brush off issues like a speck of dirt and leave it lying where it had landed. He didn't do things without reason and while foregoing the formal processes, he decided to take this thing in a different direction away from tradition. After all, his mind was already set. That was what he had already assured Kurenai and his father…

"So? So? What's gonna happen now, sensei?" Naruto asked again, jumping on the spot anxiously.

All eyes returned to the tall man breathing down on them with cigarette fumes.

It was perfectly clear from their expressions and postures that they were all edgy. A single slip up would mean heart attacks all around.

That got Asuma thinking…

Figuring he could mess with them a little more, he comically raised a hand and rubbed his chin in mock contemplation, while gazing upwards thoughtfully.

He continued to allow the tension to boil for a little bit longer as his way of asserting his certainty over the situation by pacing back and forth across the roof. The trio of anxious youngsters watched with baited breath and sweat dripping down their faces as the man deeply and animatedly considered his verdict. Out of all of them though, it was Shikamaru who was the only one who suspected that their teacher was cooking something up for them, and judging from the amount of anxiety hanging in the air like the stench from a silent fart, it wasn't going to be good.

Noticing out of the corner of his eye that their faces were turning blue from literally holding their breaths, Asuma smirked.

The timing of suspense seemed just about right now, so what the heck?

Strolling back up to meet them, he stood in the same spot once again and stared down at his team, hand still on chin. He then breathed out another ring of smoke before lowering his arms to his sides and slipping his hands into his pockets.

The Jonin shrugged his shoulders, "You pass."

Naruto, Hinata and Shikamaru blinked in unison. There were no immediate gasps, no physical double-takes or fainting of any kind. All there was was the squishy sound of their eyelids opening and closing all at once, like somebody had just stepped on a floor covered in berries.

"Uhh?" Naruto murmured unintelligently.

"What?" Shikamaru choked, his lingering suspicions taking a whopping hit.

Asuma grinned again. "I just said; you pass."

"All of us? O-Our whole team?" Hinata inquired, raising a hand and pointing between herself and the other two. "J-Just like… that?" The man before them nodded again.

"Just like that," the adult shinobi said affirmatively, studying them as they turned to face each other.

They looked back and between themselves several times, before their expressions started to brighten up. However, while their astonishment and confusion continued to drift freshly in their breathing spaces, Asuma used this brief interval of silence provided to continue breaking down his response for them, turning heel and gazing off in some other direction with a grin.

"I already decided that I was going to pass you guys the moment I was informed which team I would be training and who was going to be on it. Looking back on your past academic and activity records, I could see that you guys functioned pretty well together. When constructing the ideal house to live in, it is necessary that you have all the right materials and all the right tools at your disposal. You don't want to have two of the same pieces that don't fit well or aren't of appropriate size thrown together. The designs and building blocks all have to be predetermined and collated before construction can even begin."

When he looked back at them, he saw that all three of his students were giving him pretty vacant expressions. This immediately told him that everything he had just said had made no sense to them whatsoever and had pretty much gone through one ear and out the other. Their reactions had Asuma sweat drop. He quickly cleared his throat to cover up the awkwardness of the situation and carried on with the topic.

"Of course," the man chuckled nervously, turning to them while rubbing his head. "I'm a shinobi, not a carpenter. I'm just assuming that's how it all works." He lowered his hand and plucked the cigarette from his mouth, smiling. "The point is, because you guys get along well with each other, you are in an advantageous position with the potential to fix one another's flaws, raise each other's spirits and work well together, _as_ a team. Had you been put together with guys like, I don't know, Kiba or maybe even Choji, just to name a couple, well…" he shrugged his shoulders. "You guys would have spent more time bickering and floundering about in the shallows than working on improving your teamwork and individual skills. Teams need a steady balance of level-headedness, strength, confidence building and flaws that can be fixed over time."

There was no denying that. It was a reality that floated around all three of the kids' heads.

While Naruto was pretty confident in his abilities, he knew that there was so much more that he had to learn. His various teachers had hammered that idea into his head over the entire course of his training thus far and that concept of continued growth just stuck with him. If he couldn't even touch them in spars, than he knew he needed to work even harder, if not also to get to know the other people around him.

Shikamaru and Hinata, while he knew some of their characteristics on the outside, he didn't know them beyond the walls of the academy. Here was the perfect opportunity to get to know them a little better.

His lack of attentiveness to traditional and important practices of a shinobi, as well as knowledge in certain other areas which formed a pretty long list, they were holes he needed to fill in.

Hinata also had her own thoughts to consider.

Presently, getting close to Naruto was a real problem for her. Even right now she was shying away from his every move. She needed to lift that barrier and build up the ability to be able to interact with him normally if there was a chance for her to get stronger. Furthermore, there was also her troubleshooting with confidence as well as self-assurance in her own skills in shinobi combat. Lack of confidence in her abilities was a great restrictor, and was like a thorn that had the potential to stunt growth. Being on a team with a great motivator and one who was able to keep his head in tough situations would be a real benefit to her.

She knew in her head that she needed this.

Shikamaru on the other hand, while being the most composed of the group, didn't _need_ to dawn on his thoughts for too long. Heck, it was too much of a bother for him. He already knew where his strengths and weaknesses laid.

Strengths: thinking and sleeping… oh yeah, and his _Shadow Possession Jutsu_.

Weaknesses: stamina, speed, taijutsu technique and physical strength.

Hey, he didn't want to admit it but it was all there, clear as day.

"I know what you're thinking," Asuma grinned, seeing them all jump and look back at him. The man pointed at each of them. "Flaws, weaknesses, needs for improvement, it's all there. But don't let this stuff get to you. You're going to be training regardless of the level you are at. If you want to get to Chunin or anywhere higher in the shinobi department, then you need to get stronger and cover up as many weaknesses as you can along the way."

Shikamaru groaned, rubbing his eye. "Do we have to?"

The Jonin nodded. "Yup."

"Really?" the boy asked again, yawning. "It seems like a lot of trouble."

He questioned the idea of promotions and such without any excitement whatsoever, and persisted with the same tone. Seriously, what was so wrong with being a Genin for the rest of your life? Becoming Chunin or Jonin looked like a lot of effort from his point of view, what with the paperwork, the leadership roles and organizing things… it was too much.

Asuma smirked._ "A lazy ass, one who lacks confidence, and one who has energy that can be split evenly throughout an entire platoon,"_ the man thought while looking from one aforementioned student to the other. _"Now __**this**__ is a challenge I like."_

"So…" the Jonin clapped his hands together, drawing all eyes back to him. "Let's get down to business. Before I fill in the documentation that sights you guys as an official team of Konohagakure, I _still_ want to see what you guys are made of."

"_And here we go,"_ Shikamaru thought, narrowing his eyes and straightening himself. He knew this was coming, he _just_ knew it. "So… we _are_ taking a test?"

This made the other two's expressions and moods falter somewhat.

"Not really. Call it a… an umm… a _small_ errand I'd like you guys to run for me," Asuma exclaimed, extinguishing his second cigarette and tossing it away. "I'll make this an unofficial mission: a standard D-Rank assignment that will help you three get into the swing of things. You should expect to be doing more stuff like this in the first couple of months once I've run my decision passed the Hokage, so you'd better start taking notes."

He saw all of them tense up and lean forward, the trio developing serious expressions and hard glares. Well, while Naruto and Shikamaru showed their confidence respectively, Hinata continued to shift about on the spot nervously, before also leaning in with them to listen in on the details.

That was exactly what Asuma wanted to see. They were _all_ for it.

"Excellent," the Jonin said, reaching into his pocket and rummaging about. Tearing off a piece of scroll he had on hand and using the ink provided to jot down some random numbers, he then handed it over to Shikamaru. The boy took it and looked down at it alongside his companions, moments before all eyes trained back to their instructor. The man smirked. "You have until four to complete the mission. Good luck."

Forming a hand seal, he vanished in a puff of smoke and that was that…

Waving fumes out of their faces, Team 10 stepped into the space their teacher had once occupied seconds before. Finding that nothing else had been left behind in his wake save for the two used cigarettes lying on the roof, they all turned to one another to assess the situation.

The jinchuriki threw his hands out. "So… what? Is that it?"

"It looks like it," Shikamaru murmured, spreading out the paper a bit more and taking a closer look at the numbers. Hinata also leaned in over his shoulder to analyze the numerals laid out before them. The figures were arranged into two separate rows, both containing high values and though it wasn't much of a clue, the boy still figured he could work around it. "But what could these mean?"

"A c-code?" Hinata suggested. "Perhaps it's an address we need to go to?"

"Probably. But these combinations don't match up to any streets, suburbs or apartment blocks, at least not in this region. Maybe it's a plot?"

"To a safe or m-maybe a lock?"

"Nah. Something like that would have needed extensive planning beforehand," Shikamaru said, flicking at the numbers drawn. "You see these? He did this on the fly in between brief pauses in his writing? Hesitancy in writing numerical values for directions indicates that he needed some time to recall these numbers. My guess is that he must have memorized these from past experience?"

Naruto scratched his head, hanging around in front of the other two with his arms folded and keeping quiet while they worked. He really wasn't getting any of it.

Sure he was able to get some of the stuff taught in class; reading maps, following directions; you know… step by step processes. Cracking codes however wasn't exactly his forte. All he knew was that codes were just a bunch of words and numbers arranged into some incomprehensible series of equations, requiring a certain amount of intelligence and insight in order to be broken down and deciphered. Taking hints, running on limited info, and trying to solve mysteries… he sucked at that sort of stuff.

Unless it had something to do with fighting, you could rule him out as a reliable source of help.

After some doing though, Shikamaru snapped his fingers when he finally came around to what the two rows of numbers were.

"Coordinates," he exclaimed, smirking. He then turned his attention towards the village, to which Naruto and Hinata did so as well. "Our first objective is at these first set of coordinates, which is somewhere out _there_ in the middle of Konohagakure I bet."

"Oh," Hinata smiled, gazing over at the Nara. "G-Good thinking, Shikamaru-kun."

"Yeah! Nice work!" Naruto grinned.

"Neh. It's what I do best," the boy shrugged, not really interested in receiving praises right now. It was too much to worry about.

Folding up the piece of paper and pocketing it, he turned to face his friends again. Once doing so and all three of them were looking at one another, the Nara began tapping his chin thoughtfully. "The thing is though, we don't have a _map_. We need one detailing the local areas if we're going to have any chance of finding this place we're supposed to be looking for."

"T-The only maps we ever used are at the academy," Hinata exclaimed, pointing towards the large, red building sitting under the noses of the _Hokage Monument_ some ways away. "That place is too far away now. W-Walking… even _running_ back there will waste valuable time. We need to find a place that's closer… somewhere where they'll let us borrow a map."

It took a little more time to think over, the trio of newly graduated Genin moving about on the spot and at the same time, inquiring into any places they knew of that could provide them with the necessary materials to help them. Their only clues in this instance were public, practical, and _books_.

Information…

Now, whenever Naruto thought of the word _information_ and needed to find out about something, he would either bother Iruka about it, ask Yim if it regarded anything about developing skills, or when it concerned the village's history and records… he would… he would…

Looking up, the boy grinned and waved his hands in the air to get the pair's attention.

"Hey! Hey! I know exactly who can help us out!"

Shikamaru and Hinata blinked, glancing at one another momentarily.

"Oh?"

"W-Who?" the Hyuuga inquired, turning back to the excited looking teen.

XXX

**Forty five minutes…**

**And a clumsy descent from the castle's roof later…**

"The library? Heh. Good thinking on your part, Naruto," Shikamaru exclaimed, scratching his head as they stepped in through the front entrance. There was adequate reason for his praise, since not only was this establishment much closer to them then the academy, it also had a lot of books and manuscripts ideal for shinobi use. Plus it was convenient, so who was complaining?

Passing by the front counter and hitting the isles, the trio immediately began their search for someone whom Naruto said he knew from here and the other two didn't.

Highly _suspicious_! However, the Nara and Hyuuga withheld their inquiries for the time being, figuring that they would find out sooner than later.

As they followed the blonde dashing down isle to isle, the other two members of the team couldn't help but wonder how he actually knew somebody from the library. Coming from him, it was a big surprise. After all, neither of them had ever heard of him _ever_ frequenting a library or any place involving education so willingly before. This change must have occurred at the same time his skills as a shinobi simply leapt through the roof…

"W-Who exactly are we looking for, N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, stopping briefly to look up at one of the towering shelves of books regarding nation history, before continued to follow after the jinchuriki.

"Oh, a friend," the blonde replied happily, skidding to a halt at an intersection, or whatever you'd like to call it. He took a moment to look around, bringing a hand over his eyes to better focus his gaze. The other two waited curiously off to the side, wanting to know who exactly it was he was looking for. "Let's see… where is she?"

"Eek!" **CLATTER!**

The sound of a huge pile of books caving in on itself along with that familiar squeal was all the signs Naruto needed to narrow down his hunt. Giggling excitedly, he followed the clatter of heavy literature down the length of the section they were in, before turning a distant corner to find that one of the many shelves in the area had collapsed. Obviously the support ladder that had provided elevation for the individual using it had tipped and sent her, as well as the books she had on hand, plummeting into the next stack.

Good thing the volumes of reading material provided her with a cushion to fall on, and broke through the shelves.

Sprawled out over a collection of tax law paperbacks, with several books fanned out on her person, the blonde haired girl in glasses Naruto recognized as Shiho, sat in a crumpled heap with a bewildered look on her face. Glasses lopsided on her face, she fixed them up before looking in a dazed manner about her person. The sight of all her day's work lying in a disorganized mess all around her nearly made her cry.

"Oooh! Now I have to clean all this up! Darn it!" she groaned, lifting herself up and dusting herself down. "Why does this always happen to me and not to senpai?"

As books fell off of her in her attempt to straighten her clothes up, she then noticed Naruto and two other kids poking their heads around the corner. The former was grinning at her while the others were looking at her slightly puzzled.

The girl's focus quickly shifted to the jinchuriki himself and after coming to the realization that he had popped by for a surprise visit, a big smile sprouted on her face and she stumbled over to him, kicking aside books to clear her path.

"N-Naruto-kun!" Shiho exclaimed, stopping in front of him when he and his friends completely stepped into view, taking his hands in hers. "H-How are you? I wasn't expecting you to come in today."

"Oh, I'm good, Shiho-chan! Just… dropped by on business, nothing too big," the jinchuriki grinned, shaking both their hands and leaning forward happily. "By the way, that book you lent to me on sleight of hand tactics in combat!" He gave her the thumbs-up. "Loved it!"

The library assistant giggled and hopped on the spot. "I knew you'd like it. I found it to be an exciting read myself! I bet you can learn a whole bunch of things from it that you can use when out on the field."

"Oh yeah! I'm practicing the stuff right now!" he exclaimed, waving his hand forward and spreading the fingers out, revealing four smoke pellets. He then rotated his hand and clenched his fingers. Opening them up a second later, he revealed them to be gone. "Can't wait to get around to chapter five!"

"Wow. I've never met someone who could pick that up so quickly," Shiho murmured, watching in awe as he rolled two more pellets into view and balanced them on his fingertips.

"What can I say? I'm a natural prank artist. Gotta learn this stuff if I wanna stay at the top of my game!" Naruto grinned.

"True, true," Shiho giggled again, recalling some of his most noteworthy pranks of yesteryear she had heard so much about when she was making inquisitions into his history. Shaking her head at the hilarious nonsense, she then focused her attention on the other two kids accompanying him, both of whom were staring back at the talking pair curiously. "So Naruto-kun, are these two the friends from class you were speaking so highly of before?"

"Two of them, yes," Naruto grinned, stepping out of the way and gesturing to them proudly. "The lazy-bones over here is Shikamaru and the shy one is Hinata. I think I told you about them."

"Yes, of course," Shiho exclaimed, bowing to the pair. "It's very nice to meet you."

"Y-Yes," Hinata said cheerily, bowing low as well. "I-It's nice to meet you, S-Shiho-chan."

When Shiho looked up, she looked between the two teens approvingly. When her eyes landed on Shikamaru and her little studying sessions transformed into a staring contest, after a few curious blinks, her drinking in of the boy roused a more pronounced, surprising response from her. With a tint of red flashing on her cheeks, she looked away with an 'eep' and a nervous gulp. The boy with the pineapple style haircut watched her trade furtive glances with him, causing him to raise an eyebrow oddly.

"H-Hello," Shiho exclaimed, brushing a hand through her hair.

"Hello?" Shikamaru replied, slipping his hands into his pockets.

That one word alone had Shiho turn, blush brilliantly with a subtle cheer, and after regaining her composition, turn back around to look more presentable. Naruto found her little side performance a little strange, but after a bit of deliberation he figured it was normal for girls to act like that sometimes and just went with it. After all, Hinata acted like that almost twenty-four-seven. He could deal with one or two unique eccentricities about a person's character, no problem.

Straightening her glasses, the library assistant smiled at the three of them. "Anyway, what can I help you guys out with today? It's… obviously a formal occasion, yes?"

"Hmm?" Shikamaru blinked, before jolting back into reality. "Oh! Right!" Fumbling around in his pocket momentarily, he pulled out the note Asuma had given to him and handed it over to the girl. Though she sort of scooted away at first from his reach, she eventually and gingerly plucked the piece of folded up scroll from his fingers. "Our teacher gave us this code to figure out as a part of our practice mission. We first thought it was some sort of combination to a lock or a street address, but then I figured it had to be some form of coordinates to a location on a local map."

"N-Naruto-kun said you were really good at reading into this kind of stuff," Hinata squeaked, watching Shiho unfold the note and drink it in. "H-he said that you c-could help us out."

Rubbing her chin thoughtfully, the girl smiled and looked up at the curious trio, all of them waiting with baited breath for her answers to their questions.

"Of course I can. How can I say _no_ to a friend," the library assistant exclaimed, looking over at her fellow blonde happily.

The boy in question grinned and bowed repeatedly towards her in gratitude. "Thank you very much!"

Laughing and bounding back into a proper standing position, Naruto then turned his attention toward the mess the girl had made minutes before with the collapse of her ladder. The frame was still in good condition but the books were all over the place, and the shelves… well… all of the platforms that had been set up had fallen to the ground in piles of paper and hardbacks.

Seeing that it would take more than a few helping hands to clear it all up, the Uzumaki raised his own hand towards Shiho with a determined gaze fixed onto her smiling face. "While you help my friends out, I'll clean this mess up for you."

"R-Really?" the kunoichi inquired in surprise. She shook her head troublingly, "I-I can't let you do that, Naruto."

"Oh, no problem!" the boy grinned while saluting. "I'll stack em' back up for you. It's the least I can do."

Looking between him and the other two Genin briefly, Shiho took a moment to think about the boy's assertion to help her out. It wasn't really in her nature to simply dump work on somebody's shoulders, but her friend was being incredibly insistent in assisting her. It was her work after all, it didn't feel right. Of course, knowing that whatever she could possibly say wouldn't sway the youngster in any way she eventually conceded defeat and smiled delightfully in the jinchuriki's direction. "Okay, Naruto-kun, if you want to. Thank you…"

"No sweat!"

Strolling passed the girl the jinchuriki rolled up his sleeves and squatted down next to the pile. He picked up a couple of the articles and looked at them closely. "How hard can it be?"

Yet again, another mortal under heaven has uttered the _five words_ that will eventually lead to some grave yet comical misfortune and regret in his future. Too bad that wasn't a mainstream belief so consider him safe for the time being.

"Good luck!" Shiho exclaimed.

Turning her attention to the other teens while Naruto went about cleaning up her mess in the isle, she led the other two graduates over to the map room.

Basically, inside of this particular public library, there were many rooms sectioned off from the main shelving area made specifically for the purposes of fulfilling the needs and requirements of people from different occupations. From private study areas, map rooms, research labs and conference rooms, the building was pretty much designed to be the ideal information hub. Guess you could always count on _Konohagakure_ to be the most organized and considerate, in spite of an awful sense of timing.

The map room was filled with tubes containing documents and images of all sorts. A specially designed table was placed in the middle, which provided illumination for the pieces taken out for analysis. Shiho did just that with a general map of _Konohagakure_ that Shikamaru and Hinata also gathered around to take a look at.

Securing it with clips, they spent the next few minutes breaking down the numbers provided on the section of scroll for them, and began searching for the locations Asuma Sarutobi expected them to go to. To be quite blunt, it wasn't exactly straight forward… _at first_. The library assistant was the first to point this out when she unintentionally tripped over the little side note…

"It doesn't seem like these numbers were arranged into a set order. There is a high chance that they could have been jumbled up to throw you off the trail," Shiho stated, looking at the numbers again and keying them into the values of the birds-eye view of the village provided for them.

"Why do you say that?" Shikamaru queried curiously.

"Your sensei used a shorthand method with no details outside of numerical figures; a standard code for Chunin out on the field. Basically what I'm pointing out is that the numbers could have been arranged in any random order and, as a consequence, have given you more than one exact location," the blonde explained, using a ruler to follow the numbers and narrowing down the spots on the map. "For example, one combination could put you right in the heart of the village, while another might place you outside of its walls. Therefore, it is only logical that you follow the instructions by crossing out the areas of the highest value and work your way down from there. You would want to investigate the most likely places your sensei would send you to first, and if that's not it, go investigate the next point, and the next."

"_That_… is troublesome," Shikamaru muttered, rubbing the side of his head. "Going from one spot to another across the entire village; that'll take way too long."

"W-We can only hope that the first set of coordinates is the right one," Hinata stated, locking her fingers together and nodding affirmatively.

"Well, we'll just have to wait and see where your sensei is sending you guys first," Shiho smiled, using a new sheet of paper to record her findings as she used rulers and markers to pinpoint the locations on the map. She couldn't help but giggle lightly to herself as she looked over at Hinata. "If the mission requires you to be in several places at once, it's a good thing your other teammate knows how to use a lot of clone techniques."

"Who? Naruto?" the Nara blinked, a little bit confused. "Last I checked he wasn't too good at that technique."

Shiho beamed, giving the brown haired boy a cute smile with matching red cheeks. Adjusting her glasses, she glanced towards the door to the room behind them. "Obviously, you haven't seen how much he's really grown from weeks before."

Confusion overcoming them, the two Genin peered over their own shoulders. When their eyes fixed on the entrance, it came as a pretty big surprise to them when they saw a total of three Narutos standing over by the door with each one of them holding an odd collection of books. They were looking at each article with puzzled expressions, with the one in the middle scratching his head as he checked the barcode and then the title. He flipped the volume over a couple of times before turning back to his friends gawking at him from over by the map table.

"Hey uhh… Shiho-chan, do you have any books on home and contents insurance? I could use with some?"

"HEY!" another Naruto shouted from behind the trio, presumably the real one. The members of Team 10 blinked when they saw a fourth doppelganger barrel over his copies, and after getting in front of them, began pushing them out of the room. "I told you guys to put those back, not take them down! We're busy here! OUT!"

After kicking them into a hasty retreat just like he intended and shutting the door behind them, the original sighed and turned his attention back toward his companions. His smile returned full force now that his bothersome copies were out of his hair, and he strolled on over to rejoin the squad. "Yo! How are we doing?"

When he came to stand beside his teammates he found they were still staring at him in bewilderment, with the exception of Shiho.

Confused, he traded confused glances with them and shrugged with his hands, "What?"

"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata gulped.

"How do you know how to make solid clones?" Shikamaru asked, dumbfounded.

Back in the academy it was an industry standard requirement that all students had to learn how to perform the basic _Bunshin no Jutsu_, which was a supplementary ninjutsu technique that enabled the user to create intangible clones in order to confuse their opponents. Rule of thumb was that they would dispel whenever they came in contact with anything physical. The copies Naruto had created on the other hand appeared to be sentient, corporeal and also carried their own constant forms and body mass. Where the heck did he learn how to perform a jutsu like that?

Naruto, sticking his tongue out, rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I eh… I read it from a book… from _this_ library."

Shikamaru and Hinata then turned to Shiho, using their eyes to demand answers from the girl as softly as possible. Realizing she was being singled out as the main reason for the jinchuriki's answer, as well as a contributing factor to his unprecedented growth, the library assistant feverishly waved her hands at them.

She attempted to divert their attention elsewhere and picked up the piece of paper she had been working on.

"Hey! Hey! It's all _him_, not me! I only gave him the reading material!" Blushing from ear to ear, she bowed humbly to Shikamaru and extended the paper to him as if it were a confession letter. The Nara relieved her of that burden, deciding to invest his attention and energy into other things rather than trivial matters involving his normally rambunctious classmate. The issue with the clones could be looked at another time. "T-The list. I'm not exactly sure what your sensei wants you to accomplish, but it looks pretty straight forward to me."

It took a moment, but Shikamaru was eventually able to take in and process the entirety of the outlines given.

As soon as his eyes fell upon the map details the first thing the Nara actually thought about the assignment itself was that it was a complete joke. He had to rub his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.

The numerous coordinates Shiho had managed to jot down and listed as 'irrelevant' were forested areas outside of Konohagakure's walls and other random spots around the village that held no real significance whatsoever.

It was just as she had predicted earlier. The undercard areas were the targets their helper had _wanted_ to point out for them when shuffling their numbers. However, the ones at the top that their sensei really wanted them to go to and initially wrote were mind-boggling.

If Shikamaru had been given free rein on the map and some time to himself, even _he_ would have been able to figure this out. Turns out, it wasn't as complicated as they first thought. All you had to do was follow the margins.

It just so happens that Asuma was sending them to a restaurant inside of _Konohagakure_ called _Yakiniku Q_, which was located just outside of the market place. From what he'd heard around the academy from the students who had actually visited that establishment, it was a restaurant that served a type of foreign barbeque, food that originated somewhere from the South or South Western countries. Sure it was one of the village's most popular dining spots, but it was perhaps the most unusual place for a team of Genin to be sent to for an assignment. They were doing a test for goodness sakes, and the only location that had anything of any material value out of all the coordinates provided for them was a dining hall?

Furthermore, not only were they expected to visit _this_ place, a second set of coordinates written above another collection of locations instructed them to make their way over to the top of the _Hokage Monument_. That was back in the direction of the academy.

"Oh, what the hell?" Shikamaru groaned, with Hinata blinking uncomfortably as she too took in the details.

"I think your teacher has some sort of surprise planned for you guys," Shiho exclaimed, folding her arms and leaning against the table. She gestured toward the slip of paper, which all three members of Team 10 were now looking at. "If you ask me, this is no doubt some form of D-Rank assessment with one or two pieces taken from advanced exercises found in low C-Rank coursework. Your sensei is one tricky customer."

"And he seemed so cool on the outside," Naruto breathed, scratching his head.

Furrowing his brow, Shikamaru glanced over at Hinata. "Why would he want us to go to a restaurant for? What's the point?"

"I don't know. M-Maybe we'll be able to figure it out when we get there," the Hyuuga replied with a small smile.

The Genin looked between one another, sharing a non-existent telepathic conversation. However, agreeing with one another based on glances and expressions alone, and after determining their next appropriate course of action, the Nara concluded their little meeting by folding up the sheet of paper in his hands and pocketing it.

"It's settled then; we'll go check out this _Yakiniku Q_ place. If there's nothing there for us, we'll head on over to the next point on the map, and so on and so forth, until we've covered everything on this paper," Shikamaru stated, patting the note in his pocket.

Receiving nods of agreement from the other two, the team of three wasted no time in immediately making their way over to the door, leaving Shiho staring silently after them from her position at the table.

The blonde haired girl blinked when she watched Team 10 begin their hasty departure. However, before they were completely out of sight, Naruto took the opportunity presented to him to turn and rush back over to his friend. Taking her hands, he clenched them gratefully in his own and grinned widely, his nose coming to within a few inches of hers. "Thank you so very much, Shiho-chan!" he exclaimed, nodding to her happily before spinning on the spot and running off to rejoin his team.

Shikamaru and Hinata also smiled from where they stood, announcing their thanks to their fellow shinobi before leading on.

This time, instead of leaving her questioning and startled, the gang left the library assistant feeling good about herself with a warm smile across her face. She touched her cheeks bashfully.

"Y-You're welcome…"

That feeling and sense of accomplishment of being appreciated for their efforts, it was a nice feeling. She was glad to have helped them…

XXX

**The Yakiniku Q…**

**An hour later…**

Traffic was surprisingly busy around this time. Then again, it was right around lunch period and a lot of workers were clocking off to go get something to eat. The barbeque restaurant the members of Team 10 were looking into was no exception.

It was upon stepping into the busy store and lining up at the front counter did it come to the youngsters' attention that maybe their sensei had expected them to work out his little numbers riddle around this time. Hell, not only did they believe that the man had anticipated that they would have to go through all the trouble of getting to this place to begin with, but would also end up completing whatever task he had set out for them here with as much time to waste as humanly possible. But then again that could just be Shikamaru being paranoid, Hinata panicking or Naruto bitching about how long the damn line was.

That was why you make reservations first _before_ arrival.

The trio of youngsters made sure to make note of this.

While standing in line, arranged into a little three person circle somewhere around the middle, which was gradually bringing them closer and closer to the customer service desk, Shikamaru used whatever waiting time they had on hand to take a closer look at the pieces of paper he had gotten from both Asuma and Shiho. Hinata and Naruto in the meantime just went about what they did best during times of endurance, twiddling thumbs and looking around with their hands behind their head looking bored out of their skull.

While the pineapple haired boy had no problems with standing still for long periods of time, the jinchuriki of the group was another story.

"Damn… I hate this!" Naruto grumbled, glaring towards a table occupied by four adults engaged in animated conversation. "This… standing around… doing nothing… waiting… it bites!"

"B-But Naruto-kun," Hinata spoke up, placing her hands in front of her and gazing pleasantly in the annoyed looking boy's direction. "T-This is good, isn't it?"

"Huh?" The puzzled jinchuriki looked in her direction. "How?"

"W-Well…" blushing and glancing away from his intense stare, the kunoichi took a moment to clear her thoughts before continuing. "We've been on the move for quite a while today. Maybe it's good that we have a few minutes to rest and catch our breath. G-Good things come to those who wait after all…" Running a hand through her hair, she smiled up at him. However, she couldn't help but continually flinch under his focused expression that just wasn't letting up.

Briefly working things around in his head, the jinchuriki scratched the side of his noggin with a sigh. "Erh… I guess you're right there. You guys could use a break." He then reverted back to his previous state of looking about his person, appearing anxious and impatient. "Still, I'm ready for anything! Come on! I'm good to go! Give me some action already!"

Hinata giggled, finding his unrelenting, can-do attitude enlightening. "N-Naruto-kun is very determined."

"You bet!" He punched the air enthusiastically. "Bring it on wor-!"

"Would you two mind keeping it down, please," Shikamaru glared over at the pair, seeing them both look towards him in surprise. "Geez, we're in public. Show some proper decorum to the people around you, you troublesome numbskulls."

Both Uzumaki and Hyuuga slouched under the boy's frown. **"Sorry…"**

Upon restoring order, Shikamaru continued his study of the coordinates he was holding between his fingers. It wasn't like the numbers were something _too_ important. He was just still curious as to why their teacher sent them to this place. Out of all the restaurants, shops and buildings in Konohagakure, why here?

Were they supposed to meet up with somebody, hand something over or pick up something? What was the real deal behind this gag-mission?

Anyway, after a long and boring wait alongside several other villagers, the whole team eventually arrived at the counter. There, they were greeted by the pleasant smile of the woman working behind it, who trained her eyes between all three of them when they formed an orderly row before her. "Hello! How may I serve you today?"

"Yes, hi!" Shikamaru began, clearing his throat and placing the first paper he was given by their teacher on the front counter. "We're Team 10. I believe we have an order placed for our instructor, Asuma Sarutobi."

Naruto and Hinata literally did a double-take, glancing at the boy in bewilderment.

"W-What?" the blonde stammered out.

Taking the note and sliding it closer to her, the woman picked it up and looked at the numbers circled at the top of the scrap of paper. After processing them, she turned around and approached the viewing window looking into the kitchen around the back. From the receipts she had hung from the top frame, she took the one that corresponded with the numbers she was holding and looked closely at the two. Eventually, she stapled them together and after a brief visit to the kitchen itself, emerged moments later with three bags of what the members of Team 10 guessed was 'their' order.

She placed it on the counter in front of them and smiled.

"Here you go. Have a nice day!" she exclaimed.

"Thank you," Shikamaru replied courteously, reaching up to take them.

"W-W-Wait a moment!" Naruto shouted suddenly, waving his hands above his head and crossing his arms. "Stop everything!"

The volume in his voice meant that a lot of the restaurant was silenced because of him, with all eyes turning towards the jinchuriki to see what all the chatter was about. Once he had everybody's attention, the jinchuriki turned to Shikamaru with an accosting look.

"Are you saying that you _knew_ we were supposed to pick up an order from this place the entire time? What? No secret rendezvous point, no black market trade in the kitchen, or something we need to steal?"

Shikamaru blinked, sharing a glance with the employee he was taking the bags from before looking back at the puzzled blonde.

"Sometimes I wonder how your adventurous mind works, Naruto," Shikamaru smiled in amusement.

"It's nothing special, really," the customer service provider spoke up, slipping her hands in front of her and grinning happily. "A tall man in a beard came by a little bit earlier and placed a big dinner order for four people. I guess he didn't fill you in on the details, huh?"

Still looking confused, Naruto looked between the pair in astonishment. Eventually, when noise returned to their surrounding environment, the Genin cracked and began pulling on his hair. "THEN WHAT THE HECK WAS THE POINT OF ALL THAT STUFF FROM BEFORE? Why couldn't he have just said 'oh, I need you guys to pick up something for me at the… whatever restaurant this is!' Wouldn't _that_ have been easier then getting us to run around trying to figure out what a bunch of silly numbers mean?"

The woman behind the counter shrugged. "Maybe it was a surprise?"

"Dargh! I'm sick of surprises," the jinchuriki grumbled, stomping towards the counter and placing his hands on top of one of the bags. He scowled up at Shikamaru who still smirking in his direction. "What next? _Hokage Monument_?"

"Yup!" the Nara exclaimed, putting the receipt in his pocket and also taking a bag. While Naruto handed his over to Hinata and picked up the other, the pineapple haired boy continued giving the pair a further breakdown of things to come. "Hopefully we won't run into anything unpleasant on our way there. Let's make this quick before the food gets cold."

"R-Right," Hinata smiled, nodding.

Before they could turn to leave however, the woman that had been serving them leaned over the desk to tap Shikamaru on the shoulder. All three of them stopped and looked back at her, with the girl handing another note over to them. This time, the responsibility was handed over to Hinata, who was standing in the middle.

"_He_ said it was important."

Taking it, the Hyuuga unfolded the scrap with one hand and looked at it. The other two crowded to see what it was.

It said, _'Don't spill the dipping sauce.' – A.S_

Naruto groaned, "Great! Another stupid riddle!"

Shikamaru and Hinata gave him a dead-panned look.

"No, you idiot. He's saying that he wants the order in one piece when we get there," Shikamaru replied with an amused smirk. He looked at the boy's face to see him giving them a dry stare of his own. "You can handle that, right Naruto? From now on, we're delivery boys… and girl, with _high_ expectations." He made sure to include their kunoichi teammate, whose eyes twinkled at that reference.

The Uzumaki scowled, biting his bottom lip to stop another impatient outburst and/or protest from surfacing. "Sure… whatever."

Once agreed, the three squad members turned back to the counter lady and bowed.

"T-Thank you very much," Hinata exclaimed. Her gratitude was returned with another bow.

"Have a nice day!"

OOO

**Meanwhile…**

**Outside the store…**

Asuma grinned when he saw the three Genin depart from the _Yakiniku Q_ and watched them as they began making their way over to the _Hokage Monument_.

From his post on top of a nearby roof, he stealthy made his way across and watched with eagle eyes as the trio weaved through traffic in a light run. They were carrying the food in their arms, taking extra care not to bump into other people or fall over. Naruto and Hinata were being especially careful, whereas Shikamaru was keeping quite a level head about him, despite the sweat. It was indeed a high level effort, and the Jonin could appreciate that his little band of younglings were doing their best to complete their mission.

Of course, things weren't all as they appeared.

The reason he had given them a lot of stopping points for their assessment was to see how they functioned as a group, how they coped under pressure, how they used the resources available to them to complete certain tasks, and how they thought things through. Obviously, each and every one of them had something to contribute to the group, with the most obvious being control, assurance, and connections.

Their instructor was pretty sure there was much more that they could give and show, and he was about to test that.

Stopping at the corner of the roof he was on after watching them disappear down the street, he smiled and glanced off to his right.

Over several more blocks away measured in rooftops Asuma spotted Aoba, another fellow instructor taking on a rookie team. The pair shared a thumbs-up after exchanging grins, with the man in sunglasses quickly taking off to fulfill his part of the deal.

The former Guardian Ninja looked back towards the village roads he had lost sight of his team and rose to his feet, slipping his hands comfortably into his pockets.

"_They're doing well,"_ Asuma thought proudly, rolling his unlit cigarette around between his lips. _"However, one of the most important things they have to learn is that on a mission, anything can happen. A ninja's life isn't so simple, after all…"_

It's time to see whether the bonds they had were satisfactory enough for the field…

XXX

**Back with Team 10…**

**A little while later…**

With their final destination set and their ultimate goal fixed squarely in their sights, visible over the many rooftops and trees making up the most densely populated areas of _Konohagakure_, the team of rookies hit the main roads linking them to the Academy Building. It seemed like an easy homerun for them from here. No more numbers, no more riddles… just a straight shot to the top of the village's most prestigious landmark.

They had one simple instruction to abide by during this part of the assignment, and that was to _keep their orders in their boxes and not floating around at the bottom of the bags_.

It would be on _their_ heads if they messed up. That was something they wanted to avoid.

After making it several blocks down within the following half hour, everything appeared alright with the world. They were progressing nicely, people weren't getting in their way, and there were no spillages to report as of yet. It was all good.

The trio moved down the streets with the firm belief they were actually going to make it, and make it _on_ time.

However, when they got to within five minutes of running distance of the Academy itself, something from the rooftops caught Hinata's eye. The girl wheeled around with an alarmed expression on her face and she suddenly picked up speed, swiftly getting between Shikamaru and Naruto and grabbing their shoulders. Digging her feet into the ground she stopped them, all three of them coming to a grinding halt in the middle of the main road.

Naruto glanced at the Hyuuga. "What's up?"

"C-Company," Hinata said, pointing ahead of them.

All sets of eyes focused on the path ahead, where they saw three familiar shadows leap down from the rooftops of the surrounding buildings on either side and come to a stand several meters in front of them. Arms folded and smirks on their faces, a cocky new trio of what looked to be Genin from their village stood in Team 10's way.

It wasn't just any group of three though.

Shikamaru frowned and straightened up, his teammates doing so as well. "Ami's team? What are you three doing here?"

Naruto frowned when he recognized the bunch of troublemakers blocking their way. He knew all of their faces on sight, both from his past and most recent experiences in the academy. Not only was Ami, a die-hard Sasuke fan and one of the girl's who had picked on Sakura in their earlier years here, but so was her friend Fuki, another Sasuke fan, and Hibachi, one of the kids who had picked on _him_ not too long ago.

(Look these three up, they're actual characters from the anime)

They recognized these three in particular because they were the only team from the academy arranged into one with two kunoichi on it. Obviously, Ami had already established herself as the alpha leader of the pack, seeing as she was standing in the center at the very front.

The jinchuriki pointed at the three kids in their way, huffing impatiently. "Hey, what gives?"

The brown haired boy wearing the light yellow shirt, grey track pants, and beanie chuckled and rubbed the ridge under his nose with the side of his finger. "Oh, nothing much…"

"We're just here to relieve you of those bags you guys are lagging around with you," Ami grinned, holding her hand out to them and causing the trio to back off slightly. "Give us the goods and we'll let you go without a fuss."

Shikamaru sighed, quickly coming to the realization of where this was going. "Ugh, troublesome." His eyebrows twitched when his thoughts dawned on the situation and began probing outside of the box they had been so precariously placed in. _"That Asuma must have made arrangements with one of the other instructors to butt in on our assessment purposely to give us another obstacle to overcome. What a drag…"_

"Hell no!" Naruto shouted, moving his bag out of sight. "We just got _these_! If you're so hungry go buy your own!"

Obviously one or two of the members of Team 10 hadn't caught onto the same realization that Shikamaru had. The jinchuriki thought that Ami and her cronies were just here to pick on them.

"Hmph," Ami huffed, placing her hands on her hips after watching the class prankster's teammates hide their bags from view likewise. "It looks like the _trash_ of the class has something against sharing _their_ food with us. That's not very nice." She glanced over at Fuki to see her friend standing with her arms folded and an emotionless scowl on her face. "What do you think we should do with them?"

The girl with the spiky red hair, wearing the dark green combat robes and scarf, breathed out impatiently and flicked her abovementioned neck wrapping over her shoulder. "Beat them up and take the goods. That's what I'd do," Fuki replied in monotone.

Ami chuckled in agreement while focusing her best confronting glare on Shikamaru. "My thoughts exactly."

"Now hold on," the Nara spoke up, holding out a hand as all three members of his team eased back a little. "We don't want any trouble out here, okay. Look, we just want to go, deliver the stuff we're carrying, and get our assignment over and done with. That's all."

"So do we," Hibachi retorted, stepping forward and reaching behind him for his pouch. His teammates mimicked his actions, all of them immediately going for their weapons. "Our sensei told us to _stop_ Team 10 from completing its mission and to safely retrieve the items they are transporting from them. Lucky for us, we're fighting against the _bottom feeders_ of the graduating class."

Naruto blinked, "Huh… you guys were _ordered_ to stop us?"

The boy in the beanie glared at him. "That's what I just said, dumbass!"

"Oh," the jinchuriki chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "My bad."

The members of Team Ami glared at the blonde as he chuckled away the aftertaste of his awkward response. Eventually the spiky haired troublemaker returned from his dazed state and fell back into the confrontation taking place between the opposing squads. He, like his teammates, continued to hold back the food they were carrying, being careful not to drop any of the items in their possession or lose concentration. A single slip up would result in the other side gaining headway, which was something neither squad wanted.

"What makes you think taking this stuff from us will be so easy?" Shikamaru smirked. "It's three on three here; seems pretty even to me."

"We won't hand over _anything_ to you?" Hinata stated loudly, trembling a bit as she glared across at the more determined and aggressive bunch. "T-Try if you must! You won't win!"

Ami laughed, lowering her stance and preparing for engagement. "The three of you are hardly a challenge for us. Don't think that just because we were in the same class before, doesn't mean that we'll be holding back against you." She looked between the three other Genin, and began contemplating about which one she should tackle first.

Her teammates began thinking along the same lines, all of them gripping the handles of the kunai in their pouches and singling out the weakest members of the opposing squad.

Team 10 backed away a little more, worried about a confrontation that had the potential to spoil the 'precious' cargo that they were in transport of.

While the atmosphere thickened and tensions rose ever higher, Shikamaru stood off to the side quietly with beads of sweat running down the side of his head as he looked from one opponent to the next, desperately thinking up a strategy that he and his friends could actively use with little preparation.

"_Looking at them, it's most likely that Ami and her friends will try and go at us one at a time, and attempt to overwhelm us in a tussle. We can't run, otherwise we're at risk of dropping or making a mess of our payload. Splitting up is even worse. They'll single each of us out in a chase, and I'm not too confident in a one-on-one sparring match while having to worry about our orders, especially with opponents who fight at close range," _the normally lazy teenager thought, subtly lowering his bag to the ground behind him. _"I guess our only option available is to beat them before they have a chance to attack __**us**__. Chances are they'll go after either me or Hinata first. Naruto was able to beat Kiba single-handedly, so I'm guessing they'll take him out last."_

Eyes shifting from side to side in an almost paranoid manner, Shikamaru made several more careful calculations before lowering his baggage completely. He released his hold of the bag once it was safely behind him, something that caught his companions' attention when they looked in his direction.

"Naruto, Hinata…"

"Yeah," the blonde whispered back, along with a small head nod coming from the Hyuuga in the center.

"Smoke cover. Naruto, go after Hibachi. Hinata, you go after Fuki. I'll take Ami. We'll divide up our efforts and counter them as soon as they make a move…"

Receiving his instructions loud and clear, the other two nodded.

Realizing that they were communicating with one another in plain sight, Ami furrowed her brow and swiftly drew a kunai. "Quit whispering! GET THEM!" She didn't need to shout twice.

At her orders, her own team crouched and began their attack, bringing their throwing knives to bear on their targets.

With his bag safely lowered, Shikamaru had the immediate advantage of having both of his hands free. Smirking, he reached into his back pouch and quickly threw whatever he was able to grab straight down at the ground. In an instant, three smoke pellets exploded at his feet and quickly filled the air with thick, purple gases that enveloped all of Team 10.

It was the sight of the fumes forming a wall in front of them that had the members of Team Ami hesitate and briefly drop out from their offensive stances.

Now that they had lost sight of their targets, there was no telling what was coming next.

"Dammit!" Hibachi cursed.

The moment he did so, the cloud space floating in front of him suddenly burst outwards and Naruto came dashing at him in a zigzag pattern. The jinchuriki's speed was so great and had taken such a drastic leap forward that the once cocky rooky was caught completely by surprise. Hibachi leapt away, drawing three kunai from behind him and throwing them.

"Shit!"

The knives cut clean through the air. However, with reflexes that seemed as though he was literally seeing the world in slow motion, the blonde haired boy dodged all three knives individually, moving from left to right in a blur and bringing his left fist around. The boy that had thrown the knives landed several paces away and drew another knife. Twirling it in his hand, he took a planted, well-balanced stance and thrust the knife ahead of him.

The increased reach provided by the kunai had Naruto back off. He dodged the strikes one after the other, before leaping back altogether and taking his _Spring Chant_ stance.

Hibachi recognized the danger associated with that stance from the taijutsu exams weeks prior, and he safely held his ground.

Seeing her teammate engaged, Ami quickly rounded on Naruto to take him from the side. Kunai raised, she prepared to throw.

Just as her arm was coming about in a full swing to strike down the blonde in an almighty swipe, the girl's body unexpectedly froze up and her eyes widened in shock. Finding herself suspended in mid-action, the purple haired academy graduate, through extreme effort, glanced over towards the smoke cloud to find out the cause of her sudden stop.

Eyes managing to trace the ground, the kunoichi spotted a streak of black stretching out from under the wall of purple clouds hanging in the air.

"_W-What?"_

Ami was instantly at a loss for words. Whatever this black shadow was, it had clearly caught her and was holding her firmly in place, preventing her from following through with her attack. By how it was doggedly sticking to her as well, it was quite apparent that it had no intention of relenting either.

With two occupied, this left only Fuki to carry on.

Bringing a knife around, the red haired girl prepared to throw it into the smoke. But before she could even begin taking aim, the cloud mass in front of her exploded outward and another shadow came rushing at her. The veins around her eyes flaring and left palm extended, Hinata went charging at her previously assigned opponent, having marked her position before the smoke had engulfed them.

The red haired kunoichi was caught by surprise at the other girl's dash and took aim for her, stepping back for space.

"I've got you…" Fuki murmured, twisting and swinging for a spinning throw.

However, before her back foot could even begin lifting off the ground, a hand suddenly shot out of the ground and grabbed her right ankle.

If the surprise from the contact of the hand on her leg didn't offset her balance, then it was the jerking motion on her back foot that did. Gasping in surprise, she threw the knife regardless with whatever force she could muster. The kunai spun through the air, flying directly for Hinata who was still rushing right at it and on her way towards her opponent. Unfortunately though, the red haired girl's swing came in too wide thanks to her aim being thrown off by her footing unexpectedly being forced out of sync of the rest of her body, and the knife sailed right over the charging girl's shoulder.

Fuki's hand still extended after the execution of her attack, the time of withdrawal gave Hinata enough of an opening to close the rest of the distance between them.

In spite of her hand being pulled back, Fuki was unable to dodge effectively or move due to the hand holding her down. Between her position and the Hyuuga now directly in front of her, there was only enough time to block, which she attempted to do so by crossing both her arms over her face. She was certain the opening blow would be a head shot.

However, Hinata had no intention of aiming for her head. Her main target was the other girl's abdominals, now exposed thanks to her guarding high after telegraphing her attack path incorrectly. Aiming low, the Hyuuga skidded to a stop in front of Fuki, yet allowed her momentum to continue forward. With both hands drawn back, the normally shy kunoichi thrust a double-palm strike right for her target. Thanks to the enhanced vision granted to her by her Byakugan, her simultaneous attacks hit home.

"J-JUKEN!"

The sound of rushing wind and two thudding sounds hitting flesh echoed through the air, as Fuki was lifted off the ground by the force of chakra exploding from Hinata's palms slamming into her stomach. The red haired girls' eyes widened and she coughed out a spray of saliva, the attack rushing through her faster than lightning. In an instant, she was sent hurling through the air, the hand holding her leg releasing her and dispelling only once she was hit.

Flipping twice, the curled up youngster hit the ground hard and rolled, coming to a crumpled stop several meters out from the kunoichi that had struck her down.

Byakugan still active, Hinata continued to glare and maintain her stance against her fallen opponent, making sure that she was down for the count.

Ami struggled to look over to her left after becoming aware that one of her teammates had taken a serious hit. "FUKI!"

Ignoring the plight of the others, Hibachi chose to focus on the problem currently in front of _him_, knowing that the jinchuriki was still his greatest threat here.

By this time, the cloud of smoke from the exploding pellets dropped by Shikamaru had faded, revealing what had actually gone on in the shadows while Team Ami was left momentarily stunned. Not only had the members of Team 10 left their cargo behind on the ground to engage the enemy, but the young Nara of the group was keeping careful watch over them. Dropped to his knee in front of their baggage, Shikamaru had his hands formed into a _Rat_ seal, his shadow stretched forward in a straight and true line, covering a distance of roughly eight meters. It was his _Kagemane no Jutsu_ that currently had Ami trapped and frozen where she was, and he was actually biting his teeth down from the effort of holding her at bay.

With one down and one immobilized, Hibachi was the only one left standing.

"Damn it!" the boy shouted, lunging forward and thrusting with kunai in hand. The knife sliced through the air and came dangerously close to hitting its target several times, but ultimately missed at every come about. _"I don't care if he's better than Kiba! I'll beat the class clown with one arm behind my back!"_

With the way he was wielding his kunai and warding off the blonde, he was giving it his all in making that thought a reality.

His brash, mental statements also explained a lot about Team Ami's overall approach in regards to their engagement of Team 10.

Instead of following Shikamaru's group and shadowing them effectively to figure out their movements and level of communication, the members of the opposing squad had unanimously agreed to instead confront their fellow classmates head on. Not only did they just jump in without a carefully thought-out plan of attack beforehand, but they had also grossly underestimated their opponents. Reason being why they jumped ahead so willingly was that, not only were they green behind the ears; but they were also incredibly conceited and foolhardy.

_Overconfidence_ would be their defining lesson of today…

Naruto backed away calmly, step by step, switching from left hand orthodox to right hand southpaw extended and vice-versa, watching the movements of his opponent's arm carefully. His eyes traced over Hibachi's form, making careful note of the position of his feet as well as his opponent's striking motions.

It was after ducking and avoiding several more stabs and slashes, and being forced back several more paces, the jinchuriki eventually figured out the perfect counter. All that was needed was timing, something he considered greatly after going over all of the other options at his disposal.

"_Using chi will damage him internally… probably even seriously. I don't want to break his limbs, and he's not giving me enough time to weave any hand seals to use clones or replacement techniques," _Naruto thought, his brow narrowing as a small smile tugged at his lips. _"He doesn't want to get in close to me, so he's desperately warding me off with a kunai. Dangerous. But however relentless his attacks may be… he's still predictable. That leaves just this…"_ His extended right clenched tightly straight after stepping back from another stabbing motion launched by his opponent.

He wanted to end this as quickly and as decisively as he could, so as to avoid permanently injuring a fellow villager. Not to mention he had to be extra careful due to the type of weapon being used against him. One shot was all that was needed, especially against a short-blade that could change directions suddenly and much easier than a sword.

If he struck _too_ soon, he'd miss and end up cut. If he struck _too_ late, both would hit the ground, with the counter user likely to suffer the brunt of the damage.

Still, this presented the perfect opportunity for Naruto to try out the new technique Yim had been practicing with him. The call signs were all here. His opponent was really rushing things along, he was getting desperate, plus, and this came as an incredibly important note to Naruto, he was _much_ slower than Kiba…

Like… snail's pace in direct contrast…

The predictability of his stabbing motion with his left came in with a step in, and his arm began hyper extending. The twisting of the limb, the knife cutting through the air, it was all visible through the jinchuriki's eyes.

In his narrow stance placed directly in the path of the attack meant to slice him down in one go, the blonde had placed himself in the ideal position to strike.

Hook line and sink her…

Naruto smirked, his right fist suddenly retracting to be pressed up against his chest and being replaced by his left. With his palm open, his extending left rotated upwards and parried the arm stabbing out at him, placing the blonde immediately on the outside of his opponent still lunging forward. Then, while in complete sync with the kunai still following through, the jinchuriki stepped in with his right and while his left arm pulled back, his right cut smoothly through the air across his opponent's arm and shoulder…

…and slammed right into Hibachi's face.

…

The blow was swift and sharp, so much so that a loud cracking sound like a hammer hitting wood could be heard echoing throughout the entire area upon the counter's execution. It pretty much silenced all other confrontations taking place as the blow pressed on without obstruction and Hibachi was sent spiraling.

Naruto's straight counter flipped the boy in a spray of sweat and blood, and he hit the road on his back with a hard thud. A look of shock could be seen slapped across the downed boy's face, his wide eyes void of light indicating that he had been cleanly knocked into unconsciousness. It was no surprise either.

The _Slicing Cross _was a technique the jinchuriki had been practicing on the wooden training dummy for days on end. Next to his _Body Shot_ which he had used to bring the Oto Ninja Zaku to heel, after hours of continuous, backbreaking work, pain and numerous shots to the face that left him bruised for days, it was finally perfected.

With the execution of the counter Hibachi was also thwarted and, from the look on his face, out of it. Sprawled out on the dirt, the boy lay twitching with blood dripping down from the corner of his mouth and a vacant gaze staring up at the clouds high above.

Sliding out of his stance, Naruto smiled victoriously and overshadowed his fallen opponent with an air of pride about him. He pumped the fist he had used as a pat on the back toward his efforts, before turning to see how his other teammates were doing.

They still had a job to do here and he had to help them out in any way that he could, once all of the business had been sealed on his end.

He was to discover seconds later after breaking off his engagement with Hibachi that they _didn't_ need any help.

Hinata had her opponent down, still curled up several yards down the road and Shikamaru was still hanging onto Ami. The score was pretty much all tied up with a quick overlook of the scene: two knocked out and one incapacitated. In the brief, simultaneous two minute battles that had taken place on the streets of Konohagakure, Team 10 had proven itself to be an overall, effective fighting unit.

"Wow," Naruto grinned, running a hand over his brow. "That was awesome!"

"Yeah… sure… whatever you say," Shikamaru exclaimed from his end of the 'arena', while continuing to keep a teeth gritting hold over his technique. "Yo… guys. Do you mind…ngh… giving me a little… _help_ over here…"

"Huh?" The jinchuriki glanced across at the other boy.

It took the sight of the Nara on the verge of passing out as well as the sweat running down his face for Naruto to actually figure out what had him so knotted up. He and Hinata actually came around to the same realization at the same time, and in an almost panicky atmosphere, the pair went about hurriedly scrounging for whatever rope they could find. They then quickly rushed over to Ami, tied her up, then dragged her and her unconscious teammates over to the side of a bar and left them there, comfortably of course.

All the while the harpy Sasuke supporter from the academy couldn't help but curse them outright as she was sat like a rag doll against the wall. She scowled at all three kids when they stepped back to form a neat row in front of her with all of their cargo in hand.

The sight of them standing like heroes said it all. The good guys had won and the bad guys had lost… _big time_.

"Screw you guys!" Ami growled, shaking her head and thrashing about uselessly. "How the hell were you able to take us down so quickly? It's not fair!"

Shikamaru yawned, at the same time brushing several beads of sweat away. "Who knows? I guess it's sort of like a game of shogi. First move your pieces into the ideal positions on the board then after cornering your opponent's king, take them out." He scratched his head, giving the girl a raised eyebrow look. "It's all written in the instruction booklet."

"Who needs something like that?" Naruto queried, putting his hands behind his head and grinning towards his comrades. "Rules are made to be broken…"

"_Sometimes_, Naruto. Sometimes," Shikamaru smirked. "Rules are made to be _followed_ to avoid catastrophe. However, I can make an exception for _you_ since you always seem to go through with whatever troublesome antics you have planned no matter what anyone else says, and always somehow manage to find a way to make it out just fine." The boy he was addressing chuckled sheepishly.

The flustered girl scowled up at the team, puffing her cheeks out in frustration and continuing to tug at her binds. Now that she was no longer bound by shadow but in rope, she could at least follow up on her instincts and make an even greater effort to try and cut herself loose. It was her pride as a shinobi-in-training speaking here; she was compelled to carry on the fight. But what could she possibly do now that it was three on one and even when she _had_ a full house to begin with the opposing team was still able to defeat her's so swiftly?

It was a good effort, but it was all for naught.

"Damn you guys!" Ami spat, tears of anger welling up in her eyes. "I'll get you one of these days! Mark my words!"

"W-We're so s-sorry about all this," Hinata apologized while bowing nervously.

"SHUT UP!"

This immediate retort failed to garnish a positive response from Team 10. In fact it sort of put them down.

Figuring that it was best to simply let her cool off for a while, Naruto, Shikamaru and Hinata decided to continue their advance toward the _Hokage Monument_. Vacating the premises, they left Ami kicking and screaming after them from over by the wall. Heck, there was nothing stopping the frustrated graduate from swearing vengeance on the slackers and trying to hit her teammates back into consciousness.

Considering the manners in which both of them had been defeated, the method she chose to rouse them back into reality, well… it wasn't hard to see that it would definitely take a while to sink in.

XXX

**Half an hour later…**

And after a long run up to the top of the mountain, the whole of Team 10 arrived at their destination.

Stopping just short of the lookout platform over the Third's head, Naruto stood proudly in the middle of the triangle formation with his bag slung comfortably and securely over his shoulder, whereas Hinata and Shikamaru stood on either side of him, panting heavily, slouched over and looking as though they'd had the run of their lives. More to the point, they looked as though they'd just been running _**for**_ their lives.

In spite of being extra careful and slowing up because of the delicacy of the goods they were still in the transportation of, it didn't mean that their job wasn't any less difficult.

The jinchuriki loved the running, mostly for the fact that he was now able to run for such long distances and not even feel out of breath afterwards. Across the entire village he was A-OK and still ready for action, with their brief interlude being but a crossroads. Every challenge he treated like a stepping stone. His two companions however were more or less partial to this particular point of view. They were completely out of breath.

If not just being a bit of an annoyance or 'a real drag', this assignment definitely accomplished its end game, and that was to bring out the strong and weak points in all three of them. Though it was a bit more pressure than they could have asked for, it was worth the watch.

"That was great!" Naruto exclaimed with a jump and a punch, turning to smile at Shikamaru and Hinata. "Watcha' think guys?"

"Great?" Shikamaru cried out through labored breathing, glancing up at his blonde friend like he'd just grown another head. He appreciated their balanced involvement in the assessment and how Naruto didn't need to go out of his way to create those weird clones of his to carry them all the way up the vertical incline of the _Hokage Monument _to cut down on time_,_ and instead opted to go around. Nevertheless, he just didn't see how it was anything to be cheerful about. "What… was… so great… about any of _that_?" He was winded.

Maybe a collapsed lung…

Clearly an exaggeration.

Naruto smirked and made a snaking hand-gesture, motioning a jumping pattern. "Did you see how I hurdled over Konohamaru's class on that field trip? That was awesome! Man. I wish I had a camera set up to catch that. That would have made a sweet photo finisher in my scrap book."

It had been pretty funny seeing the astonished expressions of all the children watching a boy a couple years older than them, literally leap over all twenty-seven members of the class and stick the landing in such a stylish way. Though there had been many ways he could have gone about pulling off the display, the jinchuriki predictably went for the showier one.

He could have strafed the wall, weaved through the tour like a blur or performed several back flips as a start off, but he chose the one with the epic pause for theatrics, with some consideration to the load he was carrying.

Hopefully the sauce was still in their containers.

Though it seemed overly excessive from Shikamaru's point of view and worrisome from Hinata's, it certainly got the kids excited.

The jinchuriki loved it. "It's settled! Next chance I get, I'm filming my next stunt!"

"S-Sounds… interesting, Naruto-kun," Hinata exclaimed, smiling sweetly up at the boy with the boundless energy and inwardly applauding his enthusiasm. She stepped towards him meekly, cupping her hands together with a warm expression in play. "I could help you out if you like. T-That is… if you need any help."

The Hyuuga's encouragement made Naruto smile and he thanked his kunoichi teammate for her support.

"Wonderful," Shikamaru sighed, straightening up while watching the blonde and the blue haired girl trade pleasantries. "Just don't get me involved in your little schemes. I don't want to end up on _Konoha's Most Wanted_ list in the future and I certainly _do not_ take a good picture."

"Oh, cheer up, Shika-kun," Naruto exclaimed good-humouredly. "With that shadow technique of yours, I bet you can work excellent lighting."

The Nara wasted no time in responding, complete with a dull smirk and a look-away. "Pass."

"Save the cinematography for another time you three."

Jumping at the voice, the trio of youngsters turned to face the lookout. When they did, they saw their assigned instructor standing there and waiting for them, leaning against the railings with his hands in his pockets and a big smile on his face.

It was almost like they were experiencing déjà vu. Something about their teacher's sudden appearances kind of stuck with them like that. Seriously! The guy was in the exact same position before when they first arrived at the top of that damned castle when he instructed them to climb it.

Rolling the cigarette between his lips, Asuma pulled it out and flicked away the ash. "You got here sooner than I expected. I take it things went well for you down there."

"Stop _**doing**_ that!" Naruto shouted, pointing at the bearded Jonin and earning a confused blink in return.

"Stop what?"

"You know, appearing and disappearing like that! First you were _there_, then you weren't, and now…" the blonde waved his arms around, attempting to point out the process visually, but failing it altogether. "GARGH! IT'S ANNOYING!"

Asuma smirked in amusement. "I'm an elite ninja, kid. I can come and go to wherever I want, _however_ I want. Besides…" He popped the cigarette back into his mouth and breathed. "I like scaring you rookies."

Ignoring the scowls from Naruto and Shikamaru, he then beckoned the three of them over. Making sure that the bags they were holding were straightened up and out in front, the three Genin stepped onto the balcony and formed an orderly line when the Jonin got up himself for a thorough inspection.

Still acting calm and composed, the Jonin watched his students present the bags of food they had each collected, and relinquished them from their grasps one after the other. A few seconds was spent analyzing each of the carried items, checking the conditions they were in and whether they were still edible. Eventually, he took all three of the take-away orders and placed them on the ground in front of him, before turning back to the squad with his arms folded.

The expression he gave them had the teenagers shiver and back away slightly.

Why didn't he look happy?

"So, you take the instructions I give you, wander around for over an hour, get help from a library assistant to decode the notes, pick up tonight's dinner, get into a scuffle in the middle of the village with three of your peers, then come up here, and end up completing an assignment meant to be finished by four, an hour early," Asuma listed, breathing hard and tapping his fingers piercingly. "On top of that, you were also able to beat another team from your graduating group with little to no effort, in a manner that allowed you to avoid a prolonged confrontation with minimal risk."

His nostrils looked like they were flaring.

The three young, fearful members of Team 10 immediately began wondering why their teacher was glowering at them the way he was. They completed the mission! The guy said so himself! But from the way he was reviewing them as a group; it was as if they had all cut corners that weren't meant to be cut in getting here. And after all that waiting and running around!

Granted knocking out two of your fellow classmates wasn't classy, they had no choice. What else were they supposed to do? Run? Mess up their food!

All things considered, there cargo was just fine.

"_D-Did we do something wrong?"_ Hinata thought, placing her hands on her cheeks and shaking her head momentarily. _"Oh-no. We must have done something bad. C-Could I… could it have been me that did something wrong? Did I seriously injure one of my comrades?"_ It was almost heartbreaking listening to her thoughts and worries. She was genuinely quite scared for her team as she looked at the other two boys, both of whom were also in deep thought as they stared up at their ticked off team leader. _"Did I let my friends down?"_

"_Dammit. What the hell?"_ Shikamaru cursed, his hands clenching uneasily. _"I'm sure we did everything right. Did we miss something or what? Why with all the scowling."_

"_We finished the mission with time to spare. What more could he want from us?"_ Naruto thought, gulping when he saw Asuma's eyes pan over them like a man with a crossbow ready to fire. _"Why is he so angry all of a sudden?"_

After a period of baited breath, glaring and huffing, and after taking the full brunt of the adult's frustrated stare, the Jonin then suddenly looked away and ran a hand through his hair. He breathed out on his cigarette and expressed a dry, annoyed sigh. Whether this was some act or not, the kids couldn't tell.

"Damn you guys. I figured for fresh meat the three of you would have wound up panicking and wandering around for much longer before figuring out what the numbers actually meant. I mean, come on. It wasn't an easy code."

"Actually, it was," Shikamaru boldly spoke up, earning a glance from the teacher with his hand still placed on his head. The boy shrugged at the stare he received. "Problem was, your numbers not only had to give us the exact locations you wanted us to go to on the village's map, but they also had to correspond with the order number placed at the restaurant. The four-part numerical code we gave to the front counter girl had to match up with the receipt number _you_ setup to allow a third-party pick up, otherwise the three of us would have wound up leaving the restaurant empty-handed."

"Y-You also didn't say that we couldn't use whatever resources we had available to us," Hinata exclaimed, raising a hand of her own with a smile. "We would never have been able to figure out the locations the numbers were pointing us to without proper reference material, so we got help from an external source."

"And then…" Naruto also spoke, tapping his head when facts started coming around to him. He grinned and pointed at the Jonin. "In case we _were_ able to figure the numbers out early, you had one of the other teams try and stop us."

"In other words, it was a carefully thought out assessment meant to see if we could function under pressure, as a team, out on the field, with one or two twists to try and throw us off," Shikamaru smiled, looking up as the man turned to them and slipped one hand into his pocket. "Is that the kind of stuff we're expected to face out there in the real world? Cause if it is, consider it done."

Asuma stared at them, looking from one smiling face to the other.

It first seemed like one of those scenarios where the teacher would have taken their responses sort of like smart assed remarks. That being said, he would have then instantly come up with some sort of half-baked comeback that would have absolutely shot down their grins. Now while the Jonin was thinking about doing just that, he just couldn't deny it any longer…

A smirk formed on his face and he looked away. _"Man… the kids these days…"_

The trio became puzzled by his sudden shift of focus. Their confusion became even more prominent when they heard the man chuckle, their stares becoming fixed with his now amused smirk.

"Your skills as a group are a little bit rusty, you still function too independently, yet your practical performances are exemplary, and each and every one of you has an appropriate amount of input to make to the team," Asuma exclaimed, glancing down at the three curious faces locked onto his own. "You cover each other well, and you also express the perfect amounts of levelheadedness and energy at exactly the right times to keep the team rolling. You don't cave in, you keep moving forward, and you help one another out."

The three of them smiled. Though it was acknowledged that there were bits they needed work on, their teacher was also _praising_ them for their most noteworthy points. He looked between them admirably, returning their relieved smiles.

"Heh. I'm especially proud as to how you were able to handle yourselves against that other team standing in your way. Engaging two and trapping one, while also combining your abilities so as to not get caught up in one another's attacks… _most_ ingenious," Asuma exclaimed, looking over at Naruto first. "Able to divide up your efforts well…" His eyes then tracked over to Hinata, "and to immobilize your opponents without damaging them greatly shows really high levels of focus and physical strength. However, in terms of organizing the team and keeping them composed." The man's eyes landed on Shikamaru. "Granted all three of you have unique levels of insight, you know how to use them well to support your comrades. I guess it's these qualities I saw in you that allowed me to seal the deal before giving you this little side-task."

"S-So?" Hinata spoke up, stepping forward with a much livelier smile. "Y-You're really going to pass us?"

"I did say that I accepted you guys as my team back on top of the castle and if I didn't then, then I have now," Asuma exclaimed, giving them all the thumbs-up. "Great work you three. Tomorrow, all four of us start our first real missions together."

Their smiles transforming into grins, the newly graduated Genin turned to one another and, to put into simple words, celebrated all round. While Shikamaru smiled and recognized their success silently, befitting his character, Naruto cheered and leapt through the air in full-blown cheering mode.

The blonde came back down to earth quickly and braced Hinata by the shoulder, both of whom smiled happily toward one another.

They then pulled back and raised their right hands.

"High five!" Naruto shouted.

The three of them then threw their hands to meet in the middle to 'clap.'

"…"

"…"

"…"

When all that sounded was a very dull, boring thud of flesh hitting flesh, all three members of Team 10 lowered their extended hands slowly. Asuma watched in a bewildered fashion as his young squad looked at each other's palms and then back up at each other's faces. The light coloring of red in their cheeks straight away exposed their embarrassment and within seconds, they all started shuffling about on the spot awkwardly.

"That… sounded," Naruto began.

"Very strange," Hinata also murmured, looking at her hand where all three of them had met and… well… 'attempted' to high five one another at the same time.

"Let's never do that again," Shikamaru proposed. "Agreed?"

"_**Agreed,"**_ both Naruto and Hinata said at the same time.

Looking around, they all shared a chuckle and/or giggle. It was this sight that had Asuma start laughing, to which he then offered up his own congratulations to the group by holding up the bags from the _Yakiniku Q_ that his team had so graciously brought up with them. The sight of their recently transported goods had all members of the squad look up with great intent.

"Because you were going to do so well today… which you did, I figured I would have you guys pick up your own dinners on the assignment. Call it… _killing two birds with one stone_," Asuma quoted, plucking the cigarette from his mouth and tossing it away. "Who's up for some barbeque?"

"Me! Me!" Naruto exclaimed, waving his arms in the air in the manner of an excited child.

Hinata smiled ecstatically and stepped forward along with the jinchuriki and Shikamaru, with all three of them crowding around the grinning Jonin swaying the bag of goodies from side to side. "I-I'll have some…"

"Me too," Shikamaru spoke, watching the bearded man lower the goods to the floor so that they could all help themselves.

For the rest of that afternoon, the team sat in a circle on top of the _Hokage Monument_ around the food that Team 10 had picked up without knowing _who_ it was for and _what_ it was for. Of course, now that they knew it was all for them, the four of them spent little to no effort in helping themselves to the delicious beef, rice and assorted side dishes made for the group by the amazing cooks of _Yakiniku Q_.

For a handful of Team 10, it was the first time they'd ever had food from that particular restaurant. There were some interesting tastes and dips, with a lot of spices they'd never experienced before, but it was very delicious. Furthermore, to be in the company of the people that they would be spending time with on missions starting from tomorrow and into the future, well… it was made that much more enjoyable to also be in the company of friends.

Heck, the atmosphere wasn't changed at all when Aoba also arrived with _his_ own team to join in with them. After all, the assessment had been a joint evaluation by the two Jonin, so what harm was there with sharing a meal with an extra band of classmates? Though _Team Ami_ had ultimately failed in passing to qualify as an active, functioning team of _Konohagakure_, they spared no ill will towards the others since they would still be training under their team captain till the time was right he saw fit to see them progress on to missions.

In the end, after expressing their apologies and shaking hands, Ami, Hibachi, Fuki, Naruto, Hinata and Shikamaru, along with their teachers, all sat in a wide open circle and had a great dinner together as comrades from the same village. In spite of the first holding a bit of a sore spot against the latter, the second sporting a swollen cheek and a sore jaw, and the third still covered in bruises all over, it was all good.

In between bites of their meals, the Jonin that had administered the test to the two squads smiled discreetly to themselves and out of sight of their students.

The reality was that there had been more than one reason why Asuma had given his group the test in the end.

Putting level of teamwork, skills and already formed bonds through years spent together aside, the man was simply following the advice given to him by his companions and teachers in generations past. If you wanted to find out more about your students, all you had to do was sit with them as equals and take some time to get to know them.

Perhaps he was given this idea by Yim or that he already had this concept in mind before being given that advice, who knew? Either way, in that one afternoon he was able to use the free time he had on hand to hang out with the kids he would be training, spoke with them, laughed with them, and shared a delicious dinner with them.

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Ugh, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what kind of test I could give Team 10, but I think it worked out right in the end. Basically, Asuma had already assured himself he would be passing the team, but would still end up giving them a mock-mission to complete to see how they would function. This isn't some test confined to one area of the village, but to the village itself.

After all, how else will you be able to see how well a team works if you don't give them a practice run with an exercise they will be able to complete. Sure there's the anxiety and pressure with Kakashi's test, but Asuma seems to be the more generous type with a more unique idea in how a team can function. After all, he brought up the Ino-Shika-Cho team really well, let's see him do it with Naruto, Shikamaru and Hinata, the three awesome characters of the graduating group.

Because Naruto already had a good relationship going with Shikamaru and Hinata to begin with, I wanted to emphasis this in how their team actually functioned practically. Sure, there could have been a lot of different ways the squad could have taken the test, but I wanted to go for one that was effective, and basically put all their skills together into a function group.

There had to be good reason why Asuma chose _**them**_ as his team and why they were formed the way they were, and it pretty much shows here.

I tried not to undermine Shikamaru or Hinata's involvement. There is no 'I' in team after all. It's not all about Naruto. Basically, it's all about working together with the person you're with and helping them out, and sticking with them through all levels of hell. Even I would have figured that out when Kakashi gave that bell test (it's overused now, so I fixed it). The three of them get along really well together, and I wanted to show how well in this way. Naruto is obviously practically skilled and strong, Shikamaru is able to fill in the wide gap with his problem solving abilities, and Hinata, though some of you may question why she threw herself into battle so readily, she is actually a lot stronger than she seems. I mean, she trained with Hanabi and took a beating, she'd watched Naruto and gained confidence, and even though she is still incredibly shy around him, she is not above actually pitting herself against other opponents. She can actually kick a lot of ass at this stage of canon, and I thought that was a good thing to shed some light over in this chapter.

Step-by-step, obstacle for obstacle, testing cooperation, patience and functionality, by putting the team in a realistic exercise, with a realistic challenge.

Also, before the tree climbing exercises were completed, the graduates who actually passed definitely had questionable levels of strength. Out of all of them, Naruto definitely had plenty of stamina and endurance backing him up. If you're unable to stick to walls, obviously mounting incredibly high vantage points would have been way difficult for Genin, especially Shikamaru (who has very little stamina at this point) and Hinata (who is also in the same boat). I was reminded of this by watching the race between Naruto, Kiba and Choji in '_**Kiba's Determination' – Naruto Shippuden Episode 240**_, where they pretty much sprinted up a hill and were out of breath at the end of it.

This chapter pretty much played on that aspect, but across the entire village. Who wouldn't be exhausted?

More on Team 10 later.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

**_Excuse any spelling errors. Transfers are a real bitch._**


	15. New Home Arc: Foreign Devils

**Author's Note:**_ Finally, another chapter is out. As you will find out, this details the various training sessions and small missions that Team 10 embarks upon in the course of the weeks since becoming a team. It's all about them developing their skills and training with one another, so it covers one aspect of the story rarely seen, and is necessary in skipping this stuff over later onwards._

_There is also a dramatic development in the Land of Wave._

_I submit this challenge to you devoted readers; there are three cameo characters in this chapter. I want you to guess who they are so I can see how diverse the minds of you guys are. There are two from a series and one from history, good luck._

* * *

><p><strong>NARUTO<strong>

**The Art of Appropriation**

_Foreign Devils_

**Two weeks later…**

**Land of Wave…**

"Marvelous," a short man wearing glasses and a suit exclaimed as he gazed up at the steel vessel of the mighty _**Mikasa**_ battleship pulling right up to the dock, with the men visible on board throwing rope down to tie up to the peer. "Simply… marvelous."

Outside of the main parts of the village, just a little ways down from the massive bridge being constructed from the island itself within plain sight, the dreadnaught that had been transporting passengers and soldiers from the _Western Countries_ to the _Elemental Nations_ had parked itself at the largest dock the small island nation could provide. Though it would have made much more sense to use the bridge as the dock instead since the vessel was so massive, the captain on the pre-dreadnaught thought better against it.

After all, it was his ship, _his_ rules.

The tiny wharf would have to do. It was basically a small part of town sectioned off down the road with a few warehouses, closed stores, a couple of cranes, and a length of concrete and logs thrown together making up the dock itself. There were several packing crates lying around that still needed to be hauled off from previous shipments, but the stacks of boxes provided the perfect vantage points for the few employees and passers scattered around, and now gazing up at the massive boat making berth.

The company owner who had actually hired out the ship and its crew was here too, overseeing the docking and off-loading procedures. It was no surprise that the place had a lot of people hanging around.

After all, most of them were guards and employees under the _Gato Company_ banner.

Cane in hand, the short business empire head accompanied by two bodyguards, a man with silver hair, a jacket and wearing a beanie and a taller man with brown hair, facial scars, an eye patch and tattoos covering parts of his upper body, approached the docking ramp being lowered down to offload passengers.

Stopping just short to see a couple of soldiers coming down to ensure that the ramp was secured, the man with the glasses and thin mustache chuckled and tapped his stick to the ground with an up-beat rhythm. His bodyguards took this time to marvel at the sheer enormity of the warship, having never seen anything like it before in their lives.

"Stunning," Gato chuckled ecstatically, gazing from bow to stern before turning toward the village and its bridge further down the coast. "Yes… this should do nicely. This battleship here and its crew are the ideal deterrents I need for my shipping lanes and businesses in this area. Let's see how the people of this town act now that I have this ironclad behemoth of a guard dog on my front porch."

"You are indeed a shrewd man," a deep, husky voice spoke up from behind.

The shipping magnate glanced to his left towards some crates piled up on the port, where he saw sitting underneath a towering crane a really tall figure with a mask made of gauze, a lop-sided headband, grey camouflage pants and a huge sword on his back standing with his arms folded and glaring in his direction. Leaning against the wooden boxes, the individual had his sights set and locked on the company boss who had hired him as an extra bodyguard.

Gato also took that moment of distraction to notice that the sword wielder's partner wearing the dark colored kimono robes and Hunter-Nin mask was standing at the very top of the stack of crates, looking up at the ship through the thin slits of his face covering.

"You come prepared for every possible scenario," the masked shinobi huffed with a frown. "But of course, what else could be expected of a person who invests in only the finest of things. You'd better hope this recent purchase of yours pays dividends."

Gato smirked. "Oh, this will definitely be the best buy I will ever have to make on this venture, Zabuza Momochi. In this instance, I believe it will be most beneficial for me to spend in some other, more finely tuned hands from across the seas rather than devoting all of my time and efforts in recruiting war-mongering backwash from these countries."

"Peachy," the warrior replied sarcastically, furrowing his brow. "I'll try not to feel offended by that backhanded outlook."

"Oh, don't get me wrong. I recruited you specifically as my local hit man because your skills are said to be of the highest quality money could buy, and that even your most subtle of methods are both effective _and_ fearsome," Gato smirked, turning his gaze back to the boat. "The name _Demon of the Mist_, as you also like to refer to yourself as, had better not be some self-indulging title. If it is, odds are you will more than likely crumble under the pressures of working for me."

"Don't underestimate me," Zabuza scowled, trying his best not to rush forward and decapitate the man for looking down on him. "I've killed more people than any of your would-be hired hands can even count." His eyes shifted between the two bodyguards flanking the corporate owner.

The men wielding katanas glared back at the shinobi with the _Executioner's Blade_. They pushed their swords out of their scabbards with their thumbs, as if threatening the man with hostility if his words were to stray too far out of line. The masked shinobi standing above Zabuza on the crates also responded by flipping senbon into his fingers, but his master stopped him from acting unreasonably with a simple hand-gesture.

"You'd better have a job for me soon," Zabuza stated, faintly watching as Gato's bodyguards Zori and Waraji slid their swords back into their original places. "All of this waiting around to be called up is becoming tiresome."

"Patience, _Demon of the Mist_… patience," Gato eased with a carefree wave, "All in good time. I will definitely make sure that the money that I have put into you will not go to waste."

"Hmph," the man grunted, sharing a bored glance with his student keeping watch on top of the crates above him.

The hunter-nin retracted the senbon he was holding and turned to stare down at his master, only to have his gaze suddenly drawn upwards and away from the commotion in front of them.

Immediately noticing Haku's averted stare, Zabuza also turned in the direction he was looking off in to investigate the source of his troubles. His attention was taken a little further down the dock where he saw two rather oddly dressed figures standing and staring up at the ship just like everybody else.

His focus was instantly pulled to them as was his student's, since the two individuals not only stood out from the rest of the beige crowd, but they also gave off this rather uneasy aura. Furthermore, not only were both of the strangers women, but they were also well kept, fit looking, and shady by way of their expressions.

One of them was a woman obviously from the _Elemental Nations_, wearing a loose, light green, sunflower patterned kimono that slid deliciously down her shoulders to reveal a lot of skin, had purple hair tied up into a bun with bangs framing her pretty face, and glasses with bottom rims. The woman next to her, leaning against a crate and closest in Zabuza's direction was a lady of similar height with pale skin, blonde wavy hair that covered her right eye, and a fair face underneath. She also wore a red mantilla veil with golden flowers patterned all over it, a tight blue tank top with her mid-drift left exposed, forest camouflage pants, and combat boots. On her left boot she had some sort of knife fastened to it, and she had a utility belt around her waist with all sorts of accessories, including ammunition and a side-arm.

The most prominent item in her possession though and propped up next to her against the crate was a massive PTRD-41 Anti-Tank sniper rifle, a two-meter long super weapon capable of blasting holes in the thickest of armor and had a maximum range of 10,000 meters.

However, Zabuza didn't know squat about the rifle and only considered the two females admiring the ship.

"Looks like a couple of out-of-towners," the swordsman mumbled while narrowing his eyes. _"How discomforting."_

Back at the docking ramp, Gato grinned from ear to ear when he was finally approached by the captain of the ship himself. Marquis Togo, in full uniform and color, greeted the business owner at the bottom with a smile and a tip of his hat. During the union processes the higher officer's actions were also being overseen by a couple of his ship's crewmembers including Colonel Corbett and Lieutenant Polly.

In their exchange of pleasantries, the head of the shipping company chortled away in sheer delight, at the same time marveling the vessel the captain had sailed all the way here.

"Excellent! Excellent! Excellent! You really outdid yourself, sir," Gato grinned, turning towards the taller man and shaking his hand. "I am _**so**_ pleased to see you here, along with your beautiful battleship. I was beginning to worry that you weren't going to show up."

"Believe me, it was no smooth sailing getting here, Mr. Gato. The trip between the two continents is a long and arduous voyage, particularly for a vessel that uses up so much fuel and requires daily maintenance," Marquis replied, removing his hat from his head and holding it in front of him. "But she is battle hardened and ready for your orders."

"Outstanding," Gato exclaimed, patting the man on the back and beginning to lead him off. "As soon as we get all the paperwork signed, your cargo taken off, and your ship's tanks refilled, I have a lot of jobs for you to complete and I expect them to be done _**well**_!"

"That is precisely why we are here, sir," the captain replied, going along with the shorter individual as he was steered down the length of his vessel under the company of his guards.

"Of course, the stuff that I have planned for your boys and your ship are all just routine material, so don't go thinking that I'll be putting too much unreasonable weight on your shoulders now. Think of it as… running _drills_… blocking traffic… security… odd jobs like that…"

While Gato shone light over the captain, walking and talking with him like they were best friends down the waterfront accompanied by both parties' bodyguards, they pretty much left Colonel Corbett and Polly Fairclough over by the ramp to keep watch over the off-boarding procedures. After watching Gato literally skip off with the captain in tow, it left the pair with a pretty foul taste in their mouths.

Shaking her head, the female lieutenant looked up at her superior standing beside her. "I can't believe we have to work for a little shrew like _him_."

"Yeah," Corbett murmured with equal distain. "He's a brown-noser _and_ a vicious trader. They're the worst kinds of clients."

"It makes you think how long one like him will be able to survive out in these primitive, backwater countries," Polly exclaimed with an amused smile. "What with his world-wide reputation and everything as one of the biggest shipping magnates, he must be guarded round the clock."

"Well, taking everything into account, base of operations, trading methods, status, and being out here, of all places… I'm surprised to see him still alive," Corbett snorted. In his mind he could clearly see their new 'boss' as someone who would fit much better as either a farmer or someone about to be ground up into dog food. He was more partial towards the latter than the former. "_That _man still being in a prolonged state of natural breathing and warm blood certainly says a lot about his survival skills."

"What? Living off the blood, sweat and tears of others?" Polly exclaimed while rolling her eyes. "How cowardly. A man like that should have been chained up and carted off the moment he decided to extort the people of these lands."

Corbett sighed and scratched his head, looking up towards the ramp to see the soldiers under his command bidding farewell to the passengers they had entertained and protected all the way out to this continent. The various faces from all different walks of life, and countries from here and there could be seen marveling at the new world they were about to set foot on, as each individual and group slowly made its way down the gangway.

Their various reactions were almost similar to the responses both Corbett and Polly shared when they caught sight of land for the very first time after two weeks of being out at sea. Instead of huge cities and vast shipping lanes, the two boxers were instead greeted by the sights of a small village, a large bridge yet to be completed, and heaps of forests covering mountains.

Not exactly what they had been expecting of 'wild' and 'untamed' lands, but close enough.

"Let's hope that we'll have it easy here. Though I'm excited at the prospects, I don't like seeing action all too soon," Corbett muttered and turned around, pulling out a cigarette. "I'd like to have some time to rest and settle down before getting into anything too serious. I've still got fish legs for crying out loud. I need a break…"

Just as he was about to light the stick between his lips, the man glanced up suddenly to see the cold, hard glare of an equally tall man glaring right back at him. It came as a bit of a surprise because the stranger with gauze wrapped around his face and no eyebrows was standing just a couple of feet _from_ him and an inch away from his face, meaning that his sudden appearance out of nowhere like he had teleported had Polly literally jump out of her skin.

Standing across from one another, the officers of the western forces Corbett and Polly found themselves locked in a silent face off with Zabuza and his companion Haku; two of the higher ranking guards they assumed were also employed by Gato and were also the first people from these lands they were having the pleasure of meeting.

Needless to say, it was very abrupt and very uncomfortable right from the get-go.

Corbett was one of the tallest men of the new arrivals, definitely bearing the genetics of a westerner. The swordsman he was confronting was just as tall and quite intimidating. However, unlike Polly, the composed Colonel simply glared back at the man silently with his cigarette still lodged between his teeth.

The officer returned the stranger's scowl with one of his own. "May I help you?"

"I couldn't help but overhear the conversation you two were just sharing. You were talking about all sorts of nonsense, travel, business, the client that we're tasked in guarding, and saying stuff like how these lands of ours are… how did you put them…'_primitive'_?" Zabuza hissed, looking down at the woman standing by the CO before leaning forward sharply. "That was the word, right? Primitive?"

Polly reacted to this question by clenching her fist, her tightening knuckles audibly cracking. Sensing her sudden preparations, Corbett waved a hand behind him in an obscured signal, a sign that had his lieutenant back off. Continuing to calmly face the agitated shinobi without impediment, the officer lit his cigarette and, after a quick breathe in, exhaled a ring of smoke over the masked individual.

"So what if I did say that?"

Gritting his teeth, the swordsman backed away while fanning smoke out of his face. "I'll have you know that saying stuff like _that_ around here, especially around the loyalists and clans, be advised… if you don't hold that wicked tongue of yours you might just find yourself in a whole lot of trouble, westerner."

"What? It's just a simple stranger's honest to truth opinion of a country he's just arrived at?" Corbett shrugged with a cocky smile. "I've never been to this place before, so what harm can possibly come from talking about another land completely different from ours?" He was about to take another drag on his cigarette, only to have the armed man in front of him smack the lit stick out of his mouth and give him an even harsher glare from before.

They came so close to one another that their foreheads almost collided, with their sudden change in proximity putting both Haku and Polly on edge.

"For a soldier, I'd expect you to know better. Discipline that mouth of yours or I swear, if you refer to these lands as _primordial _or_ primeval_ again… well…" the swordsman leaned in further, his breath hitting Corbett in the nose. "Let's just say our next meeting won't be all smiles and sunshine."

The boxer narrowed his eyes and glanced away briefly. Huffing a little in annoyance, the Colonel then returned his sights with a friendly smile and raised a hand in resolute fashion. "Very well then, my apologies…" After seeing the swordsman step away, the Colonel extended his hand to him in a sign of good faith. "I look forward to working with you in the future."

Glancing down at the hand held out to him, the former _Kirigakure_ shinobi and member of the _Seven Ninja Swordsmen _grunted in some uncaring form of acknowledgement and turned heel. He quickly marched off to rejoin Gato further down the way, closely followed by his masked companion. Upon their departure, Corbett and Polly glared after them.

Needless to say, that little meeting of theirs with the first inhabitants they had the wonderful pleasure of speaking with, left them with an even worse flavor in their mouths that they just couldn't get rid of. That or it was the aftertaste from the soup from last night.

Who knows? It could have just been the expired carrots…

Polly folded her arms and grunted heatedly, turning around to watch the passengers from their ship scattering out over the docks and quickly making way over to the ferries preparing to take them to the mainland. "You really know how to make a first impression, sir," she said with a spit.

"Hmph. I don't recall my charm _ever_ being that bad," Corbett replied, turning around as well to see one individual after another pass them by. "Either I'm starting to develop poorer social skills or the people we are working with from this continent are more aggressive than normal."

"In any case," the woman continued with a deep frown, glancing up at him briefly. "Did you feel the killing intent radiating off of him?" She shivered at the memory, especially the ease she was able to experience when the tall man with the massive blade finally stormed off. "That stare had enough force behind it to freeze blood…"

"Heh, talk about unpleasant," the taller boxer commented. "Still… it only makes me wonder just how many more powerful individuals there are living on this continent." His grin grew even wider and his fists clenched tightly. "Perhaps… these are the lands I have been looking forward to visiting for the longest time, where I will be able to test the absolute limits of my abilities and see just how much stronger I can get…"

It appeared that everybody had something to be excited about. The new arrivals from lands far, far away, were happy to set foot on land again for the first time in a while. The two head officers of the garrison were excited at the prospects of a fight with powerful warriors from this continent. Both Corbett and Polly expressed these physically with grins and clenched fists. Gato was thrilled to have his boat, with Marquis going over all of the important details with him including the Britannia fleet that they had had a run in earlier that month. However, not only did the business proprietor express little concern over it, he just continued on with 'business as usual', focusing only on the missions he wanted to have completed here.

The issue with the other foreign powers present here was simply brushed aside.

Zabuza and Haku shadowed their client, making double sure that no foul play was committed by the newcomers to have their contract and paycheck terminated. They listened in with open ears, while also expressing distrust to the soldiers now starting to fan out around them.

The garrison onboard the ship of course had their own hands full. Not only were they charged with seeing all the passengers off, but they also had to contend with the cargo they were transporting, as well as ensuring that nothing important was left behind. One by one, squads vacated the ship, and one by one the weary VIP travelers were seen off.

Corbett and Polly paid particular attention to the wandering samurai that had inquired them back in their home country, and watched him with great intent when he himself finally decided to leave the ship. With his baggage on hand and his hat pulled down over his face, he descended the ramp and turned to the two officers when he arrived at the bottom.

Seeing their stares, he smiled their way and bowed in a friendly manner, silently bidding them farewell. Upon receiving a dull wave from both the Colonel and the lieutenant, the stranger turned heel and headed over to the two women waiting for him further towards the front end of the vessel.

His staying on the ship till the area on the waterfront was packed with soldiers and passengers, and was clear of any weary eyes familiar with his face, was a strategic move in itself.

There was only one person in the area that would have been able to recognize him by his attire alone, and Zabuza Momochi was currently distracted by other matters.

On that note, he could make his departure with little to be concerned about.

The woman in the kimono and glasses greeted the samurai with a courteous bow, whereas the female sniper merely stood off of the crates, unfolded her arms and picked up her rifle.

"Master," the kunoichi exclaimed, smiling up at the dark haired man beaming down at her. "Welcome home."

The samurai grinned, his eyes remaining hidden from view by the shadow of his straw hat. "I trust that you have made _all_ of the necessary preparations…"

"Indeed sir… however…"

"However?"

The kimono clad woman straightened up and gave him an expression of grave apprehension. "There is but one more blade left to retrieve. Unfortunately, it is under heavy guard in a castle situated within the _Land of Iron_, in the possession of one General Mifune." Trembling and fearful of punishment, she bowed apologetically to the wandering samurai. "P-Please forgive my worthlessness… m-master…"

At first it seemed like the dark traveler's reaction held a sense of negativity about it. However, his latter reply came about in the form of a mischievous smirk, to which he then added by brushing his hand through the girl's hair. Taking her by the chin, he lifted her head back up to look at him while at the same time running his thumb over her lips soothingly.

"There, there… it's quite alright," the wanderer exclaimed lightheartedly, tilting his head and flashing the kunoichi his warmest of smiles. In reality though, as charming and as handsome as his grin was, it was bitter cold. "I was planning on stopping by the old coot's home to say hello to some long time friends and relatives anyway. After all… it's been _**SO**_ long. So-ooo much time has been lost… and I need to make up for that extended period of my absence with gusto…"

Smiling, Azami nodded her head and blinked away her tears. With a cheerful glimmer she straightened up, allowing the samurai to take her by the shoulder and squeeze it reassuringly. It was after making sure the woman was put at ease he then turned his attention to the other standing next to them, rolling a toothpick around between her teeth and fixing them with a hard, unflinching glare.

The stranger gave her a gentle smile and nodded in her direction. "Is the other asset present at base?"

The soldier woman nodded in response, giving the samurai all the reassurance he needed upon his arrival.

With his guards in tow, they began making their way over to the ferry boarding the last of the passengers to take them across the channel. However, before the female with the rifle could completely vacate the premises, she turned back to glance over at the officers watching them from the boarding ramp. After plucking the toothpick from her mouth, she threw it into the water and with an attractive sway in her hips, followed after her client.

Polly, finding the woman's actions somewhat odd and noticeable, looked up toward her superior for some sort of enlightenment. When she saw him staring after the sniper in the veil, she noticed that he was wearing an incredibly uneasy look and had his mouth hanging ajar. It was almost as though he was in a state of both shock and alarm.

Blinking, the brown haired lieutenant in the beret nudged him hard. This action immediately roused the officer from his dazed state and caused him to look toward his right-hand man.

"Hey… what's wrong?" Polly asked.

Silent at first, the Colonel then looked back up. His eyes trailed after the wanderer and his crew, and after watching them step onto the ferry waiting for them at the other end of the wharf, he drew in a deep gulp.

"That woman…" the Corbett began, his voice shaking slightly from his reaction to seeing her face. "I know her."

"What? Who is she, sir?" Her question was within reason. Who else out there could make a hardcore boxing contender and military made-man nervous enough to warrant a stammering from him? For all the time she'd known him, she had never seen her superior get shaken up from simply laying eyes on a person. Not even quiver.

After all, there hasn't been a single challenger out there who has been able to beat him yet.

Corbett gritted his teeth and placed his hand on his chin. He rubbed the bristles of hair uneasily as he considered the sniper woman's face, his form tense with great concern. "Forget the jerk with the big sword and our recent customer in the straw hat. I'm positive that _that_ woman in the veil was Roza Shanina."

Recognizing that name, the lieutenant backed up and gave her superior a wide-eyed stare. "W-Wait… Roza… isn't she…"

"Yeah; hunter from the Kiev Mountains and the Red Army's top female marksman. She could gun down ten men in such rapid succession you couldn't tell who she shot first and last," Corbett informed, biting his thumb. "I read about her exploits in the papers back at regimental HQ a couple months ago. Last I heard she was on some excursion, traveling to the Far East on some wild hunting party…"

"T-Then…" Both the lieutenant and the colonel glared towards the ferry, where they tried to single out the woman from the crowds but were unsuccessful. "What the hell is Kiev's top sniper the _White Tiger_ doing all the way out here?"

"I don't know…" Corbett muttered.

It was nerve rattling. Not only was their journey made discomforted by the presence of some strange traveler and the appearance of Britannia's naval forces, but they had also found themselves in the presence of one of the most dangerous soldiers in the world. Talk about overwhelming powers. Who knew that their most mysterious of customers was keeping such company around him?

"Roza Georgiyevna Shanina…"

…

…

…

Apparently, people with money and the guts to spare were able to go anywhere nowadays. Famous faces and fearsome predators from all different parts of the globe were traveling this way and that. A lot of the masses to have poured off of the _**Mikasa**_ in particular had little intention of sticking around _this_ island.

The moment the people stepped off of the mighty vessel, they hopped onto the nearest and most readily available of ferries, and immediately started for the mainland. Other groups however, including military men and business partners of Gato, had little choice but to stick around.

On the other hand, there were certain… _others_…

Exceptions to the above guidelines…

"Hey, Isaac, I have a question!" a woman with blonde hair and wearing a beautiful, flowing red dress exclaimed. Arriving at the bottom of the ramp and stepping off, she twirled on the spot and turned towards the man following her shadow.

A tall man standing directly before the girl wearing a classy black suit with huge sideburns on either side of his face, looked up to face the woman with a big, wide grin in play. Obviously being the person she was addressing, the individual identified as Isaac cocked an eyebrow in her direction.

"What's that, Miria?"

Ceasing her epic cinematic spinning and holding her bag out in front of her, the girl stopped and gazed up at the man with a curious expression drawn across her face.

"I'd like to know what it is we're doing over here." She threw her arms out in emphasis to that point. "Why did we travel all the way across the ocean to this place and on such an impressive looking boat?"

The man grinned and struck a stylish, thoughtful pose. Being the closest of companions imaginable, he was all too happy to answer her questions. "Why, the answer is quite simple my dear. We are here on a quest to discover new lands?"

"New lands? Whatever do you mean?"

Isaac moved toward her and held up his fist in a showy manner, his form radiating with absolute confidence and certainty. "Exactly what it means, Miria! Every journey begins with a single step, and every step forward we take leads us closer and closer to something new and wonderful!" He took her by the shoulder and pointed up towards the pre-dreadnaught. "You see that ship? Throughout all of history, men traversing the world on such magnificent vessels have made hundreds of discoveries, discoveries that ordinary people such as us can only ever hope to accomplish in our wildest of dreams."

"R-Really?"

"Yes, my dear," Isaac exclaimed, wiping a fake tear away and wrapping his arm around his companion's back. "You see, when we arrived at the port back in our homeland, we said to ourselves on _that_ day that we would hop on the nearest ship heading out of the country to a land we have never journeyed to before. By coincidence, we happened upon the biggest and proudest looking of all the vessels in _that_ port. Knowing that a ship like that was bound for territory seldom seen by people from the west, it _**hit**_ me!"

The woman gasped and looked up at him. "It hit you? Are you okay, Isaac?"

"YES! I am thrilled!" Throwing his arm out, he grinned down at the girl. "For you see my dear, lands seldom seen by people from the west are bound to have some areas that have been left undiscovered by the current inhabitants, and it is up to a pair of rugged adventurous nomads from a nation far, far away like _**us**_ to discover them! Don't you see?" He turned to his girlfriend with his eyes glowing. "Travelers on a mighty vessel, bound for strange, uncharted territory, photographing and discovering lands never before seen by people from _**our**_home! Can you see it, Miria? CAN YOU SEE IT?"

"OH! YES! YES! I SEE IT ISAAC!" the blonde haired girl exclaimed, also embracing the man and beaming excitedly. Their voices climbed ever higher in volume. "We… We… WE'LL BE FAMOUS!"

"YES! FAMOUS! THE TWO OF US, TOGETHER, IN THE PAPERS!"

"FAMOUS!" the girl laughed out. "WE'LL GO DOWN IN HISTORY!"

They took each other's hands and struck a pose, like a finisher at the end of the tango or waltz. Their gazes turned to the island before them, where they saw forests and a distant village beyond the treetops. Oh, the prospects called to them like the birds in the trees! It was just too good of an opportunity to pass up!

"ISAAC AND MIRIA!" the man shouted.

"MIRIA AND ISAAC!" the woman shouted merrily in turn.

"BOLD!"

"DARING!"

"**ADVENTURERS!"** They struck another pose, arms stretched out and huge grins in play. **"AS EPIC ADVENTURERS WE LAUGH IN THE FACE OF DANGER!"**

And with that said the two strangers took their leave, gleefully dancing and laughing away from the port, leaving behind several very disturbed and concerned looking bystanders, including Zabuza and Haku.

The man with the huge sword on his back, who had become aware of their performance, shook his head when he saw the odd pair of travelers run off.

"Some people…"

* * *

><p><strong>Konohagakure...<strong>

**A couple days later****…**

Naruto, Hinata and Shikamaru groaned, moaned and whimpered in whatever manner befitted their characters as they sat silently in a row at the serving desk of _Ichiraku's Ramen _noodle shop. It didn't take a genius with a master's degree to tell that the three of them were miserable, since all the telltale signs were there and accounted for.

The sighs, the downcast, overshadowed expressions, their poor postures, the fatigue reflected in their eyes, and most importantly, bottles of sympathy milk sitting beside the bowls of ramen that they had ordered. The only positive that they could really subtract from their entire experience for the day was that Teuchi and Ayame, in spite of all the hilarity of the situation explained to them, had actually given them the milk for free. Not to mention that the three milks were of three different colors based on their tastes; Shikamaru on the left got vanilla, Naruto in the middle got chocolate and Hinata on the right got strawberry.

Still, even the kind offer of delicious treats didn't make up for an entire day of bullshit that they had to suffer through…

Popping the caps off of their bottles, the members of Team 10 all took a swig at exactly the same time, the sounds of simultaneous gulps filling the small restaurant. They then slammed the glasses down and glowered at their steaming lunches.

"This bites," Shikamaru murmured.

"No shit," Naruto agreed.

"M-My feet hurt," Hinata whimpered, her eyes shimmering with unease.

"Oh come on guys, cheer up," Teuchi chuckled as he cut up the cooked beef he was tending to on the outside chopping board directly behind the counter. Stirring the broth bubbling in the pot beside him at the same time, the old shop owner smiled at the three members of the frustrated squad. "It can't be all that bad. The lives of young shinobi are supposed to be fun and exciting, and a major part of your development? Why with all the tears?"

"Obviously, you were only half listening to our stories," Shikamaru replied while glancing up at the chef with a sour expression. "All that stuff you heard about the lives of young ninja being fun and a highlight of their youths… let me tell you this right now old man… it's _not_. In fact, it's a real drag."

"Hm?" Teuchi raised a curious eyebrow, ceasing his cooking duties momentarily to donate an ear to their problems. "How so?"

"Let's recap," Naruto began, splitting the chopsticks he was holding and pointing them up at the old guy. "On the day that we completed Asuma-sensei's test, he said to us straight up that the next day we would be going on our first real mission together as a squad. When he said that well… we were all thrilled…" The blonde gestured between his friends.

"Not just thrilled, _ecstatic_," Shikamaru groaned, picking absently with his own chopsticks at the bowl of miso ramen laid out in front of him. "We thought that we would be going out into the real world for the first time, outside of the walls of the village to see things and do… well… interesting stuff as a group."

"W-We were looking forward to our first assignment as a team, s-something exciting," Hinata also spoke.

"Yeah? And?" Teuchi smiled, looking back over at Naruto for his answer. "Did all your hard work and hours at the academy pay off in the end?" What he received next was a very unpleasant glare.

"More like they were wasted!" Naruto grumbled, dropping his chopsticks into his bowl and pushing the noodles around vigorously. "When we walked into the mission room to collect our assignment scroll two weeks ago, my first thoughts was that we were going to go on some big trip, and maybe even have a chance at reconnaissance or investigating or some other crap like that! You know, stuff that ninja are _supposed_ to do!"

"How did that turn out for you?"

"It was hilarious," Shikamaru stated dejectedly, impaling a piece of meat with one of his utensils and picking it up. He held the kebab out in front of him for illustrative purposes. "We were completely shut down. Sure it was a 'mission', but why they call it that I have no idea?"

"Hokage-jiji gave us three options," Naruto exclaimed, holding up his hand and three fingers. He counted down on them. "One; paint the fences on both sides on some rich person's property. Two; help an old couple move to their new home on the other side of the village, furniture and all. Or three; babysit a kitten for the entire day."

"Well?" Teuchi smiled. "Was it fun?" He heard the suppressed snickers from Ayame further down the counter who was currently making a bowl of ramen for another customer.

"Naturally, our teacher made us do all three of them," Shikamaru grumbled, rubbing his wrists in memory of those events. "That was a really big fence…"

"That grandfather clock was heavy as hell," Naruto whined, shoving noodles into his mouth to put his mind off of it.

"The k-kitten coughed up a fur ball on me," Hinata shivered, paling at the recollection of her poor, stained jacket now in the wash.

And that wasn't even the half of it. The many jobs that they had to perform after their first day as shinobi… just seemed to get worse and worse…

Teuchi nodded his head thoughtfully while looking at the three scarred children as they labouredly gobbled down their noodles, and drank their milk in the brief intervals when they were not sulking or eating. From his analysis of the rookie team, he could swear that their spirits were either drained or broken. However, because they were still walking about and actually had the energy to eat, he could safely say that they were okay for now. But for how long they'd actually be able to keep this up, he wasn't entirely sure.

Who knows, maybe their moods will change and they'll start enjoying their boring missions? There was no way to be sure.

Still, the old man couldn't shake the feeling that he was somehow playing the role of the bartender in this instance. With all their frustrations of their shitty missions falling onto his ears, he could definitely see that he was acting as a sort of conduit for their sorrows, a third medium. It was kind of sad yet funny at the same time.

Naruto sighed when he skulled his milk in one go and glared ahead of him with a tired gaze. "I want to go on a _real_ mission dammit! Or at least something that's fun! I bet the others don't have to pull through this crap."

When his teammates nodded in agreement, they heard the sounds of the drapes at the entrance to the bar being ruffled behind them. Looking over their shoulders, the exhausted squad was caught a little bit by surprise when they saw the familiar faces of Team 8 staring back at them.

Kiba, Choji and Ino shadowed the trio from where they had stepped in. It took a while for the displays to register, but when Naruto and his friends eventually looked up at their expressions, they knew on sight that something in the universe must have gone wrong. Kurenai's team couldn't have looked any better even if they tried. Their faces looked just as emotionally drained as their own, it was _that_ serious.

Looking between one another, Asuma's squad then glanced back at the tired newcomers with inquisitive gazes.

"Wanna talk about it?" Shikamaru asked with a shrug.

They got three silent nods in return.

"Have a seat then," Naruto said while gesturing to the stools, to which Team 8 then occupied much to their sweet relief.

Okay, so _Ichiraku's Ramen_ bar has officially become the place where rookie teams from _Konohagakure_ given crappie assignments went to, to eat away their misery…

Very dreary, but at least Teuchi was happy to be getting a lot of customers.

* * *

><p><strong>The week following…<strong>

**The Third Training Ground…**

"Shinobi battle tactics lesson one: _taijutsu_. Taijutsu is the strict physical aspect of ninja combat that employs both the use of the entire body and a refined set of skills in order to inflict damage upon one's target," Asuma droned on, reading out textbook instructions to his young team while completely engrossed in another activity altogether.

What the Jonin was basically doing at that very moment was standing out in the middle of a clearing at one of the training grounds provided for individual squads, coaching his young squad with a hand behind his back and both his eyes studying a copy of _Shinobi Battle Codes_ _Volume I_, which he had come across at the local library. It may have been a bit dry yes, but at least it wasn't _Icha Icha_ or some other such nonsense like that.

To summarize the current situation, he was _teaching_. But this wasn't an ordinary lesson. Unlike other Jonin, Asuma had his own methods of applying the hammer to the nail. Not only was he reading, but he was also providing his students with the basics of shinobi conduct from the chapters written in the book in his possession, at the same time sparring with two of the three members of his small group.

Stepping back and forth, and turning every now and again to better position himself between brief intervals, Asuma jousted left and right with both Shikamaru _and_ Hinata.

The two fledgling ninja were going after their instructor from both sides repeatedly, using styles they had practiced earlier in their lives and mixing it in with knowledge taken in from the academy. While the Nara was attempting to execute the basic steps of the _Academy Style_ with his fists and feet, the Hyuuga was opening up with her own variation of the _Gentle Fist_.

It was an impressive display of grace and grit for rookies true. But in spite of it being two on one, both attackers were being kicked around like they were nothing but training dummies.

"Offense and defense; these are important points one must remember when throwing themselves into direct combat. The attacker must pace themselves, not only to study their opponent, but to also adapt to the rhythm and speed that their target employs. Once the patterns have been memorized, the attacker may then fight as democratically as they wish," Asuma read out, stepping back and with his free hand, batting away the simultaneous punches and kicks that came flying his way, before sidestepping to avoid Shikamaru barreling at him with a haymaker.

"Defense is the equal to offense, and also the most important fundamental in terms of close combat. Shinobi must approach their fights with a firm understanding of defense, as it is the key to survival out on the field. When push comes to shove, one must be prepared to fight for their lives, not only to protect themselves but also the intelligence that they carry. Your skills in this respect will determine either victory or defeat." The Jonin raised an eyebrow at the information, ducking when Shikamaru ran and flew at him with a kick. The Nara simply abseiled over and hit the ground, tailbone first. "Geez, even textbooks are overly dramatic nowadays."

When he turned, the instructor stuck his foot out. As a result, Hinata ended up tripping over it when she dashed around to confront him head-on. The girl yelped when she tumbled over and into the grass, but quickly recovered to reengage with the taller man. By this time, Shikamaru was also back up, leaping at Asuma with a reverse spinning roundhouse from the right and Hinata jabbing at him from the left with a palm strike. The Jonin expertly weaved between their attacks, before grabbing the punch the Nara threw at him in a combo with his one free hand, twisting his wrist, and tossing him to the side as if he were a sack of potatoes.

"Carefully trade your punches and kicks. The basic punch can be executed in many ways, but must be done correctly in order to avoid unnecessary strain on the body. The physical form must move appropriately _with_ the attack, whether to follow-through or to execute it. The same can be said for every other technique associated with basic taijutsu. Time your attacks carefully and throw them in patterns. Perfected patterns can put unexpected pressure on your opponents, and mixing up techniques can inflict even more stress."

When Hinata struck at him with a side kick, shouting at the effort, Asuma slapped it away and stepped back when she followed up with a spin kick on the follow-through. He countered by pushing her in the chest and sending her tumbling to the ground. Her speed and technique was superb, and she had great aggression too, but it was quite clear where this was all going.

"Once again, a good offense or defense necessitates telegraphing the attacker's movements correctly. In order to avoid damage, one must place themselves in the ideal position to effectively attack, block, avoid or counter against a persistent foe."

Shikamaru quickly threw himself at his opponent again, jumping at their doggedly defensive teacher with a flying hook and a yell. The Jonin effortlessly stopped him in his tracks by swiftly jabbing him in the stomach lightly with an open palm, with just enough force behind it to send him flying back. When the boy landed clumsily, managing to keep his footing and skidding to a stop, the Nara yelled out again and rushed at the man for the thirtieth time, swinging in with a wild right. Asuma countered with a simple left uppercut, which sent him hurling back with his head snapped skywards. A second later, the normally lazy Genin found himself flat out on his back once again.

This was old news though…

Finding a second wind, Hinata rushed at Asuma the moment Shikamaru was defeated and leapt at her teacher with a warrior's cry, setting herself up for an ideal jump kick. However, the moment her foot flew out from her left, the Jonin systematically brought his free hand around and backhanded her ankle, pushing her foot in the direction the girl was kicking _way_ too early. The result ended up with the girl spiraling uncontrollably through the air a fair few times before crashing flat on her back after two seconds of hang time later.

Asuma sighed and shut his book, smiling down at the pair sprawled out on the ground around him. Of course while the kunoichi had recently been put down, Shikamaru was already on his hands and knees, panting and sweating up a storm.

It looked as though he was getting ready for round two, but Asuma knew that they were done.

"You guys are getting better. However, I advise that you attack with more belligerence and forcefulness in your movements. Don't just dance around the entire time. Sometimes situations call for you to be as direct as possible, that way you won't end up dragging out a confrontation," Asuma grinned, tapping the cover of the book. "Do you want me to keep repeating chapters one through to five?"

He'd been doing this each and every sparring session over the entire week. There was little doubt in his mind that he had mildly brainwashed his students.

Gasping for breath, Shikamaru got himself up onto one knee. If you were to look closely at both Genin, the two of them were covered in bruises, scuffs and cuts. The fact that they were out of breath too indicated that they had been at this for a lot longer than an hour.

Let's make it the entire afternoon.

"Why… the heck… isn't… Naruto… doing this… crap?" the brown haired boy panted, shaking his head to rid himself of the dizziness plaguing his sight. "We… could use… his help, dammit?"

"Oh? Don't worry about him," Asuma grinned with a wave. "I'd rather not risk screwing around with the stuff he's already working on with his other teachers. Learning taijutsu from me would only upset his progress."

"T-Then…" Hinata also spoke, sitting up with a whimper and staring at her teacher, "W-What is Naruto-kun doing now?"

"Oh, I got him doing something else," Asuma replied without hesitation, pulling out a cigarette and popping it in his mouth. "Mixing things up a little…"

When Shikamaru and Hinata were both up on their knees, they glanced over their shoulders toward the three tree logs situated not too far behind them. Standing right in front of the middle one, the pair spotted their teammate still gritting his teeth over the same task he had been given hours before when all three of them started out on their trials for the day.

What Asuma had recently established for his team was plain and simple. He wasn't going to trim off his responsibilities like the other instructors were planning on doing: giving his team D-Rank shitty missions for an eight-hour working period and expect them to develop skills from those 'experiences'. Hell no. He wanted to transform his little seedlings into big-ass forests and to do that, it meant toiling away at the already existing soil to help them sprout.

First up on his list, test and tend to the foundations. In order to function as an effective shinobi one needed to have a strong body. Therefore, what the Jonin wanted to start developing from the get go was his pupils' inner-strengths, before putting them through anything too serious. Shikamaru and Hinata in particular needed to get their hands dirty in this area, since one of them lacked confidence and the other had pretty much breezed through a lot of the basics without physically working on any of the stuff given to him at the academy.

Since their techniques were already in place in their heads, all Asuma needed to do was motivate them enough to bring out _all_ of it and maybe more. Getting them to run circles, work their muscles and spar was the best way of refining these skills.

This was where Naruto differed slightly from his squad members in terms of starting points. He had already surpassed that particular earthen stage. All of his taijutsu and martial arts was foundation based, thanks to it essentially being built from the ground up by his other teachers back at his place. Because he was already training extensively in this area, Asuma decided to get him started on working in other areas in which he was lax; freely asserting his focus, control and mentality.

Right now, Naruto was relearning chakra manipulation from chapter _one, _page _one_.

Don't go thinking that this was ordinary kindergarten work. Uh-uh. Asuma had twisted the original lessons of learning hand seals so that instead of having to relearn them, the young jinchuriki was _strengthening_ them.

You could phrase it like this; the Uzumaki's hand seal techniques were simple, ordinary, and nothing special at all. He was just like every other Genin in that respect, industry standard techniques, normal hand speed, textbook seals, you name it. More toward the point, Asuma was getting his student to reinforce his hand seal techniques by having him work on arm control and concentration at the same time.

Standing in front of the center tree log, Naruto had assumed a one-legged horse riding stance and was switching from his left and right foot repeatedly every three minutes. He also had a jug of water placed carefully on top of his head astride a variety of other objects including books, planks and utensils. It was an odd collection and definitely one he struggled in maintaining structural integrity over.

Furthermore, the material he was balancing was also accompanied by large stones tied around his wrists and hanging from his arms with rope. With his fingers wrapped skillfully around a small scroll to help define sign weaving around it, the jinchuriki was running through all the basic hand gestures as quickly as he could.

This exercise accomplished several things at once. One, the stack of objects on top of his cranium was being supported not just by superb balance emphasizing perfect form, but also chakra, which worked on subtle chakra control. The hand seals he was performing using the sealing scroll as a training medium and the guide lying spread out on the grass in front of him for visual instruction covered the technique basis of the activity. Holding his stance focused on endurance, and the rocks hanging from his arms held in that particular position emphasized on strength building.

The end game: to perfect his hand seal movements, improve his focus, and to speed up his sign weaving. The more hand seals, the more restrictions, and the more concentration involved, the better his performance of jutsu.

Sweating bullets, Naruto freaked out when the Eiffel Tower atop his head nearly collapsed to the side. He managed to hold his ground by slamming his foot into it, and then proceeded with more hand seals once equilibrium had returned to him.

His performance not too strenuous to look at from their point of view, Shikamaru blinked and turned back to Asuma, while at the same time pointing toward their teammate. "Could I try that?"

"What? Stand around for hours on end doing a highly repetitive task, while not doing anything remotely interesting and just concentrating on putting your hands in the right place?" the bearded man replied, before giving the boy the thumbs-down. "No way, buster. For now, you're sticking with me." He then pointed at both the Nara and the Hyuuga. "You two spar now. Come on. We've got a lot of ground to cover…"

"Ugh…"

"Y-Yes, Asuma-sensei," Hinata squeaked obediently, rising to her feet alongside her less motivated teammate.

The Genin moved as quickly as they could to get into position and as soon as they had given each other the sign of confrontation, they locked horns. The moment their fists and feet started flying at one another, their passive instructor took his time in approaching Naruto to see how he was progressing. While also keeping an eye on the advancement of his other two students, the instructor showered attention on his other incredibly quiet student attentively flipping through hand seals and holding his ground as best as he could.

Asuma grinned. "I bet your hands are starting to hurt."

"Nope!" Naruto replied sharply, rotating a little to keep the plates from falling. "Still good!" He was being awfully brief, maybe because he was so focused on trying to keep the one-meter-tall stack on his head from collapsing. This definitely showed he was awfully committed to whatever task he was given.

Smirking, Asuma plucked his cigarette from his mouth and tapped the excess ash away on one of the plates piled up on the youngling. The sprinkle of spent tobacco tickled the blonde's nose and caused him to momentarily glance up at his instructor with an annoyed scowl.

"Then we'll keep on going till I have the entire team on the ropes. I want all three of you to reach your absolute limits at the exact same time. Seriously, it's no fun if you don't play along." The man grinned devilishly at the seething jinchuriki.

Grinding his teeth together, Naruto glared ahead of him once again to see Hinata lashing out at her slowly retreating opponent, forcing him to back off under a flurry of palm strikes. "You're evil!"

Asuma smirked. "Of course. It's one of the many perks of the job, kid."

He meant it, unsurprisingly.

XXX

**A few days later…**

Naruto panted heavily as he glared across at his teacher from a hunched over stance, where he saw Asuma looking back at him in an almost distressed manner.

The teacher's eyes looked the battered and burnt youngster from head to toe, taking in his overall condition as well as carefully considering the session that they had been going through.

Though he was partly to blame for his current state, it had all been the jinchuriki's idea. From one audience, it looked as though they were engaged in some sort of trivial fight, but since the Genin wasn't dead yet, it was most likely that this was some form of sparring practice.

Brushing the back of his hand over his lips, the boy grinned as he locked his teacher in another staring contest. This built up even more drama for Shikamaru and Hinata, both of whom were sitting on the sidelines directly in front of the three training logs looking as equally beaten down as their teammate. While the Nara appeared as uneasy as their team leader, the young kunoichi beside him was worrying to no end with her hands pulled up to her chin and her eyes darting between Naruto and Asuma worryingly.

Unscathed and undamaged from the battle thus far, the concerned looking instructor lowered his head towards Naruto.

"Are you sure you want to continue?" the man asked, sweating a little. "You've been through a lot today with missions and sparring. There's a good chance you'll be sent to the hospital if you take another hit like that again."

Naruto smirked. "Don't worry about me." Dropping into a low horse-riding stance with his hands held out, he flexed his fingers and readied for action. "I can take whatever you can throw at me, so give me your best shot."

Letting out a sigh, the man rubbed the side of his head and smiled at the blonde. "Man, you're tenacious."

While receiving a bashful chuckle from the Genin, Asuma decided at that point to fix up to improve their situation by providing further input.

Forming the recognizable cross-fingered hand seal he produced a shadow clone that popped into life to Naruto's far left. The Asuma-copy's appearance and preparations for conflict caught everyone's attention, to which the jinchuriki then gave his instructor a questionable glance.

"Just in case you can't do it in time, _he'll_ step in to get you out of the way? Clear?"

"Crystal," Naruto replied, testing the ground with his feet. "Let's go!"

"Alright." Asuma widened his stance a little, bringing his hands up and flipping through a variety of hand seals. It was the sight of him beginning his attack that had the jinchuriki tense up and his friends watching to the side lean forward in anticipation.

The Jonin's hands ended on the _Tiger_ seal.

"_Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" _Asuma bellowed, breathing in deeply before leaning forward sharply. Blowing out the air in his lungs in one go, instead of carbon dioxide invisible to the naked eye making its appearance, a stream of fire shot out and engulfed the entire space in front of the Jonin.

Twisting on its formation and ripping the ground beneath it, the attack tore across the clearing straight towards the Genin at full speed.

Naruto was waiting for this.

Forming his trademark cross-fingered seal just as Asuma had done to create his shadow clone, Naruto quickly produced his own. The copy popped-up beside him in a puff of smoke, assumed in a firm, defensive stance. Immediately upon its creation the original Naruto braced its right-hand with his own and, with a mighty roar, spun around on the spot. Using the power from his rotation the original Naruto threw his clone straight at the incoming ball of fire.

Shikamaru and Hinata rose to their feet in shock.

As the clone flew through the air the copy formed a cross-fingered hand seal itself. Even though a fiery death was fast approaching, all it did was grin proudly and prepared its counter.

"_Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"_

Simultaneous bursts of white smoke began exploding around the clone as more copies made their appearance, all of whom were in mid-flight. Due to the clone executing the technique being airborne, it meant that any doppelgangers it also created would also appear in mid-flight. The velocity of which the first clone was thrown at was transferred throughout all the other embodiments of chakra, which resulted in an entire wall of clones hurling towards the ball of fire.

The massive ball of fire tearing across the ground collided with the mass of the clones flying towards it. They poured into each other, the flames literally stopping in their tracks due to the amount of bodies diving into it and the amounts of matter it had to burn through. Due to the sheer multitude of clones bombarding it, the amount of chakra it had behind it wasn't enough to burn through the infinite stream of copies, nor was it enough to maintain its form.

Within seconds the ball of flames dissipated in an epic explosion, smoke blasting outwards and clouding over the entire area where the two opposing forces had made contact. However, while the _Grand Fire Ball Technique_ was vanquished, the clones being produced by Naruto kept pouring right past its point of destruction towards Asuma.

The Jonin smirked when he saw the clones heading his way and straightened himself up. When it looked as though he was about to reach for a weapon, he instead turned side on and held up his right hand.

The first clone that reached him slammed into his extended palm with a punch, while all the others following it either stopped themselves on the ground and dispelled, or simply dispelled in the air all at once, sending a huge white cloud over the grassland.

Watching the smirking clone that punched his open palm leap away and land at an ideal close-combat distance, Asuma lowered his arm with a grin.

"Good work." With a quick hand gesture he released his shadow clone and began walking towards the real Naruto. Patting the little doppelganger on the head on the way past, which grinned happily before dispelling in kind, the Jonin stopped in front of his student still lowered in that executed throw. He folded his arms and gave the youngster a proud smile. "Guess all that training worked out for yah. You're gotten better."

Naruto grinned and stood straight up, "Oh yeah!"

While receiving a pat on the shoulder from Asuma, the pair heard the sound of clapping coming off from the side. They both turned to see Hinata and Shikamaru, both of them on their feet and applauding the sight.

Seeing a counter executed so superbly against such an extremely dangerous, medium range technique really struck a chord with the audience. It was worth the praise. The smiles coming from his teammates put the jinchuriki into a small world of bewilderment, before he eventually responded with a nervous smile of his own, a blush and a thumbs-up towards his companions.

"T-Thanks guys."

"That was amazing, N-Naruto-kun," Hinata exclaimed, cupping her hands together and beaming at the jinchuriki.

"Brilliant," Shikamaru also commented. He breathed out a sigh of relief, realizing that he had risen to his feet from the intensity of the moment. It never occurred to him that he could get fired up like that. "Man. Though it could use a little more work, perhaps over time you will be able to come up with several other formations for that _Shadow Clone Technique_. Those copies can be a real buffer for you if you ever find yourself in a tight spot like that again."

"Yeah… I… I guess," the blonde chuckled, rubbing the back of his head.

"It's true, kid," Asuma spoke up, drawing the brat's attention back up to him. Arms still folded, the team leader continued grinning at him. "These clone techniques of yours can be a real life saver. Don't let those skills go to waste, work on them and come up with some more elaborate combinations. The more strategies you can cook up now, the better chances you have of winning against a powerful opponent." Scratching his chin thoughtfully, he then gave the blonde an inquisitive look. "Speaking of which, have you thought up a name for that particular clone-throwing technique?"

Blinking, Naruto took up a contemplative stance and began tapping his foot to go with the motions. His team waited patiently for him to answer, listening to the blonde murmur as he considered a list of names they assumed were going through his head.

Eventually, the jinchuriki reached behind him for his pouch and pulled out a notebook, the same one he had taken to his final graduation exam when Iruka and Mizuki inquired about his range of clone techniques. He opened it up and pulled out the pen he had slipped into the ring-back.

"Any suggestions?" he asked the group.

Everyone in the vicinity with the exception of the blonde fell over in perfect unison.

XXX

**Two days later…**

There were limits to his abilities; Shikamaru could admit this without a doubt.

What he didn't know however and was learning at this moment was that these limitations in his capabilities were a real dampener for him if he was to suddenly find himself thrown into a serious, life-threatening situation. His average combat strength and low physical fitness aside, there were other more glaring issues about his combat prowess he had to contend with immediately.

For example, not only could he only produce a single length of shadow with his _Shadow Possession Jutsu_, but in order to reengage with a doggedly retreating target or switch to a different target altogether, he had to withdraw the entire shadow before firing it out again, which wasted a lot of chakra. That happened to be his second problem. His low stamina and the amount of chakra it actually took to produce his shadow shouted 'need for improvement' in his ear, even though he had ignored this voice many times in the past.

So, in summary, a single shadow, the shadow's lack of speed, the time it took to retract in order to reset, his low stamina, and the fact that he had to be still in order to execute the technique; these were the main points that he came to the realization of and during the beating he was currently getting from Naruto in their sparring session.

The aim of the game for this particular match was that Shikamaru was exercising in his clan's signature move, the _Shadow Possession Jutsu_. He had asked his teammate for his support in this area, and though the jinchuriki willingly agreed and things started off well for the Nara, things suddenly started going downhill for him when the blonde began using those bothersome clones to up the stakes a little.

They would have been tricky to avoid if Shikamaru had the intention of using other combat tactics mixed in with his clan's signature jutsu. He had hundreds of ideas for sure. But his main goal for the time being was to practice using his shadow catching technique in any way that he could, and as it was now apparent, was turning out to be a real pain.

"Kagemane no Jutsu!" Shikamaru shouted, his shadow acting as a lance and shooting out to catch his target.

The Naruto-copy he was aiming for lured it and leapt away. He got to a distance where it couldn't stretch any further and was hyper-extended to the point of stopping, watching the shadow spear jitter to a halt before sprinting around it and dashing at the user. The Nara, still holding onto the technique released it, and watched his shadow slide back towards him at the same rate his opponent was charging.

In almost perfect sync Shikamaru threw his guard up at the same time Naruto executed an arcing, right cross. The attack clashed with the defense with explosive results, the force of the former sending the Nara flying from his crouched state. He yelled out in shock, tumbling across the ground before landing himself in a kneeling position.

He looked up again with a huff, seeing the Naruto that had attacked him swing around on the outside, keeping his distance. Other Narutos scattered throughout the area also fell into orbit, running circles around the brown haired boy to find an appropriate opening. This put the Nara on the defensive as his eyes darted from one clone to the next.

He formed the trademark hand seal for his technique, readying himself for another charge.

"_My shadow needs to go further and faster! Come on!"_ the boy shouted in his head, his eyes darting right when he noticed a change in the formation. _"You can do it body. Keep going…"_

A Naruto clone came dashing at him at full speed. The teen responded to its attack by shooting his shadow straight out to the side without even having to turn to face his target, gritting his teeth to arc the point in a different direction and forcing the copy of the blonde to back off.

While this confrontation was going on in the middle of the clearing, closer to the forest line away from the conflict another session was also in full swing.

A copy of Naruto, or most likely the original one, was sparring with Hinata beside the training logs. With their most used fighting styles the two of them lashed out at one another in an awesome display of speed, technique and skill; the young Hyuuga's form of the _Gentle Fist_ taijutsu versus the jinchuriki's _Wing Chun_ kung fu. They seemed to go hand in hand in a confrontation, showing that at a certain level, both of them were equal.

Naruto backed away slowly, parrying a series of elaborate palm and finger strikes all jabbing for crucial points on his person. He redirected several aimed for his body and his arms especially, locking up the Hyuuga's left arm when she came in swinging and shoved his elbow into the base of her neck. He put pressure on the kunoichi, ceasing her movements altogether when he locked her up with her left arm extended.

The blue haired girl gritted her teeth through a red-face, not just from being put under serious strain from the lock but also due to the proximity Naruto was with her.

Byakugan activated, the girl shouted and unleashed a blast of chakra from specific chakra points along her trapped limb. This sudden expulsion of force had the jinchuriki release her and back off, while the girl leapt away and reassumed an offensive stance.

Switching from right hand extended to left fist extended, the jinchuriki whistled in surprise and walked around some, keeping his eyes locked on his opponent. Needless to say, he was greatly impressed with his teammate's progress thus far.

Asuma had really been giving Hinata and Shikamaru a thorough work over like a good teacher should.

"Wow! You're a lot stronger than you made yourself out to be, Hinata-chan!" the jinchuriki grinned. "I'd say… taijutsu alone; you're stronger than Kiba… _a lot_ stronger! You're awesome!"

Praised for her abilities, the girl felt her face begin to heat up. Her cheeks swelling red from his words of kindness, Hinata nearly lost it altogether but managed to shake herself out of it to keep a clear head. She smiled at the boy and acknowledged his compliments.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun."

"Heh…" the blonde grinned, extending his right and relaxing his hands into open palms. "Let's continue! We've got more work to do!"

"Right," the girl nodded affirmatively, leaping at him with great speed.

Surprised, Naruto backed away some more, parrying her straights and catching a strike aimed for his chest. He grinned and struck out with his right in an instant counter, only to have it parried upwards so that its power was nullified. His own response blocked, the Hyuuga followed through by rotating into him with a hooking strike aimed for his mid-section, close to where the spleen was.

Catching the attack hooking downwards, the blonde smirked and stopped it at the forearm with a right, locking her arm in place with his left palm at the joint before sending a cross for her cheek. Hinata spotted the sharp swing on the exchange and leaned back, spinning on the spot to relinquish her arm from his grip and following through with another spinning palm strike from the left.

Naruto stepped in and blocked her arm, putting his shoulder at her chest. When Hinata attempted to throw him off with a left jab due to her right arm still being extended, the jinchuriki thrust both arms out and parried her strike while preventing her other hand from following up. He then swiftly brought his left hand forward in a feint, stopping it just in front of the girl's face. The Hyuuga leaned back swiftly and struck with a right flick kick. However, before her foot even managed to lift off the ground, Naruto stepped forward and snapped his left leg out, knocking her foot back to the grass.

The blonde traded blows with the Hyuuga, throwing straights at the same time as his blocks while she parried and lashed out with palm strikes for his chest. Naruto redirected her strikes, snapping his right hand out to her midsection and grabbing her left wrist as it was being brought around for another hook, at the same time keeping her right fist extended. With her hands occupied and locked, Naruto struck out with a right sweeping kick to her forward leg to knock her off balance. The kunoichi sensed the threat and stepped back in an instant, twisting her right arm out of his grip and throwing another finger strike to his chest in a downward angle.

Naruto parried the attack and her return kick after she slid back, sparks flying from the chakra bursting out of her fingertips. He then followed up with a front kick, but the moment his leg snapped out Hinata leapt away, not allowing herself to fall prey to his sharp movements.

Hopping to a stop, she took a firm defensive stance with her left palm held forward and the right back at her waist. Gritting her teeth, Hinata stared hard at her opponent as he too reassumed his fighting stance, closing their second engagement with a staring contest.

"_I read that users of the Gentle Fist style attack using an internal method. I'm guess that the areas that they would most likely target include the muscles, organs and the chakra network,"_ Naruto thought to himself. He grinned when he switched the positions of his hands, taking into account everything he had experienced from his spar with his teammate and comparing it to the information he had read from his books._ "Being a part of a genius bloodline it's no surprise that Hinata is this strong. The Hyuuga clan's fighting style is said to be the most formidable in the village after all…"_

He was lucky he was just facing off against a teammate and a learner. If he was to actually do battle with a true master of the _Gentle Fist_ style like his teachers, he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he would be killed. Both he and Hinata had been exchanging hits equally to this point, yet neither one of them had actually suffered any serious damage, save for a couple of scathes and bruises.

There was still more to come though. No one had conceded defeat nor fallen to the other's punches yet. Besides…

This spar of theirs was becoming quite fun.

"You're really, _really_ strong, Hinata," Naruto acknowledged again with a nod, grinning from ear to ear. He could say this without fear or uncertainty, as he too had noted his own shortcomings in his summary of his comrade's abilities.

She was a damn good fighter.

Hearing his praise fall upon her without restraint for a second time this session, the girl blushed brightly where she stood and fidgeted uneasily. However, in spite of being a little flustered from his words and physically showcasing this, she managed to keep the right state of mind to retake her position and ready for another clash.

"Thank you… Naruto…"

After that exchange of pleasantries the pair went at each other for a third time, with Naruto employing the _Iron Cat Fist_ style he had started learning from Meow to engage. He opted to take the fight to an out-fighting distance, since the Hyuuga's _Gentle Fist_ was a style with excellent form and grace, capable of handling close-range taijutsu users with ease. Keep your distance and you were more than likely to get hit by their palm strikes, and if you tried to grapple or grab them, you would get blown off by their expulsion of chakra from their body if they're conscious of your efforts.

With that doejutsu of theirs Naruto was counting on Hinata to notice his movements quite clearly, which was why he needed more practice to overcome that particular barrier of insight.

Asuma, sitting high up in a nearby tree, noticed the seriousness being expressed by all three of his students as they worked their butts off in improving their specialties and techniques. He smiled to himself, seeing that the experiences they were having now were definitely affecting their skills for the better. Not only were they learning new material but they were also learning more about each other.

These were indeed ideal stepping stones to tread upon when creating a team. Become familiar with one another's weaknesses and strengths, and work on them.

Naruto was seeking improvements in his martial arts skills and coordination with his clones, as nearly all of his ninjutsu required him to engage in taijutsu in some way, shape or form. Shikamaru wanted to push the limits of his shadow techniques and create new methods of employing them, as well as fixing his stamina problems. And Hinata was improving her taijutsu's techniques and developing her confidence in the presence of the one affecting her the most.

The Jonin could clearly see that their efforts were gradually paying off, even if they were in bite size pieces.

Breathing on his cigarette, the instructor chuckled.

"Good work guys. Keep it up…"

XXX

**Over the next few days…**

…the training continued, following the incredibly booked schedule Asuma had purposefully lined up for his three little Genin.

To clarify, it was an incredibly repetitive routine of push-ups, sit-ups, sparring sessions, weight training, cardio, chakra exercises and a wider variety of interesting lessons. The entire context of the plan was built along the notion of effectively helping the young rookies in developing their skills further, and was made much more convenient in between the missions the members of Team 10 undertook day in and day out.

Although, could you really call the most monotonous, mind numbing tasks they helped the good people of _Konohagakure _complete, missions?

As mentioned before, these 'jobs' as they liked to be called, turned out to be the most annoying chores one could possibly imagine right off from day one; household activities that nobody else wanted to do and was pretty much dumped on _them_ for a good duration of their working days.

Naruto, Hinata and Shikamaru were certain that they were doing the most pathetic, painstaking stuff that the other people of the village didn't want or couldn't find the time to do themselves.

If endless marches didn't get armies back into shape, then D-Rank missions did just fine.

The first official mission that they undertook was Team 10's baptism into the world of the shinobi, but that was only the start of things to come. The other odd jobs the squad was subjected to in the days to follow involved a wide range of activities including babysitting, walking dogs, finding cats, one of which turned out to be a huge pain-in-the-ass named Tora, tending to gardens, and running errands for local businesses.

_See_, there was nothing overly dramatic or exciting about these missions whatsoever; it was just Asuma making a lot of noise over the walkie-talkies. It was exactly as Shikamaru had predicted earlier too; that the team would be completing jobs that required no strenuous efforts with absolutely zero consequences.

The only exception that could be made was that rascal Tora.

That cat had some really sharp claws.

Still, it was only to be expected of the most organized village in the shinobi nations. They really knew how to take advantage of their staff.

Today, all of Team 10 was assigned to chopping firewood and carting coal to be fed around _Konohagakure_ to local homes and businesses. Firewood was normally used by residential areas to warm houses and what not whereas coal, being more of an industrial resource, was used by blacksmiths, restaurants and etc for energy. You couldn't run a business without power and on this huge continent dominated by the _Shinobi Nations_, any and all amounts of resources were needed to fuel the fires and turn the gears of the great communities.

Asuma used this particular mission to kill two birds with one stone by having his team divide up their efforts and work-out, so to speak. Pushing around tones of material was good exercise, so what harm was there from getting them to sweat a little more?

While Naruto, leading up from his lessons with Ran and Yim, was chopping wood with a heavy axe to work on toning his back, Shikamaru was getting his butt into shape by dragging the heavy coal from the piles over to the wagons. While these two were assigned to their tasks specifically, Hinata was instructed by her teacher to move between her two teammates as support, from helping to pick up the pieces of wood the jinchuriki was cutting up to pushing barrows alongside Shikamaru. There was a lot of movement involved for her, which was good. At least they all had something to do as a squad.

Rolling out his fiftieth load for that day, the Nara suddenly stopped short of the wagon and collapsed on the handles of his wheelbarrow, breathing heavily.

Standing over by the shack at the gates where all the horse-drawn carts were parked, Asuma looked up from the mission log to see his student keeled over and exhausted. "What's up?"

"H-How…" Gulping in air, the brown haired boy ran a tired, backhand over his forehead. By ways of that action, he ended up smearing coal dust across his face, while at the same time looking up at their teacher supervising from afar. "How much longer… do we have… to go?"

Asuma pulled back his sleeve and glanced down at his watch. "I'd say about… two more hours."

"Dammit," Shikamaru groaned and draped himself over the handles. "I never thought that hauling stuff around like a machine for a day was such hard work."

The bearded Jonin grinned in amusement. "Oh? Broken already?"

"I've gone way beyond _that_ point," Shikamaru murmured spitefully while looking up at the steaming mound of coal sitting in the carriage he was leaning against. "This is by far the hardest D-Rank assignment we've had this month, why didn't I see this one coming?"

"It's just your basic manual labor assignment," Asuma replied while pointing towards his payload. "Dragging this stuff around for you guys should be a piece of cake. Guess your current state of fatigue says a lot about your physical fitness at this point. Keep at it if you want to get stronger."

Shikamaru moaned. It was supposed to be a whine of some sorts and not really a moan, but he couldn't be bothered putting any effort into his own exclamations of disappointment. He was tired enough as he was. "Do I have to?"

The man gave him a dead-panned look. "Do you want to go back to sparring with me for a whole afternoon?"

"Like it matters? You're just going to wind up kicking us around some more at the end of the week," Shikamaru replied, wiping his dirty hands against his vest. "My fate remains the same no matter which path I choose."

"Well… you can look at it this way," Asuma stated with a shrug. "At least you're getting paid to sweat bullets and get blisters this time."

Well, he couldn't argue with that. In any case though, it was in a Nara's nature to view manual labor as a drag. Shikamaru believed this so adamantly that even when accepting one positive he would immediately trade it in for a negative. This was made absolutely clear by when he picked at his ear and then glanced lazily back up at his teacher with yet another query.

"So… did you book this D-Rank mission for an entire week specifically to train us or are you just being mean?" the lazy boy inquired, straightening up his posture and using the handles on the wheel-about for support. He saw his instructor wave him a so-so hand gesture.

"A little bit from _Column A_ and a little bit from _Column B_."

"Rii-ight," the boy nodded, turning back to glare at the wagon he still had yet to completely fill.

The site they were working at was pretty much like a mining site, which had cranes and other steam powered machinery to help with heavy lifting and digging. Outsourcing shinobi labor however, seemed to be a whole lot cheaper than running the various pieces of equipment every working day. This must be the reason why the office in the _Administrative Department_ got so many calls from places like this, not to mention it gave _Konohagakure_ a reason to continue existing as a shinobi village. Almost every occupation across the entire country had shinobi involved in its inner workings in some way, more particularly around the hidden villages.

Looking around the place, and judging from the number of employees and the fact that Team 10 was one of the only working groups in this particular area, said that _a lot_ of people were expecting their team to do a good job here today.

Shikamaru kicked himself a little for coming to this conclusion. He pretty much assumed from that point that D-Rank missions did at least count for something other than to torment rookie Genin as well as to provide entertainment for their strangely sadistic teachers.

Maybe it was a circle-of-life kind of thing? The Jonin of the present were getting their turn of tormenting the youngsters after years of being picked on by their own instructors?

Breathing out, Shikamaru grabbed the handles of his cart and prepared to move out to toss it into the wagon. "No wonder ordinary workers are so cut. They haul this stuff in and out every damn day. Looks like I've still got some big shoes to fill."

Asuma chuckled, "That's the spirit, kid. Look on the brighter side of life." He flexed his bicep as a demonstration, since he knew Shikamaru was listening in as he dragged the wheelbarrow up the ramp to dump into the carrier. "If you want to attract the ladies from all angles, you gotta beef yourself up a little more. So to lose that skin-and-bones look, some occasional weight lifting will definitely get you there faster."

The Nara scowled.

Reaching the top of the platform, he elevated the handles of the wheelbarrow and dumped the stuff into the trailer. _"This can't continue forever. We need to get some kind of leverage on this guy so he stops mocking us so freely?"_ This thought dawned on him during his completing of his task as he began making his way back down to the stockpiles. _"Is he seeing anyone at the moment? Maybe we can get some dirt on him that way?"_

Damn, hanging out with that troublesome blonde must be giving him a bit of a nasty streak. Naruto's pleasantries and mischief did have a lot of impact at close proximity, so chances are he was getting some of the splash back.

"At least show a bit more enthusiasm," Asuma exclaimed, gesturing Shikamaru over to where Naruto and Hinata were still working. "Like your teammates. Can't you see how vibrant and easy-going they are right now?"

By easy-going, what he really meant was overly excessive and taking this work-thing way too much in stride.

"YEEAAAAAHHHH!" Naruto roared excitedly, spinning the axe around, grabbing it in a single-handed grip and bringing it down upon the lowly piece of timber standing before him. In one clean swoop, he split the piece of wood and watched the perfectly cut halves spin away and hit the ground in perfect sync of one another.

Boy, he was totally into it now.

His actions spoke loud and clear to all those watching, his swinging of the axe translating to, _'Finally, a D-Rank mission that was fun!'_

Lining three blocks in a row and sitting them up like their predecessors, Naruto brought his weapon back around and sliced down the lengths of all three of them, one after the other without fault.

The energy he was exerting was extraordinary, which probably meant he wanted to get this thing over and done with as quickly as possible. Or he could either just be making their situation appear more fun than it actually was or turn it into something he could work with?

Propping the massive swinger over his shoulder, the jinchuriki grinned and watched Hinata pick up the scattered halves to clear the way for more. "This is awesome! I can work my back muscles this way and get ahead of my hammer training!"

In order to strengthen his body, he had to make each slice precise and piercing. Any dull blows would mean he would either get the blade stuck or would have to start over, a probability he was trying his best to avoid.

Lining up four more in an arcing row, he aimed the sharp end of his chopper and attacked them with vigor.

When the chunks of wood went flying off for the hundredth time, he picked up another arm full and reset his position. "FIVE MORE, DATTEBAYO!"

Sweat flying and axe slashing through the air, the boy was _really_ making the most out of a backbreaking assignment.

Shikamaru gawked from where he stood with his wheelbarrow still in hand. "He's lost it?"

"Perhaps… or maybe it's just the adrenaline rush. Either way, at least he's getting the work done," Asuma grinned, clapping his hands loudly and getting the Nara to snap out of it. "Hop to it, kiddo. You've got two hours left, and once you're all done for the day I'll treat you guys to dinner tonight."

Though it wasn't much of a prize, at least there was something to look forward to. The shadow user resigned himself to his fate and kept on rolling, hauling ass back to the huge mountains of coal waiting to be carried off.

While on route, he spared one last glance over at Naruto and shared a small smile at his inspiring level of high spirits in regards to his chore.

"_Where does he get all his energy from?"_ the boy shook his head, beckoning his feet to move faster. _"I bet he's got special mitochondrion packed into his cells. It would help me heaps if I knew what his secret was…"_

Energized by God-knows what, Naruto continued swinging his axe around like a man on fire, cutting through swaths of logs with no signs of stopping. He kept up the pattern of cutting through five pieces, one group after the other in rapid succession. Granted he screwed up a few times, which through him off his beat only temporarily, he managed to get himself back into the game each and every time. He was in full party mode for some reason, the others just couldn't fathom why.

When Hinata ran back to pick up the pieces he had again dispersed around him, the girl paused momentarily when he set the axe down and wiped his brow. Looking up at the blonde, she saw him tugging on the collar of his orange jumpsuit to aerate himself, obviously overheated from his expense of energy.

"A-Are you okay, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, standing up with a new stack of cut up wood in her arms. "You're not overdoing it are you?"

"Oh, this?" the jinchuriki grinned while pointing out the sweat on his face. "Nah! This is normal. I'm giving myself the best workout I can before my sessions later this afternoon with Ran-chan, so I'm all good. I'm just a little bit hot, that's all."

With that thought in mind, Naruto then proceeded to cool himself off. Unzipping his jacket, he wrapped it around his waist and secured it tightly before then removing his blue shirt, all in order to capture whatever airflow there was to be felt.

The action of removing his jumpsuit top alone had Hinata blink in surprise, which then proceeded on to the next stage of an abnormal coloration of hot red, which literally rose up her face in perfect level of his shirt's hem being slipped up and over his head.

Now, normally girls would fan endlessly at the sight of their favorite eye-candy going bare-chested to shake off the strain of a good workout, but not in Hinata's case.

The moment Naruto shook his head and shrouded himself in that sparkly sensation of perspiration being thrown off of his person like you would normally see in Hollywood films. You know, those slow motion sequences where the hot guy/girl rises out of the ocean and flings their hair around, _that_ thing, well…

…the Hyuuga just lost it.

The moment the red reached the top of her head there was a light pop, followed by the appearance of a small mushroom cloud bursting from the very apex of her hair, seconds before she simply keeled over. Naruto didn't even realize something had gone wrong with his friend until he heard the sound of a light thud followed by the clatter of wood, causing him to look down at his fallen comrade.

"H-HINATA?" Freaking out like he normally would, the jinchuriki quickly swooped down and, taking her by the shoulders, attempted to rouse her back into consciousness. "H-Hinata, hey… come on, wake up! W-What's wrong with you? What happened? Did you get hit? Talk to me."

With a cute smile on her face, the blue haired girl unconsciously rolled her head over to the side. "Oh… Naruto-kun…"

Shikamaru and Asuma, who had witnessed the whole thing from their sides of the yard, responded to the sight in whatever manner of urgency they saw was necessary for that moment. While the Nara shrugged his shoulders, shook his head and carried on with his job, Asuma did his best to hold in his laughter.

Composing himself by extinguishing his cigarette and lighting another one, the Jonin grinned back over at the jinchuriki. Seeing him still fussing over his fainted companion, Asuma scratched his head and straightened up, giving his unique team further thought.

"_Though they still need a little more work, they're definitely growing."_ Rubbing his chin, he pocketed his hands and looked towards the sky with a smile. _"I've got a lot more stuff lined up for them… hopefully they'll be able to handle it…"_

Things were looking promising…

XXX

**A couple days later…**

**Naruto's backyard…**

**Mid-day…**

The jinchuriki yelled out in agony after receiving yet another jab to the face, followed by a heavy right which sent him barreling over backwards with the two statues he was carrying on his back in hand.

Seconds after his painful looking roll, he eventually skidded to a stop with his legs swung over him and the statues under his arms. The one responsible for his current condition as well as the blinding pain racking his now swollen cheeks was Meow, standing in a very relaxed fighting stance with her right fist extended and her shadow cast across him.

Grinning widely, the pink wearing girl was graced with the ever rare sight of Naruto's steam engine of a body finally chugging to a stop. Acknowledging this with a stretch, she slid out of her combat form, dusted her hands down and propped her hands on her waist. She gave the barely conscious boy a proud grin, despite his crumpled body and the groans escaping his lips, and turned heel.

"Well done!" Meow exclaimed, seeing her prey wither around on the ground uselessly. "You lasted longer today. Perhaps tomorrow you'll make it more interesting for me." She waved over her shoulder as she walked back over to the porch where Yim and the others were sitting. "Looking forward to it, nyah!"

Naruto, only just registering to anything, raised a weak hand and waved back, despite his awkward position. "M-Me too… unh…"

Flattening his form, the jinchuriki thought about chucking in the towel and calling it a day. However, before he could voice this decision or act upon it in any way, he felt a wet rag land across his eyes, which sort of jump-started him out of the muck.

Allowing the damp cloth to cool him off a little, the top-bare boy sat up and removed the covering from his face. When he did, he found himself staring at the ankle-level of a samurai's robe. Following it up, his eyes then landed on Ran smiling down at him with one hand placed on the bokken at her side and the other holding a second one up.

The kind warrior smiled and offered the wooden training stick out to him. "Feel up for a couple of shadow rounds with me?"

Blinking through puffed up eyes, the jinchuriki sprouted a grin and nodded enthusiastically, his energy returning. "Sure!"

Grinning as well, the samurai dropped the sword in his waiting hands before stepping back, allowing him to rise to his feet. After dragging the statues over to the side of the lawn so that they wouldn't get in the way, the pair eventually stood apart, bowed to one another, and then drew their bokken. Within moments, they began mimicking each other's actions, practicing single-handed kenjutsu that Ran was best known for.

While they danced across the lawn in sync with one another and fully in tuned with their environment, Meow sat herself beside Yim mediating on the porch. The two women smiled pleasantly towards each other, before locking their gazes back onto their student.

"Do you ever wonder what this place would be like without him around?" Meow asked curiously, tilting her head as she watched the blonde swing out and waltz through the techniques. "It's kind of hard to see…"

"It _would_ be hard to see in both senses if Naruto were to suddenly be spirited away from this world," Yim exclaimed, closing her eyes. "He's like a guiding light, one of the brightest stars in the sky providing comfort for those others shining around him. Though he may be different from them in many ways, he's still human and an exceptional one…"

Meow blinked at her when she finished, staring at the woman blankly.

Noticing her companion's confusion, Yim giggled and gazed ahead of her again. "I'm saying that things would be very different if he wasn't around. But in what ways I cannot say, there's just too much to think about."

"Oh!" Smiling brightly, the boisterous martial artist turned back to the spar with warm eyes. "Well… when you put it that way… Naruto glows… so if he were to disappear, I guess the world would get a little bit darker…"

Yim nodded in agreement when Meow finally hit the mark of what she was saying before. _"You listened to my words well."_

Ascertain that her friend was on the same page as her, the raven haired master continued on with her meditation with closed eyes. She kept a particular sense glued onto the training session, ensuring that Naruto was progressing comfortably. "We all share the same sky, so many of us can appreciate the ones we share this space with, even though others find it difficult to cope."

"What? You mean people like me and you can get along with others well, but a lot of other people can't," Meow inquired, raising an eyebrow and looking upwards. "That's pretty dumb."

"Some people are afraid of differences. Even though we're all born from the same soil we still treat others from across the lands and seas as if they mean to do us harm. However, in this life, the reality is that we all walk along the same path; one that's interconnected with many and branches out in infinite directions," Yim exclaimed.

"Yeah, there are a lot of roads," Meow grinned, making some silly hand gestures and crosses with her arms. "I meet heaps of interesting people and get into epic battles with those who wish to do the world injustice! Of course…" Giggling to herself, she ran her hand through her hair and waved it on the wind in a theatrical way. "Lady Meow and her Big Sis are always there to stop them!"

Yim chuckled, finding delight in her exclamations. "Not exactly what I was saying, but still… very true…"

A question mark popped up in the air above Meow's head. However, she chose not to dwell on the raven haired woman's response and instead went back to watching Ran and Naruto go through their drills.

It was while they continued swinging their swords around in a decisive performance that Yim had a sudden, rather discomforting thought that she immediately began dwelling over. A small frown appeared on her face as she looked up at Naruto with full intensity reflected in her eyes, all the while her mind proceeded to summarize his past sessions and development; from the day he started training under her wing to the present.

Her finger began to tap uneasily while she allowed her thoughts to roam free.

"_Naruto is indeed strong and is continuing to grow stronger with each passing session, however…"_ the martial arts master furrowed her brow. _"With all his cumulated skills and abilities… I'm just wondering… if he was to go on his first mission outside of this village, what if he was to face off against a foe much stronger than himself."_

There was good reason for her to be concerned.

"_He believes in the skills he was taught by us and the strength he has worked on… but… what if someone came around… and managed to tear those powerful beliefs apart…?"_

Meow noted her fellow teacher's change of expressions, but quickly dismissed her concerns when she saw a smile reemerge on the woman's face.

Yim chuckled to herself, realizing that maybe she shouldn't be stressing too much over her student's strengths. After all, she had just as much confidence in Naruto as Naruto had in himself, and his friends. He was a strong boy after all, she'd seen it herself.

He had the capacity to do the impossible.

"_Look at me… worrying like I'm his big sister or something…"_

Though it was hard to ignore, she couldn't help herself. They've been together for quite some time now that it was almost like they were becoming an actual family. It was only natural that people in that situation cared and worried about their loved ones so dearly.

Sitting next to the two older women, Kin was currently engaged in her own intense battle outside of Naruto's struggles. This was by no means a physical confrontation, but a battle of wits and strategy, in which she had challenged the resident's dove Mr. Woo to a _Shogi_ match.

The black haired former Sound Nin sat cross-legged and cross-armed with a deep scowl on her face as she glared impatiently down at the board. She watched as her pigeon opponent fluttered above it, picked up a piece, and moved it a few squares over, before landing back on its side of the battlefield. Kin tapped her chin thoughtfully after its move, holding her hand out and picking a piece, before sliding it over to try and take the king, only to hesitate.

She decided to take its rook instead…

Only to blindly fall into the bird's trap.

Crossing her arms again, she glared heatedly at the expressionless pigeon.

"So move!"

He responded instantly. The girl observed with an impatient glare as the dove carefully waltzed onto the board, picked up its bishop piece, knocked away the silver general blocking her king, and sat it down right in front of it. Kin's annoyed expression transformed into one of shock when she got another good look at the playing field and Mr. Woo eventually stepped off.

The kunoichi analyzed at every angle of the board possible, moving her hand out to pick a piece but hesitating and pulling it back just as quickly. Making uncomfortable whining sounds, she reached out for her rook.

"What if I…" The girl yelped when Mr. Woo leapt up and pecked her finger, making her pull back sharply and rub the sore spot. "Alright, alright… good move!"

Daring not to cheat against the bird, she took her king and pushed him out of check, watching a moment later as Mr. Woo moved his pawn over to block the king's path. It was quite clear to Kin that the bird was going to corner her and judging from the number of her pieces left on her side in comparison to the dove's remaining army, it had the girl start sweating up a storm.

She tugged on her jersey and grabbed her hair in an extremely frustrated manner, bawling out her dissatisfaction.

"Dammit! I can't believe I'm losing to a pigeon!"

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> _Like I said, it's all about Naruto, Shikamaru and Hinata's growth here and emphasizing on how they interact and train together as a team. Naruto is developing new clone techniques and working on his focus under Asuma, while Shikamaru and Hinata are getting their strengths and their own techniques built up. It also briefly talks about their missions and how frustrating it is for rookie teams, who have had high expectations for their periods of shinobi in the academy, get stuck with the simple, household chores of D-Rank missions._

_It's hilarious how the missions don't live up to their expectations. It makes them miserable and more entertaining._

_This will inevitably lead into Naruto's first C-Rank mission. So bear with me, because this next arc is going to get exciting._

_It's not the **Land of Wave Arc**; it's the **Land of Dusk Arc**, with concepts taken from the game **Naruto Ultimate Ninja Heroes 2: The Phantom Fortress.**_

_It's also where Team 10's training will be put to its ultimate test._

_Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter._


	16. Land of Dusk Arc: Kindred Spirits

**NARUTO**

**The Art of Appropriation**

_Kindred Spirits_

**Konohagakure…**

**The Third Training Ground…**

It had been a little over eight weeks since Team 10 had been formed and so far things have been going pretty smoothly for the lot of them. From the start of day one it was quickly established that Naruto, Hinata and Shikamaru all worked well together. This pretty much put them at a bit of an advantage above the other teams, because they were flexible and were willing to compromise. They weren't afraid to work together and they all supported each other in times of great doubt, so it was all good.

The most outstanding aspect about their team up to this point however had been the workload they were able to pull through. The team worked really hard… including Shikamaru of all people. The routine they followed was the same each and every day so there was very little time needed to be spent on briefing. Over the course of the working week, the mornings and early afternoons were occupied by missions, the stuff that they all despised with a passion. After pulling through a good seven hours of D-Rank, shitty labor, it was then straight off to the training fields for a good workout with their teacher or with each other. On most days it turned out to be the same-old same-old, and on other days Asuma mixed things up a little by giving them something new to do.

Either way, shinobi life was going well for them.

However, on days like the one that they were having now, the team had been given some time off, courtesy of Asuma Sarutobi. It became sort of a ritual as of late for the group to just get-together and hang out based on a unanimous agreement by all party members. Sometimes they would hit the town or go get something to eat, or they would just go to the training field and chill, and depending on their mood, train at their own leisure. Today turned out to be the latter.

Scattered around the area of the three logs of the training ground, the youngsters were indulging themselves in the activities that they hadn't had much time to acquaint themselves with in a while. Shikamaru was fast asleep under the shadow of a nearby tree, Hinata was wondering around the field and collecting flowers to put into her book binder, and Naruto was over by the wooden-man training dummy that he had used a clone to create earlier that morning. Asuma was also over by the same tree Shikamaru was under, fast asleep with a reed in his mouth and just relaxing.

Yup, it was pretty much the same old stuff that they were used to and a great interlude to have in their routine. All those who needed a break from the hectic schedule of their day to day lives definitely got it here.

Naruto breathed calmly as his hands struck and weaved around the extended arms of the wooden man, occasionally thrusting into the tree's center with double-palm strikes, straights and kicks. You could hear the piece of wood clatter and clink with every hit that landed, its foundations shaking from the variety of combinations the jinchuriki was walking through.

The commotion he made had Hinata look his way momentarily from her little activity. The girl blinked when she watched him work for a bit, a sight that brought a smile to her face and warmth to her cheeks.

She cupped her hands together, _"Naruto-kun is truly passionate about his training. His admirable strength knows no bounds…"_

After a brief moment of silent admiration, the Hyuuga then returned her attention to the clusters of flowers around her and knelt down.

Opening her book up, she flipped through the pages quickly to see whether or not she had any bluebells in her collection. Finding none, the girl attentively picked a couple from the small brush in the grassland, before slipping them into the pages and flattening them in. She then stood back up and went about finding some other diverse plants she could bring back with her.

There wasn't much point checking up on Asuma and Shikamaru right now. I mean, how many things could actually change while they were asleep? Aside from a damselfly landing on Shikamaru's nose, there was nothing new going on with them.

Naruto smiled, hooking around the extended arm, throwing combos into the pillar's side before then stepping in to the right swiftly, parrying the arm and rotating in with a right cross. The counter movement was sharp and fast just like how he had practiced hundreds of times before, and with his _Slicing Cross_ technique, slammed it into the supposed head of the wooden man.

The hits from before caused the dummy to tremor and rattle, but this blow lifted it off of its foundations and caused it to flip. A loud bang was heard when its head hit the floor, seconds before a white puff of smoke engulfed it and it transformed back into a clone.

The clone had an expression of clear shock with a fist imprint on its face and blood flying from his mouth. It thudded loudly when its whole body hit the ground, the copy groaning in pain while the original Naruto stepped out of his executed punch and smiled down at his fallen duplicate.

"Pretty awesome, huh?" the blonde exclaimed, holding up his right fist. He completely ignored the condition of the earth clone he had created that was starting to crack at the face and froth at the mouth. "My _Slicing Cross_ is the strongest technique in my arsenal next to my _Armor Piercer_. If I keep working on it, maybe I can transform it into the perfect finishing move!"

"Yeah… just…" the clone groaned while its face started cracking up even more from where it was punched. "Don't… use _us_ as practice dummies for it…" It then transformed back into its original texture and crumbled away into a pile of dirt.

Flexing his wrist, Naruto smiled and looked over to where Hinata was picking flowers. Sparing a glance or two back over to where Asuma and Shikamaru were dozing, the jinchuriki grinned and wiped his thumb under his nose. _"I'm glad to have been put on this team. It's quiet times like these that you can spend with them… that I enjoy the most."_

With that little cheer, he then jogged over to where the Hyuuga was walking about. Though he caused her to fluster a bit when he suddenly came by and offered to help, Hinata accepted his offer albeit a red face.

* * *

><p><strong>Two days later…<strong>

Tenten giggled happily as she sat at a table inside the small restaurant in the center of _Konohagakure_ called _Maru,_ delighting in the smell of the plate of noodles being laid out in front of her. Thanking the waitress, she then picked up the chopsticks provided, split them and prepared for a delightful lunch.

"I really appreciate you taking me out and all, Naruto-chan," the girl exclaimed, looking across at the boy smiling back at her as his dish was also laid out in front of him. "But I can't help wondering why?"

"Well… I guess I just wanted to thank you for inviting me over to your place when you did," the boy replied with a simple shrug, also going for his chopsticks and splitting them. "I needed to pay you back after all."

"Oh, there's no need for that," Tenten grinned, leaning over a bit and giving the boy a mischievous gaze. "However, that's not the real reason, is it?"

Naruto blinked, pausing momentarily out of confusion. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"You want something, don't you?" the girl asked, rubbing her chin thoughtfully while sizing up her opponent. "There's some dark _ulterior_ motive going on here, isn't there?"

"W-What?" Quickly realizing where she was going with this a lot faster then he thought she was, the blonde jumped in his seat and waved his hands frantically in front of him. "No! No! It's not that!"

"Hmm?"

Flustered, the boy began his shaky and unprepared response toward the girl's prying inquiries. "I-I just wanted to hang out with you, is all Ten-chan! I… I really like talking with you, yah know. T-There's nothing funny going on here. Honest."

"Then throw me a bone," the girl smiled plopping her chopsticks in the egg noodles on her plate and stirring a bit. She then tapped it rhythmically, indicating a progression of thought. "Though I don't go out as often as I should the only real company I've ever spent time with are with my teammates and my sensei. But not even Lee or Neji are bold enough to take me out to lunch on their own, even in their off time. I can't help but be curious."

"Well… it can't be that weird," Naruto murmured, scratching the back of his head. Though his cheeks did show a bit of red, he couldn't help but feel that the awkwardness of what his friend was suggesting hadn't gone away yet. She was still giving him that all-knowing stare that had the power behind it to put anyone on edge. "I mean… I hang out with Yim-chan and Ran-chan whenever they want to go out to town, and I love playing board games with Meow-chan whenever we're at home. It's pretty cool to hang out with your team and all, but I also think it's great to hang out with some of your other friends outside of the squad, yeah?"

"Hmph," Tenten smirked, entangling noodles in her chopsticks and holding it up to make sure it was well mixed. "So it's just a regular thing with you, huh? Sorry if I sounded like I was prying but it's just that I'm not normally asked out to lunch by a lot of boys. A lot of them are either too busy or I just ask _them_ out."

"So… you like… ask your teammates to go chill somewhere as well?" Naruto asked, watching the girl slurp up noodles and go for some dumplings.

Tenten stopped when she was about to pick up a wonton and looked up at her companion. She gave him a half-smile and shrugged. "Yeah, I try. But whenever we go somewhere or do something remotely fun most of the time we hang out _as_ a team, since it's like, the _only_ time any one of them says they're available. Whenever I ask either Lee or Neji whether one of them wants to go do something together, Lee is either off doing something 'youthful', doesn't show, shows up late or is too busy, and Neji says he's always booked or whatever." Tenten let out a disappointed sigh and shook her head. "Sometimes I wonder how we ever made it as far as a team in the first place. Though I enjoy hanging out with Lee and Gai-sensei, Neji… well… ever since the four of us became a team he's been very distant from us… and even though he's really good… he's still kind of an ass now that I think about it…"

"Oh," Naruto blinked, getting a better picture of what his friend's team is like. He gave the girl a small smile. "So he's one of _those_ guys, right?"

"Neji?"

"Yeah, I think I know exactly the kind of person you're talking about," Naruto exclaimed, clicking his chopsticks together and drawing circles in the air with them. He looked off absently while trying to think of a way to best describe the person this Neji character was leading him to. "I've known this guy in the academy for years now. You could always find him somewhere sitting on his own or wandering around with his hands in his pockets. His name's Sasuke. Do you know him?"

"Huh? You mean Sasuke of the _Uchiha Clan_, the last of the Uchiha?" Tenten leaned forward curiously, putting down her chopsticks momentarily. "His name's been tossed around quite a bit. Yeah, I've heard of him. What about Sasuke?"

Naruto scratched his neck, making a bit of a disgruntled face. "Ever since I met him, I always thought the guy was a bit of a dick too. Wherever he went he was always swamped by crowds of girls and other kids wanting to be friends with the 'coolest' guy in school. But whenever anybody tries to get close to him, he always just ignores them and walks away. Hell, he didn't treat me with any respect or glance my way even once until the end of the exams." The blonde hit the table with his chopstick hand curled into a fist, rattling their food and looking up at the kunoichi listening in to his story intently. "Though I thought it was cool that we could finally talk, his attitude still pisses me off."

"Maybe… he's still upset over his clan being killed by his brother, you know?" Tenten suggested with a small smile. "Something like that would definitely shake a person up."

"Yeah… well…" Naruto sighed and looked down at his plate a little crestfallen. "I wouldn't really know. I never had a mum or dad or anything like that, so asking me what it's like to lose a family in one night is like asking an ordinary person what it's like to fly across the mountains every morning." The blonde looked up at the girl with a lop-sided smile. "If you haven't experienced it, then you can't really understand what it's like. Maybe that's why Sasuke and I never got along very well."

Tenten tilted her head at him. Considering his words carefully, she then beamed at the young man and nodded. "I never looked at it that way before."

"Ah, it's no big deal. I guess I just had a lot of time to think about stuff like that whenever I was alone," Naruto said with a wave. "But yeah, if the guy on your team… Neji was it, is anything like the Sasuke I know from the academy, then I definitely know the type of guy you're talking about."

"Yeah," the girl chuckled, leaning back again to return to her meal. She picked up her chopsticks and the wonton dumpling she was initially after and plopped it in her mouth. "Mmm… it's funny how teams work sometimes. You can either get along with them like they're family and fail altogether on missions, or you can have a crappy relationship with them and do exceptionally well. Or you could have both; a good friendship and a great track record," the girl exclaimed between chewing and swallowing.

"It's different for everybody I guess. I mean… I could have wound up on a team with Sasuke _and_ Sakura-chan. Tsk… man, how terrible would that have been?" No matter how hard he tried to think about it, he just couldn't see it. To him it was mostly a sort of pipedream to be put onto a team with Sakura, but being on one with Sasuke?

That would have been a disaster for the world waiting to happen.

In either case, Sasuke was Shino's problem now, and he had no complaints about it thus far so why start?

"So what's it like being on your team?" Naruto asked curiously, seeing Tenten enjoy nibbling on the char siu included with the wonton mee noodle dishes they had both ordered and were currently enjoying with interval conversation. The blonde picked up a dumpling and crammed it into his mouth at the same time the kunoichi looked his way. "You know… hanging with that Lee guy and the miserable one?"

"It's okay," Tenten replied picking up her side of tea and holding it in front of her with both hands. "Like I said, Lee I have no problems with. However, like our teacher, he's a very… eccentric sort of character." She giggled and stared at the blonde consuming both noodles and roast pork like he had a black hole for a mouth.

Looking at the picture from afar, the boy sort of resembled a Grouper fish trying to bite off more than it could chew. So when he gazed back at the girl with his mouth full and a smile, Tenten had to stop herself from laughing outright. "Actually, he's very much like you. I might have said this before but I just can't stop thinking about it. With the exception of the jump suits, the hair-dos, and the exclamations of youth, you're practically identical twins by character."

Swallowing the mass of noodles and pork lodged in his jaw in one gulp, the jinchuriki smiled. "So he trains a lot?"

"Oh yeah," Tenten grinned, "From dusk till dawn, non-stop. He gets that attitude towards hard work from his teacher. Hell, whenever they go out on one of their marathon runs together, they keep running day and night. They even run while they're asleep."

"Wow. What does he do? A lot of ninjutsu and heavy lifting stuff? He must be a pro."

"He's a pro… I guess, but not in ninjutsu, oh no. Lee can't use ninjutsu, all account of his inability to mold chakra properly," Tenten said, taking hold of her chopsticks and jabbing them in his direction with a smirk. "He's a taijutsu specialist; body and soul, a born athlete!"

"Seriously?" Naruto exclaimed, rising out of his seat a little and leaning over sharply. Tenten had to back off a little at the amount of sunlight coming off of him in that instant, a display that had a lot of the patrons at the surrounding tables look their way in surprise. "Man! I so _have_ to meet this guy!"

"Oh, I'm sure you will some day if you keep hanging out with me," Tenten chuckled nervously, waving her utensils at him. "But don't go regretting those words of yours. Out of our entire team, Lee is physically the strongest, fittest and has the most stamina. Pit your fighting style against his and I'd say you'd probably be one of the only Genin around who could actually give him a run for his money."

"Interesting. Interesting," Naruto rubbed his chin thoughtfully, looking away with a conniving grin and eyes that said the exact same thing. He then looked back over at her. "And Neji?"

"More or less except for that cold, superiority complex of his," Tenten replied, but then sent a weary expression the jinchuriki's way. "But don't you go picking a fight with Neji. He may seem like a pansy on the outside, but he's got the right amount of bite to back up his bark. Not only is he a genius, elected rookie of the year before yours and great at using that _Gentle Fist_ style of his, he's also the strongest Genin in the village."

It was her second point that had Naruto pause momentarily.

He gave the kunoichi a blank stare, to which she maintained her firm gaze on him. She added a few blinks of confusion when she became aware of the change in his expressions.

"Wait a moment, is Neji a… Hyuuga?"

"Y-Yeah," Tenten shrugged, "Neji Hyuuga of the _Hyuuga Clan_. He's a part of the branch family so that puts him in the servant class … even though he doesn't act the part. Actually, he hates the main house with a passion and isn't afraid to say so, as does a lot of the other members with a grudge against the main family."

"Why would he hate the main family?" Naruto inquired with a blink. "Aren't they… like… you know… _family_? Aren't they supposed to love each other and all that?"

"Kind of, but it's a pretty fractured relationship. The branches outside of the main family aren't treated as fairly or respectfully as members of the main branch. It's up to the branch family members to protect and serve the main house without question. If they don't, then they get severely punished," Tenten explained, twirling her chopsticks between her fingers skillfully.

"W-Why?"

The girl smiled weakly and tapped her forehead protector with her utensils, a chinking noise ringing out as she did so. "All members of the branch family are branded with a cursed seal, which can be found on their foreheads. If they act disobediently or show any signs of hostility towards the main house, any standing member of the main house may activate the seal to inflict pain upon the insubordinate branch member till they fall back in line or kill them. This curse mark gives the main family absolute control over the branch family members."

"That's horrible," Naruto replied, reeling back at the news.

"But that's only the icing on top of the cake," Tenten stated, lowering her chopsticks back down to her plate. "The seal's main purpose is to act as a countermeasure. If an enemy shinobi happens to kill a Hyuuga of the branch family, the seal activates and destroys the defeated Hyuuga's Byakugan… the doejutsu that they are most famed for." The kunoichi pointed at her eyes for illustrative purposes. "This is done so in order to prevent any enemy shinobi or other villages from stealing the Byakugan for themselves. It is also the role of the branch family members to sacrifice themselves willingly for the main house, so steps are taken by the clan heads to ensure that branch family members always take the hit in the stead of the main house."

"That's even worse," the jinchuriki exclaimed in outrage, his voice's volume climbing. He then flinched when he noticed that restaurant patrons had turned to stare at him again because of his numerous outbursts, and he immediately shut himself up. "Sorry," he waved apologetically.

"That's okay, I'm used to it," the kunoichi replied with a casual gesture. She had no problems with his exclamations at all since she'd spent most of her entire shinobi life up to this point on a team with two of the most embarrassing people on the face of the planet with more live performances than a stand-up comedian. Tenten let out a heavy sigh and smiled at the blonde. "Neji got the short end of the stick in that draw, but he is an exceptionally good shinobi without question. He's got genius abilities that should have been born into the main house."

"So he's that strong?" Naruto murmured in an almost side-thought, scratching his head. He then smiled a little and looked up at the girl. "Now that I think about it some more, I guess I wouldn't mind getting into a fight with him. Heck, it might be an interesting match-up."

"B-But," Tenten blinked, almost dropping her chopsticks. The kunoichi began freaking out. "Hang on a second, w-weren't you listening to what I've been saying this whole time?"

"Yeah. Yeah. Of course I was," Naruto quickly interjected, letting out a dry chuckle and rubbing the back of his head. "I'm just saying that it might be fun, you know. It's not like I resent the guy or anything like that, but I guess I just want to fight him because… well… I think I know where he's coming from."

"Huh?" the kunoichi blinked. "Really?"

"That curse mark on his head, the burden he carries, the thing that's branded him and his entire family… I think that's what he's so upset about," Naruto grinned and massaged his neck, trying to find the right words to utter on such a delicate subject. "I can understand why he's so upset because… I have the same problem that he has… the same that the whole branch family has; a burden."

"S-Seriously," Tenten choked, leaning forward to get a closer look at him to make sure he wasn't pulling a fast one over her. "You mean…?"

"It's not something I like to talk about or mention that often, but I guess if you want to cheer somebody up you've got to know where they're coming from." The jinchuriki absently placed his hand over his stomach and rubbed it, having learned not too long ago from a book Shiho had given him of where the Kyuubi might be sealed. It was quite discomforting, knowing that he had something so large crammed into his gut, but it also gave him an idea of what some people with an unfortunate history might be experiencing today. "Maybe if I talked or fought with the guy sometime, maybe I can make him feel better or something, I don't know."

Tenten stared, wondering what could make the boy in front of her so willing to help someone and go so far as to even tread into an uncomfortable subject, and mentioning that he too was branded in a similar manner to her teammate. Though she had very little if not any idea of the latter, she couldn't help but express her curiosity visually. However, seeing that he didn't want to say anything else beyond that, all the kunoichi could do at this point was trust in his word and hope for the best.

Sitting back, the girl smiled again and gave the boy a more considerate expression. "You're an odd one, but I guess there's a deep history behind _that_ am I right?"

Naruto chuckled nervously and scratched his cheek. "Guilty."

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I'm sure I'll find out sometime in the not too distant future," Tenten grinned, going back to her noodles by picking at them. She gave him a mischievous smile as he began taking careful sips of his tea beside him. "After all, we're best friends right, Naruto-_chan_?"

The rookie nearly choked on his drink at her carefully placed, affectionate suffix. "Stop with the _chan_ stuff already, it's really weird," the blonde whined, slowly turning back to his activity with a blue face.

His enthusiasm continued to plummet at her ongoing use of the honorific in the time to follow.

"Oh, but I think it suits you well, Naru-chan," Tenten exclaimed, making it sound even cuter then before. This made the blonde pale till he was just a 2D sheet of white with a black outline of himself. The kunoichi giggled at his change of expression or lack of one. "You are so much fun to hang around."

"Ugh… ditto…Ten-chan." His own honorific and shortening of her name as of recently wasn't as bad as his because the girl actually fancied his nickname towards her. The main reason he didn't like his was because his companion was going out of her way to constantly treat him like a child, and a cute one at that.

He wasn't cute! He was macho! A real man! A MAN!

However, his display wasn't one too convincing. He dressed in orange, wore childish pajamas and enjoyed a strawberry sundae while watching _Love and Other Facts_ with Yim every afternoon on his TV.

(To readers) Shut up… everyone has their guilty pleasures…

Real men aren't afraid to eat strawberry sundaes! Fact of life.

Naruto believed this so adamantly that even with all the criticisms and put downs from years of being with overly judgmental people, he refused to change the things that made him the individual that he was. That was something that Yim, Ran and Meow respected him greatly for and hoped he'd never change about his character. Before meeting his teachers it was his saving grace. After improving his skills phenomenally under their tutelage, it pretty much rounded out his character and gave him another weapon in which to wield that would never falter nor decay. His little quirks were timeless.

Tenten seemed to admire this as well, a quality which she couldn't help but exploit for her own personal satisfaction. He was a great friend for not putting up too much of a fuss over it.

But remember, friends in these scenarios always if not often found a way to get ammunition to fire back with. Naruto was that sort of a bastard, one which truly shone in his eyes when he noticed something off about Tenten's eating habits.

She was enjoying her meal.

She was enjoying her meal _a lot_!

Watching her just devour the noodles like somebody hadn't eaten in three days and drinking tea alongside it, while still maintaining some dignity… _some_… it just made the blonde snicker at the possibilities. Looking at his kunoichi friend eating freely across from him, with his devious little mind Naruto was easily able to cook up a little plan, using the girl's noticeable habits as his ingredients.

Grinning after slurping up the uncut noodle strand that managed to hang on to his lip, the boy smiled across at Tenten when she began shoveling down dumplings again.

"Ten-chan."

"Yuearh?" the girl replied through a mouthful of food. The sight of her bloated cheeks and sauce on her face had the boy snicker more prominently.

"You really like food from Foshan, don't you?"

The girl blinked, pausing momentarily at his question. She glanced between her plate and back up at him, seeing his gaze locked firmly onto her. It was as if he was probing for something. Unfortunately with the euphoria from the smells and tastes in her mouth overpowering her common sense, she had very little to no inkling as to what his stare was implying with all its visual cues.

"So? It's good. What's your point?"

Naruto grinned and held out a tissue for her, waving it a little to draw her attention to it.

"I now know your weakness, Ms. Freckle face." The grin at the end said it all. "Don't go repainting the walls with the way you slurp up noodles now."

Realizing at that instant that her mouth had oyster sauce splattered all around it, the girl blushed a bright scarlet before grabbing the tissue and wiping her face down, nose and all. She looked away, while throwing the smirking boy a dirty glare before her redirection of focus.

"You'd better not…"

"Oh don't worry," Naruto grinned evilly. "This is just between you and me. I'd hate to _stain_ your praiseworthy reputation as a great kunoichi with stuff like… you're a sucker for overseas delicacies?"

"So what if I don't have proper dining etiquette," the girl frowned his way, lowering the tissue with a deep scowl. "It's not like yours is any better."

"True, but the fact is I'm a dude and am not afraid of making an ass of myself in public," the jinchuriki replied plain and simple. "I've got my own reputation to keep feeding. However… since you're someone who takes great care of her appearance and wishes to make the perfect presentation each and every time… well…"

"Alright, alright, I get it," Tenten huffed, looking away again. She was still bright red, unable to believe she was able to lose her cool over a good bowl of foreign food for even a second. She loved food from the country of Qing, she couldn't help it. Wonton mee was the bomb! "This is payback for me teasing you, isn't it?"

"Bingo," Naruto exclaimed, pulling his plate closer and picking up his chopsticks. "Well, let's not let this delicious meal go to waste!" And so he too began his everyday ritual of pigging out; not so much that it'd draw a lot of attention but enough to make Tenten believe that what he said to her, he _meant_. The boy wasn't at all ashamed of his eating habits while she on the other hand wanted to maintain as much dignity about herself as possible.

What honorable man would want to marry a girl like that?

Unfortunately though, there were moments when she unconsciously let her guard slip and her own, true habits were exposed to the world. Her display moments before was no exception.

While she sat there, cheeks puffed out indignantly and still looking a little flustered, the shinobi in orange smiled up at her and pointed in her direction with his utensils.

"You missed a spot…"

Heating up again, she let out a squeak and went about cleaning her cheeks again with the tissue. Acknowledging this, the jinchuriki couldn't help but let out a light chuckle.

"_Life is good."_

* * *

><p><strong>Two days later…<strong>

**Naruto's backyard…**

The atmosphere was fresh with the smell of a beautiful lunch being made on a stove, seeping out of the nearby window, and perspiration flying through the air as the local jinchuriki drove nails into wood. You could interpret this to be more of a literal sense because Naruto was going out of his way on working to strengthen his fists.

For that entire morning the blonde had been stuck in his backyard near one of the training posts Meow had set up for him. The post was similar to the ones that could be found on the _Third Training Ground_, but while they did look similar in many respects they were in no way fashioned from the same material.

The tree this post was made out of was an _Iron Wood_ tree, one of sturdiest pieces of material that could be found within _Konohagakure_. It was in fact the strongest wood next to the _Rock Wood_ tree, the differences being that the Iron Wood had a smoother surface and could take a hell of a lot more punishment. It took industrial based equipment to cut through this stuff, making them the ideal posts for taijutsu and ninjutsu practice. At that very moment, Naruto was laying into the pillar of natural strength with all he had, bombarding it with a combination of punches, elbows and kicks.

These weren't conventional attacks though. Naruto was using Meow's _Iron Cat Fist_ style to deliver the blows. While it combined general attacks with an orthodox style such as ordinary jabs, round house and jump kicks, the jinchuriki was also instructed in various other unusual techniques. The most prominent attacks associated with this style included clawed hand strikes and straights using the finger knuckles, as opposed to the ordinary fist. The kicks also required more use of the toes, the training he had gone through under the martial artist's watchful eye resulting in more than a handful of painful memories.

The pain associated with strengthening his fingers and toes to meet the _Iron Cat Fist _style's requirements was a real killer, and still is. He could feel it burning into his joints as he drove his palms, nails and fingers into the hard wood. Sweat flew, dust from the bark hung in the air, and grass kicked off of the lawn as Naruto circled the stump and just poured it on.

The post rattled and shook with every blow, with not a single dent making its mark on the length of wood. Though it was Naruto's intention to one day overcome the very object of his waking nightmares, he wanted to get there at the pace his teachers saw fit for him to pursue. By living up to their high expectations, he could progress smoothly into the next levels of his training.

Right now, it was all basics.

Basics, basics, basics…

This word was nailed further into the back of his mind with every punched he drove into his sturdy opponent. Wearing only his orange pants and small boulders tied to his ankles for weight, he hammered the post with jabs, before leaping off of the grass and spin-kicking the tree in where the face would be. He literally grabbed the stump with his toes, dug into it and held. He then twisted and swung another kick with his free leg into it, the slam of his shin into the wood rattling the post once again before he kicked off of it expertly, flipped through the air, and landed on all fours much like a cat.

He then leapt at the post again and lunged at it with right hooks, his fingers curled into claws as he gnashed at it ferociously. Thrusting elbows and conventional hits into it between clawed strikes, he finished off the combo with a swift side kick to it before leaping away again. He landed, left palm extended and right pulled back, with both fists curled almost to resemble cat paws. Rule of thumb for this style was to use these as a part of an offensive stance, as it allowed the user to attack with snapping movements and sharp strikes.

Panting from exerting movements, Naruto grinned and widened his stance.

"_I love this! This is a whole new level of fighting I never thought I'd be able to experience before!"_ Naruto grinned. _"I'm fighting like I'm walking on clouds. Not only am I developing out-fighting quickness but my mid-range and in-fighting swiftness has improved heaps. I've got to give Meow something back for this. I'm rubbing out all of my weaknesses!"  
><em>

However, he acknowledged that increased speed did reduce power unless he used bodily rotations effectively with his movements. Therefore, he opted to train more in strength building to allow him to possess power _with_ increased speed. That meant developing strength with power. You could not neglect the other if your goal was to one day become a well-rounded fighter.

That being said, his punches already packed a wallop but what was so wrong with continuing to build on existing floors? He wanted to reach even higher levels.

Pausing momentarily, he looked down at his fists and flexed his fingers to test how they were doing so far. Aside from the bruises around his wrists from the long pole exercises, his hands were also showing the strain of his hand to hand work outs. Moving from hitting the rock wood stump to the iron wood has caused his knuckles to become afflicted with various cuts, scuffs, bruises, blood blisters, and all forms of damage that could possibly come from excessive hitting. However, those wounds have become but calluses at this point and he was now able to effectively dish punishment out on an immovable object with few issues.

He needed more work though. More training was required for him if he was to truly become adapt at controlling his techniques without thought. It needed to become reflex and welded into his instincts.

Smiling, he reassumed his stance and continued, throwing jabs and straights into the log.

Unbeknownst to him, while he began working this style in to try and add another element to his _Art of the_ _Blocking Fist_ form, he failed to notice Kin walking by the backdoor. Because the door was wide open, it allowed the raven haired girl wandering around with a magazine in her hand to chance a glimpse of him training on his own out of her peripheral vision.

Though it wasn't something new or out of the ordinary, the girl couldn't help but freeze up for a moment and simply stare out toward him upon catching his intricate use of acrobatic martial arts. Bare chest and bare foot, he was really giving it his all as indicated by the amount of sweat flying off of him with every attack executed with almost pinpoint precision.

Stepping towards the exit, the kunoichi clung onto the frame of the sliding door and watched like a timid observer as he worked himself to the bone. Blinking curiously, Kin marveled at his punches as they became intertwined with the rhythm of his kicking techniques, which he began throwing out ferociously and with great skill. Low sweeping kicks to flying and spinning jump kicks, his bare feet just rammed into the post as if he were fighting with an actual opponent.

It was one of the many advantages of shadow sparring; you were able to imagine who you were battling against.

Though she had initially found his suffering one to be enjoyed, I mean… who wouldn't find pleasure in a close companion bawling in pain from a little bit of discipline? A series of aggressive, educational sessions that she didn't have to sit through was a most rewarding thing to bare witness too, and apparently his teachers took some small measure of entertainment from it too.

However, when he wasn't suffering, crying or winging about his aching feet or whatever, Naruto was actually a splendid looking shinobi when he trained. Technique, grace and form, not to mention strength that seemed almost limitless, he had it all. Whenever the spotlight was on him and showcasing these very qualities about his person, from time to time, Kin had watched him with a gleam of admiration in her eye.

The girl genuinely smiled as she watched him continue to train, but turned away to hide herself behind the door when he circled the log. The blonde continued jumping in, out and around with no signs of slowing down, while at the same time the former kunoichi kept out of sight for fear of being discovered.

Grabbing the collar of her khaki shirt, the girl looked over her shoulder where just meters beyond the sliding doors Naruto was training hard.

She couldn't help herself. In a word, watching him commit himself to a task and get serious was simply awe-inspiring. Deep down, it made her excited…

But hold on, not in the way everyone is probably thinking!

The girl looked down at her hands from left to right, rolling them over so that she could look at both the back and the front. She then curled her fingers into fists and took the stance she had learned from her time spent in Otogakure under the various, tough, regimented instructors assigned to her. Because taijutsu could be executed even without chakra, there was nothing holding the girl back in throwing out a few dozen combinations and kicks. However, as opposed to what she had initially thought was a masterful display of technique when she was a fighting force to be reckoned with, she realized that it wasn't anything like she thought it was before.

Throwing a jab, the girl blinked and brought her fist back to her. Looking down at it she gazed at her knuckles, clenching and unclenching her fingers repeatedly.

Her thoughts dawning over the idea in her mind, the girl clenched her fist tightly and jabbed out, this time in a sloppy manner lacking any real effort.

"_It doesn't feel right. C-Compared to his…"_ Kin thought, her eyes moving about as she pondered on her memories of the boy sparring as well as matching his style up with her own style she remembered practicing. Biting her bottom lip, she looked around the door again, where she saw Naruto working the wooden pillar over with jab combos. _"His focus and the skills he possesses right now… they're unbelievable. After only just a few weeks he's made so many leaps forward in his fighting abilities it's… it's almost unfair."_

Seeing the sweat fly off of him from executing a spinning back kick, Kin smiled again when she saw him jump away. Hopping on his back foot, he then leapt off of it, threw it around in a spinning fly kick and slammed it into the wooden pillar. Dust blew off of the ground from the exertion of force he committed to the kick combo, after which he then fell back to the ground and assumed his _Iron Cat_ stance once again.

"_It's amazing,"_ Kin smiled. _"That all it took for him to get this far was hard work and sheer grit."_

Finishing with a sharp jab to the stump, Naruto suddenly got this strange feeling like he was being watched. Following his nose or wherever this other sixth sense was leading him, he glanced over toward his house, where he saw Kin standing behind the sliding door and peering around at him. He saw the girl visibly freak out and with a barely audible 'kya', ducked behind the _shoji_.

Blinking in surprise, the blonde smiled and stepped out of his fighting stance. "Hey Kin-chan, what are you doing hiding over there?"

"N-N-Nothing," the girl squeaked back. Suddenly realizing that was the wrong way for _her_ to respond, she cleared her throat and quickly doubled-back. "I… I mean… It's none of your damn business, kid!"

"Oh?" Naruto smiled and tilted his head. "Really?"

"Yeah!" she snapped back.

The blonde chuckled. "Because it looks to me like you're spying on me. Is there something bothering you?"

"M-Me? Spying on you!" Kin spat, looking away with a huff even though he couldn't see her. "Like I give a damn? The only times I actually watch you train are when you're either getting your ass kicked around by your teachers or you're crawling around on your hands and knees, crying and dragging a boulder behind you." She scowled in his direction, toward his unchanging and unwavering happy expression. "From a bystander's point of view, that shit's funny."

"Really?"

"Y-Yeah," Kin blinked, realizing that his smile wasn't dropping, faltering or anything of the sort. She stared back when he continued to gaze her way.

Feeling as though she was exposed in some unsightly way, the kunoichi quickly hid herself further from view and pulled her t-shirt across by the collar as if it were a towel wrapped around her. "What are you smiling at, idiot?"

"Are you interested in the taijutsu that I'm using?" Naruto asked, raising his right hand and flexing it.

The girl scoffed and looked away again, frustration and doubt flooding across her face. "I-Interested? Hardly. As if I'd be interested in the senseless dancing you guys call martial arts. It's stupid." It was a lie. But what else was she expected to say? She had been caught staring. What other words could have been said to defend her pride any further?

There was no way she was giving away anything else to the blonde, flaming idiot. Even though she admitted his way of living and how it had rubbed off on her so far was infinitely better then all her years in the _Village Hidden in the Sound_ altogether, she was going to fight against this boy's grins and approaches with every fiber of her being. After all, she was still a cold, calculating kunoichi at heart. She was not going to give in completely. Oh no. She was going to punch and kick to defend herself…

"_Even though my moves are dog shit compared to his,"_ the raven haired teen thought amidst her flustered state of person.

Seeing the conflicting feelings move across her face even from the distance that stood between them, Naruto watched with his hands on his hips as the girl went from glaring defiantly in his direction to looking away in confused meditation. Of course, being the guy that he was, he didn't want this little performance of theirs to drag on. There was obviously a problem with his house guest and he decided in that instant that he was going to fix it.

Since Kin had come into his life the only times Naruto had ever seen her were or been anywhere near her were the brief moments of consciousness in his peripherals during his training, breakfast, sometimes lunch, _and_ dinner. There had been few times he'd actually sat down with the girl and genuinely talked with her, so what the heck?

The jinchuriki extended a hand to her, to which the girl glanced towards with a surprised blink. "Would you like me to teach you some moves?"

Kin jumped at the question. Shaking her head quickly, her eyes began darting around and her head began turning this way and that, incoherent mumbling quickly springing forth from her mouth. "M-M-Me… y-you want to teach… m-me? H-How… a… umm…"

Naruto chuckled lowering his hand and gesturing her over with a smile and a nod. "Come on, it's okay. It'll be fun, I promise."

Looking around wildly and making sure nobody was in sight, the girl then stepped out from behind the sliding door. She was wearing just casual clothes, a t-shirt and forest camouflage pants, so it was basically the ideal attire to pursue a training session in. However, her choice of dress aside, she was still being awfully hesitant. Chances are she would either decline his offer completely or accept it, but through gritted teeth. Her decision could swing either way.

"Well… uhh… I…" Gulping, the girl took in a deep breath. Steadying her heart rate she took a firm, resilient stance on the porch and opened her eyes to glare back down at the still grinning, and expectantly waiting Genin. "Fine. But just for a bit."

His smile widening, Naruto watched as Kin stepped down onto the back lawn and approached him. He stepped aside and allowed her into his reach, but the girl maintained a firm glare as well as a firm stance against him, assuring the boy that she was here strictly for the business of being here.

"Alright, where do I start?" the girl demanded with a snap. The boy smiled pleasantly at her and gestured at her pointedly.

"Firstly, you have to forget everything you know about martial arts. We must start out with a blank canvas."

The kunoichi scowled at him. "And how the hell am I supposed to do that? I've been an active kunoichi for as long as I can remember. Getting rid of years of experience like that…" she snapped her fingers, "isn't that simple."

"Sure it is. Watch." Placing his fingers to his temples, Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated. Several seconds later, he opened them with a smile. "See. Easy." He then blinked when he suddenly came about a whopping huge flaw in his starting line concept, to which he then gave a look of absolute terror, clapping his hands to sides of his head like the famous _Scream_ painting. "Oh shit!"

Kin stared at him, at first wondering why he was looking all panicky all of a sudden. She then realized what must have happened to him and snorted. That reflex action of withholding laughter didn't do much for her in the long run and soon enough the girl was curled over, clenching her guts and laughing her ass off. The girl laughed so hard and so loudly that she had to use the wooden pillar as a form of support.

A flabbergasted Naruto pointed at her. "Stop laughing! I spent months learning _Wing Chun_… and now… oh God, what have I done?"

So… it was safe to say that clearing your mind of all knowledge of martial arts before the actual process of teaching for the master… was not a very good idea.

Tears welling up in her eyes, Kin continued to laugh outright and keep her body up at the same time. Boy, this was definitely something she wanted to remember after this day. Naruto freaking out over something so petty but obviously important to him was just too much.

Eventually when the jinchuriki got his shit back together and Kin had stopped bawling head over heels, it allowed Naruto to get back down to explaining all of the basics to her. He wanted to teach her Wing Chun as well, and what better way to start off then to start from where Yim had? Soon enough, by the turn into the afternoon and a little after lunch, Kin was already moving into the basic stances and motions.

While the jinchuriki was coaching Kin and performing techniques beside her, and every so often gently and physically putting her hands in the right places with several of the gestures, the pair failed to notice Yim, Ran and Meow sitting up on top of the roof watching them from afar. Having noticed them hanging out in the back a little earlier, the audience decided to get a better view of the action taking place, and what better vantage point was there then the roof of the house they were residing at? It gave them a superb elevation _and_ hid their presence entirely.

The kitten Taiga and the dove Mr. Woo were also with them.

While Yim and Ran watched with admirable gazes in play, Meow maintained her usual persona by puffing out her cheeks and grinning in a silly manner. Like a child sitting on a park bench, she rocked from side to side with her feet out in front, and at the same time taking in the moments of gentle intimacy between both the blonde and his companion. Even though it was strictly a teaching session between them, they could all see that Naruto was taking great care in guiding the girl along the correct material, and Kin had actually lightened up enough that she was genuinely smiling in his presence and allowing him to get close to her.

Either she was experiencing some sort of placebo effect from the incident before or she was actually acting out on suppressed feelings from weeks of being within each other's distance, no one knew. In any case, all of Naruto's grins, jokes, stubbornness and hard work to meet expectations were finally paying dividends in more ways than one.

This was an amazing breakthrough.

The cat like fighter giggled cheekily, "She li-iiikes him!"

Ran conked the martial artist on the head with the handle of her katana.

"Don't ruin the moment, Meow."

* * *

><p><strong>Three days later…<strong>

"A-Asuma-sensei?" Hinata murmured in surprise.

"Please… tell me you're serious," Naruto also exclaimed in astonishment.

The man they were speaking directly toward, _their_ teacher, smiled delightfully down at his gawking students all kneeling on the grass before him. He had just finished giving them a workout of a lifetime; a three on one sparring session that basically involved him kicking them around for a good couple of hours. From the condition of the training field, the scorch and skid marks, the pot holes and the amount of throwing weapons lying around, it was easy to tell that it must have been one hell of a battle.

Too bad for the young members of Team 10, it was all for naught.

Naruto had taken a beating but had still managed to hold it together, Hinata was brought to her knees with damage she was unable to take and Shikamaru was pretty close to losing consciousness. It had been a one-sided spectacle. While the teenagers were all scuffed up and bruised, Asuma looked like he hadn't done anything that could even remotely be called a workout. The amount of punishment the team had taken in attempting to pin the man down had been almost humiliating.

While the Jonin had praised all three of them for their efforts, he had also provided a little feedback for them on their teamwork and individual skills overall. Whatever there was that he saw was good and what needed further improvement, he gave it to them straight out.

But this was only the bad news for the day, in a manner of speaking. The actual good news came with the packaged gift presented to them immediately after the session's end.

"You're serious?" Naruto asked again, staggering towards the man while Hinata and Shikamaru were still kneeling behind him, panting for breath. Their physical conditions aside, they were all in a state of utter disbelief. "You're not kidding us this time?"

"No, I kid you not, brat," Asuma replied proudly, dangling the scroll he had drawn from his pouch in front of their eyes from the string tightly bound at the end. At first glance it seemed like an ordinary mission scroll, nothing to be too excited about. But as it circled on the breeze, revealing the other side to the winded rookie team, they were able to catch a full glimpse of the letter stamped onto the rolled up piece of parchment.

It was like a golden treat dangling tantalizingly on the air.

That letter 'C' could only mean one thing to them.

"No way," Shikamaru choked out, while Hinata and Naruto's captivated eyes widened and sparkled under the sun.

Asuma grinned. "Oh yes."

"Y-Y-You mean…?" Hinata began in a shaky voice.

"As a reward for all your hard work, completing over twenty-two official D-Rank missions and three dozen other paid jobs," their instructor exclaimed, tossing the scroll up into the air and catching it firmly on the return, "I'd say it's time we moved on to the next level."

Naruto blinked, still pointing at the scroll. "D-Does that mean…?"

Knowing where he was going with that little inquiry, the Jonin laughed and shook his head. "Oh, you'll still be doing D-Rank missions, for sure." He saw the expressions of all three of them transform into scowls and upon feeling their death glares on him, Asuma chuckled nervously and waved the scroll in front of him again. "However, from now on we'll be doing as many C-Rank missions as much as possible, but only if I can get my hands on them from the old man. The D-Rank assignments are just to keep you guys on your toes and get you trained up for the higher playing fields."

"Oh sure, so to practice chasing tigers on C-Rank missions we'll have to continue chasing cats on D-Rank missions," Shikamaru guessed sarcastically. "Of course, it's a fantastic learning experience… what a drag." He huffed exhaustedly, not surprising since he was still out of breath from the sparring match.

"Well… sure, if you want to look at it that way," Asuma shrugged, earning a scowl from the lazy bones and odd looks from both Naruto and Hinata. "Don't underestimate the difficulty of C-Rank missions though. The moment shinobi attain the rank of Chunin they are free to choose either a C or B-Rank assignment at their leisure, while Genin rarely even get the opportunity to even _participate_ in a C-Rank mission in their first year. Unless they have their instructor's consent than Genin have no hope of seeing a single C-Rank mission until they get promoted."

"Then… does that mean we're…" Naruto shrugged suggestively, "_Outstanding_?"

Asuma nodded his head, unfurling the scroll and taking a glance at it. "Damn straight. I acknowledge the strength that you three possess and I am doing everything that I can to help you grow stronger. In doing so, I'm giving you guys all the experience you'll need for future assignments to come."

"But I don't want to," Shikamaru whined, looking away with a frown. "It's too much work." He ignored the scowl from Naruto and the unflinching stare from Hinata, and instead decided to keep on moaning. "Is it an easy mission?"

"It all depends on your point of view," the Jonin continued, his eyes scanning over the provided specifications for a few seconds before looking back up at the trio. He waited for a moment as his Genin rose to their feet, responding to his shift of attention and the anticipation of the explanations to come.

Their actions in light of his following announcements said more than words ever could. His battered team rising to attention told the Jonin that if his young troop were to be going on their first C-Rank mission ever, then they were going to be listening.

There were high hopes riding on this one, something that Asuma had been counting on. Why would he have approached his father inquiring about a higher detailed assignment in the first place? For all of their efforts, there was no way he was getting them something too cheesy or too easy to complete. It had to be both memorable and something vaguely familiar to them.

He simply upped the scale.

"Tomorrow the four of us are going to the_ Port of Dusk_ on the East Coast of the _Land of Fire_. It's a two day's journey from here so there shouldn't be any dramas," Asuma stated, rolling the scroll back up and pocketing it. He then folded his arms and gave his team a firm look over, to which they then formed an attentive row in front of him, shoulder to shoulder. "Our mission is to deliver a package to Princess Kasumi, the chief overseer of the lands surrounding the port and crown of _Mugen Castle_, her family's heritage."

While Naruto visibly pumped his fists at the prospects of their task and shared an excited glance with Hinata, their other teammate couldn't help but announce his immediate suspicions. "That's pretty high tone for a C-Rank mission," Shikamaru inquired, raising an eyebrow. "Shouldn't this be a little higher up on the charts?"

"Not really," Asuma exclaimed, glancing down at the boy. "We're just delivering a parcel that we need to collect from the checkpoint at the East Gate tomorrow morning. Apparently, it's a small gift the Princess ordered for some westerners wishing to open up secure trading routes with the _Elemental Nations_, who are currently negotiating with her for permission to use her port as their main base of shipping. It's all business so I won't get too into it. It's none of our concern."

"W-Westerners?" Hinata blinked, catching onto their teacher's words. "Y-You mean foreigners from across the seas."

"Awesome!" Naruto grinned, letting out a 'whoop' and jumping in the air. "This is great! You picked a damn good one for our first C-Rank mission, sensei!" He gave a thumbs-up to the Jonin who grinned back down at his enthusiastic student.

"Ugh, don't go straining yourself, Naruto," Shikamaru commented with a half smile. "You'll wear us out before the mission even starts."

"Come on, Shikamaru! This is going to be great!" the jinchuriki cheered, turning back to a nervous Hinata, who jumped when the boy confronted her directly. "Right, Hinata? You're excited too, aren't you? Our first C-Rank mission together, outside of the village, don't you think that's cool, huh?"

"Y-Y-Yes," the blue haired girl gulped, pressing her fingers together with a bright shade of crimson on her cheeks as the boy grinned at her inches from her face. "I… I… this… could be a really… umm… interesting adventure for us…"

"Of course it will be! Man!" Naruto cheered again, clenching his fists at his sides. "This assignment came at the right time! I couldn't have asked for anything else. Now I will be able to test my full strength and see just how far I've come along! Watch out world," the boy shouted and punched towards the sky, "Naruto Uzumaki is coming to get you!"

Shikamaru looked oddly at him and eventually sighed, while Hinata marveled at the boy's enthusiasm from a nervous position.

Asuma chuckled. "Glad to see that you're excited." Though he did say this, he could still catch glimpses of the expressions of doubt drawn across the faces of Hinata and Shikamaru. Of course, though it was understandable that one of them was nervous and the other one was skeptical about… well… everything to do with their job, their ever devious teacher knew exactly how to steer them clear of any wandering concerns. Clearing his throat, the man placed his hands on his hips and grinned down at him. "We won't be camping out in the wilderness on the night though. I managed to book rooms for us at a hot spring for the interval, so we can pop in on the way there and back. Sounds good to you?"

"R-Really?" Hinata perked up at the sound of a hot spring. Lighting up when she saw Asuma nod, the girl blushed and pressed her hands together, while looking shyly over at Naruto. _"T-Together at a resort… __**together**__… in the same room… …"_

The girl celebrated in her head with her inner-self, but in what ways nobody knew. The only visual cues she gave them was some unearthly, heavenly like glow with sparkly diamonds dancing around her head as it swelled up with all sorts of ideas and fantasies.

While some people were shy, others also possessed a sort of devilish streak that definitely suited their character. Hinata was _that_ kind of person.

Even Shikamaru responded positively to this information, immediately shrugging off his troublesome thoughts over their assignment and settling on a smile. "Sweet. You've got my vote on the resort. Let's do this thing."

"Alright then, it's decided!" Asuma boomed, pointing at them. "We'll be setting out first thing tomorrow morning. Rest up, get a good night's sleep, and be ready with a standard pack by sunrise. It's going to be a busy week for us, understand?"

"**Yes, sensei!"** the members of Team 10 replied at once with almost military assertiveness. That told Asuma that they were as pumped as they were going to be.

"Dismissed."

XXX

**Shikamaru's House…**

**Later that evening…**

Although there were one or two reasons for him to be excited about a mission, Shikamaru wasn't really living up to these urges. True to his character, the boy had spent the first few hours since getting home sleeping and recovering from the beating he had gotten from Asuma earlier that day. The rest of his conscious time was spent staring at his backpack at the other end of his bed.

It was kind of funny having a staring contest with the very bag he was going to end up carrying across the entire country in the next couple of days. The whole process leading up to that stage was, in a word, troublesome for the teenager. In fact it was so much of a bother to actually get prepared for the mission that Shikamaru had spent the last half hour glaring at the bag and daring it to fill itself.

There was no way he was going to motivate his body to pack it, he just couldn't.

"_Why didn't I just become a deer herder?"_ Shikamaru groaned, rubbing the back of his head and looking out the window over the evening setting of the village. _"At least if I __**was**__ a deer herder I wouldn't need to make such a huge hassle over them and see to all of their needs and requirements. Hell, I could just sit out there in the field and sleep all day."_

Unfortunately for him, it was the job that every Nara in the family wanted, so that sort of knocked Shikamaru further down the list of potential employment opportunities.

Still, even if he did bother to go out of his way to actually sign himself on for that job as future successful deer herder, farmer or shepherd, he was pretty sure his mother would have strangled him. When he mentioned this, she said something along the lines of… _'We're a family of shinobi and we're gonna stay that way. Get your butt in line and straighten up, or I'll straighten you up myself,'…_ something like that.

She threatened him and his dad with all sorts of stuff whenever they fell or looked like they were going to fall out of line, and the most fearful truth of this was that she was a woman who legitimately followed through with the threats she made.

It was the reason why a lot of the people in their clan as well as the village itself feared her.

Thankfully, Shikamaru made the right call in the end.

"But it's still such a drag being a shinobi… man…" Shikamaru massaged his shoulder, looking off to the side of the room absently. _"Geez, I can't believe that I'm actually going out of my way to support my teammates so vehemently. I guess seeing Naruto and Hinata moving around the way they do gives me some sort of energy to work with. And Naruto… heh." _The boy chuckled at the memory of his friend,_ "That guy's gotta be emitting some sort of energy boosting radiation or something that has us all fired up."_ Getting up out of bed, he moved over to his wardrobe to start taking out stuff to put into his bag.

When he opened it though and looked at all his vests, shirts, pants and whatever folded up in their little drawers and respective shelving areas, the boy sighed and shook his head. He slumped over, as if he were bowing before the overpowering sight of folded laundry.

So much stuff to pack, so little time… need more sleep…

"_Ugh… even so… it's still too troublesome, no matter what angle I look at it from."_

XXX

**Hinata's room…**

**Across the village…**

While some were willing to procrastinate through the entire preparation period before their mission tomorrow, others were more determined to make the next day go as smoothly and as perfectly as possible. Over in Kurenai's home where Hinata was taking up temporary residence on account of her rather shaky relationship with her father, the young girl was busy neatly folding up her clothes, getting her supplies ready and arranging all of her ninja gear on the floor. She was even using her bed as a platform for all of her other material that she was going to need for her journey.

Having replaced her worn and torn clothes from today with a new set after throwing the others into the wash, the girl made sure that she had three of everything for the days to come but _a lot_ of the essentials. You could see her darting from her wardrobe to her bed the entire hour, placing the clothing next to the bag and making sure that all of it was going to fit in neatly.

She was very much like Naruto, all excited and jumpy, with the exception of expressing her enthusiasm verbally. Still, Hinata was looking forward to their mission and was showing this through action.

After cramming the clothes into the bag and placing the other supplies on top, the girl knelt down in front of it and smiled proudly. She nodded when she recounted everything she had taken and set up.

"I-I'm ready," the girl exclaimed quietly, holding a fist up in her characteristic manner and placing it against her chest. "Yes… that's everything. Now…" She turned on the carpeted floor, moving to now repack her pouch with all the weapons she needed. It was all textbook stuff that they had been drilled on time and time again in the academy. Even though the possibility of screwing up was low, Hinata wasn't taking any chances.

She counted twice.

While she was lining up her kunai and packing them into a section in her leg holster, she failed to notice Kurenai peering in through the door and observing her as she ran around from corner to corner. Dressed in casual robes and with a content smile on her face, the raven haired woman watched the young girl she was looking after prepare herself for an obviously exciting event soon to come.

The woman even giggled when she saw Hinata panic when she forgot the paper tags and went over to her bedside cabinet to grab them. She fumbled about clumsily, acting more sporadic than normal.

"_A C-Rank mission, huh?"_ Kurenai exclaimed, closing the door slightly so that only a crack was open, before strolling back down the hall to her living room. _"You're pushing your kids along nicely, Asuma, just like you said."_

It was reassuring for her to know that the man was looking after the students he was charged with and making sure that they were happy. Even though they weren't his own, he had a pretty solid thing going with them, which was obvious by how Hinata actually talked about him and her team every night and dinner. She especially talked about Naruto quite a bit and spoke of him highly, and even though it was old news the young kunoichi was talking about him a lot more these days.

The instructor of Team 8 then paused at the couch, looking up towards the ceiling in contemplation.

"_The small change in Hinata's character, her newly found confidence and her enthusiasm to train even harder than before… I think being around Naruto is starting to grow on her a lot more."_ The woman smiled fondly at thinking about the boy and in what ways he was helping his team out, whether directly or indirectly.

Though his history was all cluttered with controversy and mischief, he was still a good kid.

"_He really has an effect on all those closest to him… that boy…"_

XXX

**Meanwhile…**

**Naruto's home…**

Unfortunately, Naruto hadn't had that much of a chance to get himself ready for his team's C-Rank mission tomorrow. Word got out as soon as he got home that he would be going on his first assignment outside of the village, and that had more than a couple of the residents sharing his domain with him more than a little excited. Putting Ran, the kitten, Mr. Woo and a rather disturbed Kin aside, the rather strange family of foreigners and animals watched from the sidelines at the dining table as Naruto was hugged into submission by a very cheerful Meow.

The woman martial artist was embracing him tightly, flooding him with so much love and energy that it was drowning him.

Well… in the sense of drowning, he was actually suffocating. The girl was so psyched at having played a part in his development that he was now going out of the village on a serious assignment, it just had her up on her feet and literally celebrating. She congratulated the boy to no end, so much so that his face started turning blue.

"I am so happy for you, Naruto-kun!" Meow exclaimed, rubbing her cheek into his spiky hair as the boy choked and twitched in her arms. Even though the girl did know how to control her strength in most instances, in those uncommon times when she was overcome she just lost sight of all concentration. Naruto was experiencing this first hand. "It's your first job outside of the village in another town! Oh! Naruto-kun! Do remember Meow-sensei's training, it will serve you well! Brush your teeth, go to bed before nine and don't run around holding any pointy objects as long as it is at a bad person!"

Naruto gagged, tears brimming at his eyes with the ever-present, lingering feeling in his mind that his spinal column was about to snap. "Y-Yes…"

"I'm proud of him…" Ran chuckled, at the same time watching the jinchuriki squirm, "Not just about the mission, but actually staying conscious for this long."

A shaken up Kin pointed in their direction. "Sh-Should we do something about this?" The sight of the paling child had the girl worry.

The samurai waved. "Don't worry; she'll be done in a moment."

"M-Meow-chan…" Naruto wheezed, his face being pressed up tightly to the woman's soft chest, the vest of which was smothering his mouth in cloth. "Y-Y-You're… hugging… too…"

"Too little? Aww!" Meow exclaimed, nuzzling him again. "It's okay, I'll hug you some more."

Before she could take up any more time to further asphyxiate the boy, the jinchuriki was suddenly released and pulled into a new embrace. The close to unconscious child actually blinked back into reality when he felt his face land against something soft and warm. He looked up a bit to see where this new sensation was coming from, and realized he was being held by Yim. The woman gazed down at him and ran her hand through his hair affectionately.

"You'll be okay, Naruto," the woman nodded, pulling him closer. "Just remember your training, okay?"

The boy blinked, realizing a little bit later that he was actually being held against her endowment. Of course, being one to spout fiction with his mouth and do it well, the young blonde moved on without skipping a beat and sighed into the woman's embrace. He hugged her too. All the while Meow was dancing around them and still looking as excited for him as she was before.

"Thanks, Yim-chan…" Though this gratitude toward his teacher came out with all sincerity, he did spare a moment of an afterthought. _"It's not even an A-Rank mission and they're making such a fuss?"_ This was quickly drowned out when he was pulled closer into her soft, warm, reasonably sized chest. _"Ahh well… may as well enjoy it…"_

Kin noticed the perverted grin he had and the small blush on his cheeks, and lining that up with his proximity to the woman now congratulating him in her own way, the girl rose to her feet in outrage. She shook her fist in his direction, "Hey! That little pervert…"

Ran chuckled, picking up her tea while watching the raven haired girl stomp her way over to the martial artists and the jinchuriki. "Oh, this looks to be like an interesting before-dinner performance."

* * *

><p><strong>The very next day…<strong>

**Outside of Konoha's East Gate…**

Naruto moaned from a rather pathetic, slouched over position as he dragged his feet along in the triangular formation that his entire team had taken up upon their leaving of the village.

Konohagakure's east gate and its towering walls may still be shadowing them, but as the team walked along were slowly disappearing over the rise with the ground the group was able to cover. While Asuma remained relatively quiet with a cigarette in his mouth after putting the collected package in Hinata's bag, and Shikamaru and Hinata were beginning to take in their new surroundings, Naruto was the only one out of all of them making any audible sounds.

His discomfort and groaning drew in a lot of stares from his teammates.

"I'm hugged out," the jinchuriki murmured, his arms swinging methodically from side to side with every step he planted into the ground.

"Rough night?" Shikamaru asked, hands in his pockets as per the usual routine.

The blonde nodded exhaustedly. "Meow-chan was so excited about my first mission outside of the village that she hugged me until my bones started to creak." He then made a hand gestured above his head like he was squeezing something. "And then… Yim-chan… she overdid it too."

Never in his whole life had he been so thoroughly suffocated and embraced with such passion in one night. He ventured a guess that this was one of those prices that was eventually paid when living in a house full of travelers and weirdoes. They were such an odd collection of characters it was almost like they ventured into _his_ world from their own stories (in this fic's case, _yes_).

"Sounds like it was some party," Asuma also spoke up with an amused grin.

"Yeah… some party. It was supposed to be just a plain and simple dinner till it turned into a fiesta," Naruto sang, tilting his head with a more distraught look this time at the memories beginning to resurface. "After asphyxiating me half to death I then got a scolding from Kin-chan for trying to enjoy the hugs from Yim-chan."

"Let me guess, it didn't go _exactly_ as planned?" the Jonin inquired, scratching his cheek while looking away as if he didn't know the boy's true motives.

He actually did, he just wasn't saying anything. The mischievous smirk said it all though.

Naruto sighed. "No." Blinking back into reality he then gave Asuma a very dirty look, but instead of seeing the man snickering behind his back he instead caught him whistling nonchalantly and trying to play innocent to his query. The jinchuriki looked ahead of him afterwards. "Though I admit it was good, I'm never doing stuff like that in plain sight again. Girls' punches hurt… they REALLY hurt."

"This is… really kind of an interesting first for us, Naruto," Shikamaru exclaimed, giving the boy an amused grin while receiving a scowl for his troubles. "Never in all my years of watching you take action have I ever seen you brought to your knees before… you know… _figuratively_."

"Hey! This doesn't count as a down, okay?" the jinchuriki snapped back, pointing at him. "It was just a tiring night!"

Shikamaru grinned and pushed the boy's hand out of his face. "Yet another first. What other wonderful insights we will get to witness from you on this trip, I wonder? Even though it's too much of a bother to really devote all of my energy into thinking about it," the Nara sighed, bringing his hands up and placing them behind his head with a smile, "it's the little things you sometimes take an interest in. I'll let the world continue turning as planned."

"Says the rock," Naruto exclaimed, before looking over at his other teammate. The kunoichi 'eeped' when his eyes fell on her. "What about you, Hinata-chan? Anything you want to say?"

Hesitating and murmuring uneasily, the girl pressed her fingers together before looking up at the youngster. "Umm… uhh… I… I think…this is a good start for you, N-Naruto-kun. After all, you always say to yourself that no matter how many times you fall, you pick yourself up, keep on going, and keep getting stronger, r-right?"

Blinking, the Uzumaki smiled and glanced around at Shikamaru, at the same time pointing towards the meek Hinata. "You see? That is why I like her so much!" He failed to notice the blue haired girl quite literally blush to the roots of her hair at his comment, with Asuma quickly moving up behind her to prevent the girl from falling over and losing consciousness.

"Whatever," Shikamaru shrugged. "It's not like I'm competing for any of _your_ affections."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

The Nara grinned in his direction. "That's because I'm not in love with you, man. What? Do you want me to harbor secret feelings for you or something?" Weird question, but how else was he going to express his point of view as well as point out Hinata's secret crush for the boy to the densest man on the face of the planet?

The jinchuriki blinked and tilted his head. "Huh?"

Yup, it completely blew right over him. That meant Hinata was safe for an extended month or so.

Asuma shook his head at their conversation. _"What is it like to live in your world for a day, Naruto? I'd really like to know."_ Even if it was a fabricated reality at some stages he was sure the guy was just happy all the time. What was that like?

He couldn't help but wonder as they continued trudging on down the road, with Naruto and Shikamaru trading casual conversation about what's been going on over on their side of the fence, with a still flustered Hinata also engaging in pleasantries with them, and Asuma simply contemplating on the scope of their mission.

A long walk was all that would pass between now and their stop off at the hotel before hitting the port town…

XXX

**That night…**

**The hot spring resort…**

The sun was gone, the stars were out, and in spite of all the darkness surrounding them, the team could still see and feel the steam rising up and out of the springs that they were currently lying in. Well, it wasn't like the whole team was all sitting in one spot, there was that 'gender issue' that was easily taken care of.

It was simple enough; Naruto, Shikamaru and Asuma were on the male side and Hinata was all by her lonesome on the woman's side. You couldn't have made it any clearer if you stuck a bamboo fashioned, ten-foot barricade in-between the baths, which there was. However, despite the presence of the divider all members of the squad were enjoying a lovely bath in close company, resting up for the next day ahead.

Quite frankly, it had been a while since they'd actually enjoyed something like this together. Sure there was their off time, but this was something big that they were actually partaking and bonding over as a team. With his body almost completely submerged in the middle of the spring and a washcloth folded on top of his head, Naruto was beaming towards a far-off wall like a sunflower, while Shikamaru and Asuma had sat themselves on separate sides of the bath and were in full lounge mode.

Tipping back a small dish of sake, the Jonin sighed out and rubbed the side of his face with his washcloth. "Though it's not a most admirable trait to have but I have to admit Shikamaru, you're really onto something with your sloth-like approach to life."

"And you see," the Nara exclaimed, pointing over at Naruto and then thumbing in the direction of their sprawled out instructor. "That's why I like _him_ so much."

"Oh please, I like Asuma-sensei too, Shikamaru," the jinchuriki exclaimed, waving a hand towards the boy before sinking into the water to his nose.

The adult shinobi chuckled and raised his hands in defense, "Whoa, since when was I so popular. This wasn't exactly the kind of vibe I was getting when I was playing whack-a-mole with you guys on the training field a couple of days ago."

Shikamaru and Naruto scowled in his direction.

"Not a most pleasant account we like to remember, but still…" Shikamaru sighed and leaned back against the rocks, draping his washcloth over his eyes. "You could call this trip the event that redeems you of all of that hell you'd put us through, sensei."

"Cheers," the man replied, tipping another sake dish to the teen before gulping it down. He then grinned over his shoulder, up towards the bamboo fence behind them. "How are you doing, Hinata?"

"F-Fine," they all heard the girl exclaim back in a stammer.

"Is the water okay on your end, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked, standing up a little while scrubbing his hair.

They heard the girl fumble with her words upon being addressed by the blonde. Even with a barrier between them, the fact of the matter was that they were all half-naked and taking baths so close to each other. This was a bit unnerving for the poor kunoichi.

"I-It's very comforting and warm… N-Naruto-kun."

"Sweet," the jinchuriki replied, dunking back in and paddling over to one of the edges of the hot pond. "As long as we're all enjoying ourselves."

"Y-Yes."

Smiling in reassurance that all-hands were okay and living well, Asuma turned back to his own bath and dipped himself in a little more. "Ahh… and _this_… is one of the other perks of the job that you've got to enjoy."

Things seemed to be looking well for their first high level mission, smooth sailing and all that. However, while they saw this as an experience to enjoy with a lot of privileges was only the calm before the storm.

Little did Team 10 know was that they were about to walk into a whole other mess that was way beyond their control…

* * *

><p><strong>The following day…<strong>

"Not a bad view, eh?" Asuma exclaimed as he and his team stood up at the top of the hill overlooking the entire _Port of Dusk _in all its magnificence and splendor. It was no doubt a sight to behold because the entire team was literally gawking at the sight of the town that was about the size of a city. The large structures inland, the squares, the market places, and the sheer expanse of it was only a start.

Putting aside the striking architecture and the massive castle that could be seen sitting at the very edge of the village on a lush rolling hillside, the amount of ships that were coming to make berth at the port was also incredible.

"Whoa?" Naruto breathed, putting his hand over his eyes to shield them from the sun. "T-That's a port?"

"I-It's a lot bigger than I expected," Hinata murmured, biting the top of her finger when she brought her hands up to her chin. "_This_ many ships come and go when trading between other countries and nations?"

"Yup," the Jonin answered, popping a cigarette in his mouth and allowing his students to get a long, good view of the place they would be arriving at shortly. They were in fact so fixated on their activity that Naruto had unconsciously squatted down to get more comfortable and so to better take in the many specific details of the scenery laid out before them. "This port town is aligned primarily with _Konohagakure_, but it also serves as a medium for ships sailing between other nations around this continent. Not only does it provide a temporary station for boats making long journeys, it also exports material from the _Land of Fire_ and distributes it throughout the island villages, as well as the nations to the North and South."

"Why would they do that?" Shikamaru asked curiously, looking up at the man giving them the most welcoming of lectures. "Aren't we connected with the _Land of Lightning_?"

The man nodded. "Yes and no. The roads through the mountains are really difficult to travel along when transporting heavy material. Therefore, it cuts down on time and costs to make trade with the _Land of Lightning_ by sea. Not to mention _Konohagakure_ isn't exactly on good terms with _Kumogakure_, so making exchanges via land isn't exactly a good approach."

"Ah," the Nara nodded in understanding, gazing back out over the port. "Sounds like a real drag."

"Pretty much," Asuma exclaimed.

While they were gazing out over the amazing new village, Naruto spotted something odd sitting at some of the peers he could see a couple of kilometers away from their position. It was easy enough to see from this distance because the silhouettes of ships weren't that difficult to make out from a particular vantage point. Ships were big like buildings and because they were on open water it wasn't too much of a stretch to make them out. It was a sight that the jinchuriki found quite fascinating and went out of his way to point out to the others, tugging on Asuma's leggings to draw his instructor's eyes to the sight.

"Sensei, what are those?"

"Those?" the man repeated, scanning the docks his student was directing him toward with a smile.

"Yeah, those big silver boats," Naruto exclaimed, rising to his feet to widen his view. "Wow. I've seen pictures of battleships from our countries before in books, but those ships are _enormous_!" He leapt excitedly at seeing the cluster of about two dozen foreign ships parked on their coastline. Even Shikamaru and Hinata had taken an interest in them, gawking when they were able to single out the biggest of the fleet in the harbor. "Man! They're as long as skyscrapers are tall! Where did they come from?"

"L-Look at that one," Hinata exclaimed, activating her Byakugan to get a better look at the one her own eyes had locked onto. Her binocular like vision fell upon the steel hull of the largest vessel pulled right up to the peer; a battle cruiser with two funnels, masts, and an impressive assortment of armaments along her decks. "H…M…S… Hood?" The girl blinked when she read the name engraved on the side, to which she then looked over at Naruto. "What's a H-Hood?"

Naruto shrugged back. "Dunno. Maybe it's the name of the ship."

Shikamaru scoffed, nudging the blonde in the side and getting their attention. "I wonder if there's a ship named 'Jumper' down there." All three of the kids chuckled at the joke, before quickly returning their focus to all of the impressive craft they were able to make out.

If there was anything to get really excited about on this trip, it was _that_!

However, while it was all fun and games for them playing 'Where's Wally' with the interesting looking boats floating around, Asuma had suddenly found himself set in a completely different mood altogether.

Keeping his expression out of view of his excited students, he looked out with a serious glint in his eyes as he scanned the port more carefully from end to end. Focusing on only the large ships they could see pulled up to the various peers and docks scattered along the shoreline, the instructor's fears were quickly confirmed when he came to the realization that most of the big ships in the area, including a handful still adrift at sea several kilometers out, were all a part of the same task force.

Counting on his fingers, he could see freighters, battle cruisers, destroyers, and various other armed vessels he had hardly ever seen before. It wasn't like he didn't know what they were entirely; they were _big-ass_ ships with massive cannons on them that looked like they could rip an entire village to shreds with little effort. They were also scattered all over the place, almost like they had formed a defensive perimeter at every possible access point to the harbor.

Asuma knew from experience that these weren't ordinary ships belonging to any of the _Elemental Nations._ No. Their designs and colors didn't tie them to any of the nations on this continent, which led the Jonin to the conclusion that these ships were western vessels.

"_And they're all warships," _Asuma blinked, looking from the biggest ship the _HMS_ _Hood_ as Hinata had identified earlier, and out towards the others. The sight of an entire armada had the bearded Jonin sweating bullets. _"This can't be good…"_

However, there was nothing he could do about it.

An entire naval detachment from a western country across the ocean wasn't going to pay any attention to a lowly shinobi like him. After all, they were probably here escorting the esteemed guest negotiating with the princess about opening up secure trading routes outside of other companies. Should whatever deal they had going for went as planned, these ships were probably going to be running as security, along with the vessels that would be running channels between the _Elemental Nations_ and the western countries.

Finding himself a little too close to the fire this time, the man extinguished the cigarette he already had and replaced it with a new one to calm his nerves before turning to look back down at his three students, all of whom were still pointing out the different boats they could spot.

"All of you listen up," Asuma spoke, drawing the squad's attention to him. He looked at each of them seriously. "It looks as though there is some big business going on down there so I want you all to be on your best behavior. Those are all western ships, so odds are there are going to be a lot of foreigners down there. Don't do anything that will draw attention to yourselves." The man then looked at the middle team member with the blonde hair, who blinked when he found himself being singled out. "That goes double for _you_, Naruto."

"What?" the jinchuriki jolted, pointing at his chest, "Oh come on sensei, you know me…"

"Yes, I do know you," Asuma stated with a smirk. "So don't get all jumpy and excited while we're down there. We're just here to deliver a package, not to make contact with anybody else outside of our business. Alright?" He got three simultaneous nods in return, with Naruto also complying due to how firmly their instructor was asserting his orders.

"So…?" Shikamaru began, yawning and rubbing the back of his head. "Who are we supposed to deliver the package to?"

"An envoy will be meeting us at the main square to take us over to the palace. We are to deliver the package in person," Asuma said, shrugging his shoulders and adjusting his pack. "Let's get moving. Don't want to keep her highness waiting."

The Jonin then began herding the trio down the hill towards town. While the youngsters were still expressing their anticipation and excitement over entering a whole other community in their own little ways, their instructor was standing a little on edge. There was good reason for him to be nervous, because there was no way in telling what would happen to them the moment they entered the village…

XXX

**Sometime later…**

Elsewhere, close to the edge of the _Port of Dusk_ where the wilderness of the world outside of the town entrance could be seen transforming into the world constructed from human hands, sat a vast array of shops and stalls, welcoming new travelers from the mainland and bidding farewell to those from the sea. It was your traditional village setup with all characteristics taken from the cultural influence of this part of the continent, and was alive with the hustle and bustle of various commuters, and brimming with excitement.

Families were out with loved ones, friends were greeting each other on the street, and salesmen were doing good business with the many people stepping onto their turf. However, with all the kids running around you wouldn't think that they would be so cheerful when in the presence of a lot of soldiers also marching around.

There were two types of soldiers currently on patrol all around the town, which was very unusual.

On one side of the road there were platoons of soldiers marching in rows of two up and down the streets, all of them wearing 1902 Pattern Service dress tunics and trousers, bandoleers and backpacks with stocks of ammunition, Lee-Enfield rifles slung over their shoulders, and dish shaped helmets (Brodie helmets) on top of their heads. On the other side of the road, there were the soldiers serving under Princess Kasumi patrolling the streets, wearing black spandex suits with silver samurai armor over that, shin guards, arm guards, and helmets with golden rivets. All of them were armed with either crossbows that fired rounds repeatedly from a canister, lances and swords.

It was like two completely different eras from two completely different countries were facing each other down on the street; the _Elemental Nation _civilians from an _Edo Period_ (1603 – 1868) meeting face to face with Britannia troops from a late _Victorian Era_ or an early _Edwardian Era_.

Judging from the way they were positioned on either side of the road, it was almost as if somebody had drawn a line between the bounds of which side controlled what area. Still, in spite of the heavy presence of military personnel the people within the town could still go about their daily activities, since they were probably used to seeing their own soldiers gallivanting about.

One particular place where the atmosphere was fresh and rich was at a local ramen bar some ways down the road from the entrance to the town. It was a small establishment called _Sunrise Noodles_, which was basically just an open bar with barely any curtain providing shade for the counter just several feet under the veranda, so it was pretty much 'out there'. The owner in question was currently dicing up fishcakes behind the serving desk and humming a gentle tune, overseeing the couple of customers already sitting at the counter and eating their fill.

While he was tossing noodles and cutting up ingredients concurrently he noticed another person step into his stall. He greeted them with a smile and then an even wider grin when he recognized the face of the patron.

"My, my," the short, silver-haired old man exclaimed as he watched the individual pull up a bar stool. "You say you don't indulge, but here you are again for lunch after eating so many bowls for breakfast? Are my noodles really that good?"

"Of course they are!" a young man around thirteen years of age with a dark brown complexion, short black hair, wearing a yellow Chinese top with the bottoms undone and khaki shorts with gauze wrapped heavily around his arms and feet, exclaimed as he made himself comfortable at the station. "I just can't help myself, your food is delicious! Give me three bowls of Miso, gramps!"

He slapped the amount of ryu needed for the purchase down on the table, to which the chef chuckled and took it off his hands. "Certainly, sir. Would you like extra kamaboko with that?"

"Please!" the boy replied while raising a hand above him happily. "They're the best bits!"

It seemed as though the shop owner and the young man got along really well, in spite of the fact that they didn't look like they came from the same town, let alone the same country. Out of everybody in the bar, the boy wearing yellow with the darker skin texture was the only one who stuck out the most. Actually, while everybody else looked more oriental, the young, spry looking male appeared as though he had come from somewhere much more tropical.

However, this was but a face for the character that was very kind, happy, and enjoyed eating great food. He immediately dug into the bowl of noodles as it was laid out in front of him, while the elderly shop keeper smiled in his direction.

"I still can't believe you actually came in with this rabble."

"Hmm?" the young man looked up with his cheeks bloated and noodles hanging from his mouth. "Ra-ubblue?"

"Rabble…" the man repeated while gesturing toward his lips. Getting the point quickly, the boy sucked up the noodles hanging down his chin and swallowed, adjusting his dining etiquette at the same time. "I'm referring to those smartly dressed fellas marching up and down the streets."

"Oh, them?" the youngster exclaimed, pointing over his shoulder to the platoon of Britannia soldiers marching past. He grinned and waved, "Nah, I'm just a representative. They wanted to make a better impression with the rest of these lands so they brought along folks like me from countries closer to this continent to help em' out." He pointed at his chest with a wide grin. "However, my country is a lot further away then they think?"

"Really?" the chef inquired, tapping his chin thoughtfully as he gave the boy a look over. "The _Land of Lightning_, perhaps?"

"No way. I come from a country to the south, not the north," the boy chuckled, before going back to stirring his noodles. "I come from Siam. It's just a little ways down from the islands of the _Land of Water_ and there are miles of forests and mountains making up the terrain. It was tough getting here, I can tell yah that."

"You did mention you came here on foot," the elder smiled, to which the teen nodded towards, gulping down broth in spoonfuls. "Your nation is connected to this continent?"

"Uh-huh! Great exercise," he replied, as if it were no big deal. He tipped the bowl he was holding back and drank down the remnants of the soup at the bottom, before setting it down with a content sigh, signifying his satisfaction of the meal. Wiping his chin, he grinned at the manager. "I received a letter for work from my master back at home, so I made my way up here as quickly as I could. Ceanay didn't want to go, so he sent me here as a form of training and to gain experience, not to mention these western folk say they pay good money for extra guards, so there was no way I could ignore the call. My family could use the money…"

"Well, as long as you aren't causing us trouble, that's fine with me," the old man replied, going back to cooking his noodles and cutting vegetables. In between slicing up some beef the youngster in front of him grinned his way.

"We're just here to make sure that trading between both this country and the west are open and safe," the raven haired boy nodded affirmatively. "That's what they told me." He almost leapt excitedly from his seat when he saw another bowl slide in front of him, and after clapping his hands together and thanking the heavens for the wonderful meal, he went back to filling his stomach.

"Let us hope that we are able to keep the peace then." The elder sighed and rubbed his head, looking down at his chopping board with a shake and a groan, "I've already lived through the misfortunes of one shinobi war… the last thing I want to be a part of is a war between nations from across the seas."

The boy stopped slurping noodles enough to hear the old man's concerns. It was upon registering to the worries of international conflict from the manager that had the youngster stop eating for a moment. While he admitted it would be a great tragedy if fighting should suddenly break out on the streets while they, meaning him and Britannia, were present, he felt that all of it could be completely avoided if both sides cooperated.

However, it was one world meeting another here so there was no telling what could happen. While he as an individual had no problems with communing with people from another country, you're talking about whole communities, groups and civilizations meeting face to face.

Things had the potential to unexpectedly spiral out of control if an unnecessary fuse was to be lit…

Unfortunately…

"Hey! Watch where you're going, stupid kid!" a grown man shouted from the road outside the bar.

"Watch where I'm going? _We _bumped into each other you big ape!"

"Ape? We're visitors to this country, blondie. You might want to show us a little more respect, aye?"

The boy in yellow turned around in surprise, while the manager behind the counter sighed and leaned over the serving desk to see what was going on. Heck, almost everyone inside the store had stopped to see what all the commotion coming from outdoors was all about. It sounded like a fight, one that was between a troubled local and one of the soldiers from the foreign envoys here.

All observers closer to the action were right on their assumptions. A group of three kids being led by a shinobi from _Konohagakure_ had accidently run into a couple of western soldiers walking down the same road. The one wearing bright orange was having it out with the taller corporal.

"Oh dear, what now?" the old chef sighed.

Slurping up the noodle dangling freely from his mouth, the boy that had been interrupted from his lunch quickly finished up the serve he was given. Inhaling the rest of his bowl without so much as a breath of air, he slammed it back down on the counter and got up out of his seat. His moving to the entrance of the bar had the elderly manager look on with great concern.

"I knew it. This whole thing isn't going to end well… darn whippersnappers…"

XXX

**With Team 10…**

**A few moments ago…**

"Wow, there are a lot of soldiers here," Shikamaru pointed, observing from his end the formations of both military men from their country marching down the road in the direction that they were coming from, along with the soldiers from the ships parked in the dock marching in the same direction the rookie squad was walking in on the other side of the avenue. "It's almost like two different parades are going on at the same time."

"They are just security details, nothing to get too excited about," Asuma smiled, leading his students around small crowds and dodging a couple of kids running across to a local café. "My guess is that the westerners and the princess's staff have already come to some sort of agreement, and have distributed their forces throughout the village so that the locals could get comfortable with two different countries working together. It's sort of like a gesture of good faith that the newcomers are here to keep the peace and not start a war."

"Sounds fair," Shikamaru replied, rolling his shoulders. "But, it's like you said, nothing to get worked up about."

Avoiding more traffic, the team walked past a few other soldiers not on duty, the four of them engaged in conversation while checking out some of the surrounding stores. It was almost like they were already completely used to their environment like they were veteran tourists, and were checking out some stuff to take back with them as souvenirs. They were nothing like what Naruto and his team thought western soldiers were like before.

They weren't just cold, calculating warriors in their own right, they were also ordinary people. The contrast between those marching and those walking amongst the populace, it was huge.

Looking across toward one of the booths run by an old woman, Hinata saw one of the western soldiers talking with a warrior from the town's local guard, exchanging pleasantries. She along with Naruto took an interest in the staff like weapon hanging off of his shoulder with a weird, bolt-like mechanism at the base where the wooden part formed a butt as seen on a crossbow. Comparing it to their weapons, the youngsters couldn't help but look up towards Asuma in question of the strange devices.

"S-Sensei… w-what are those things the soldiers are carrying?"

"Things? Which ones?" the man asked, requiring a little more detail. Looking at the troops already marching about, there were a lot of things he could see that they were wearing on their person. It was difficult to take apart certain aspects when you didn't have that much to work on, especially on a target that was completely outside of his turf.

"Those stick things they're carrying," Naruto said, pointing at the Lee-Enfield rifle slung over the man's shoulder. "Are they some sort of club or kunai launcher?"

"Oh, _those_ things," Asuma grinned, finally finding himself on the same page. He nodded towards the troops marching by on their right. "The weapons the westerners are wielding are called firearms. The bigger ones over their shoulders are called rifles. The trick to them is that they fire small projectiles down a barrel at an amazing speed using a form of ignition powder that they pack into a small cylinder."

"Oh, like c-cannons," Hinata exclaimed. She saw their teacher nod to affirm that their responses were correct.

"Yeah, but much smaller," the Jonin explained, using hand gestures to help illustrate his point. "These are more compact and can be carried out onto the battlefield with ease, but are still capable of hitting targets from long distances. They're very dangerous weapons though, so stay away from them."

"So you point and shoot, like a crossbow?" Naruto asked, trying to mimic the use of the familiar weapon from the academy. The blonde took aim and looked about with his invisible shooter, before turning it on Asuma with a half-smirk. His shift of focus now meant that he was walking backwards and not looking where he was going. "It seems kind of a cheap way to fight. I'd prefer beating the snot out of my targets with my bare hands!"

Shikamaru smirked at him. "Some people don't have the kind of punch that you pack, Naruto. I honestly think it's kind of smart that they came up with weapons like that to fight with. You just lay back and let the metal do the work for yah." Sure it was a bland way of looking at it, but fighting like that was actually a lot harsher than he was actually letting the others onto. He knew full well that Asuma was a veteran from a shinobi world war, so the best the Nara could do was assume how battles with weapons that fired projectiles was really like.

Thinking on it a little, those ships and the soldiers, they all carried projectile firing weapons from massive cannons to small guns that could be shoved into holsters. Did that mean that westerners weren't that up to scratch with hand-to-hand fighting, or were most of them incapable of metaphysical feats? Surely there had to be a handful of exceptional warriors among the westerners who, like the shinobi from this land, did possess some supernatural abilities or superhuman strengths…

"Fighting like _that_ is boring," Naruto exclaimed, throwing a punch. "Real men settle disagreements with their fists, not with…"

"W-Watch out, Naruto-kun!" Hinata shouted, but was too late to get her warning across when the jinchuriki suddenly backed up into a soldier, who was also talking to one of his comrades, walking the same way that they were coming from.

Stumbling forward after the run in and causing the taller man to stagger at nearly tripping, both sides turned towards one another to see what they had hit. Meeting his foe eye-to-waist, Naruto's eyes then trailed up the abdominals and chest of the soldier he immediately identified to be from the western side. When their eyes met, they immediately found themselves locked in a cold staring contest.

Asuma kept Shikamaru and Hinata back, also a little surprised at the turn of events. He'd been too distracted by the commotion around them to realize that they had been inadvertently walking into other people from the crowd.

"Hey! Watch where you're going, stupid kid!" the man with chevrons on his tunic said loudly.

Rubbing the back of his head from the bump, the blonde haired boy scowled. "Watch where I'm going? _We_ bumped into each other you big ape!"

"Ape?" the man scoffed, finding the kid's words quite hearty for his size. "We're visitors to this country, blondie. You might want to show us a little more respect, aye?"

"As if!" Naruto replied, pointing up at the man. "When you visit another person's place you have to show appreciation and gratitude to them for letting _you_ in. Respect and manners is shared between both sides."

The soldier whistled at his courage, slinging his rifle off of his shoulder and taking it by the length of the barrel. "You talk big, kid. Do you want to back those words up, huh?" He pushed Naruto in the chest with the butt end of his rifle, causing the boy to stumble into the arms of his teammates. "Go on. Why don't you run back home to your mum and stay out of peoples' way from now on."

Naruto gritted his teeth, finding this man's rudeness most appalling. "Why you…"

"Naruto," Shikamaru warned, taking his friend by the shoulder. "Hey, don't go picking fights with strangers you don't want to see through to the end. You'll get us all into trouble…" A crowd started to gather around them, the people in the way quickly moving aside when they realized that the visiting soldiers were locking horns with a group of shinobi. It didn't take headbands and uniforms to tell them that trouble was starting to brew. "Listen dude…"

The jinchuriki shrugged his shoulder out of his friend's grip and held his fist out to the soldier smirking down at him. "_He_ started it!"

"Then finish it," Asuma advised, taking the youngster by the head and pulling him back. After rooting the jinchuriki to the floor and watching him seethe through his teeth, the Jonin then smiled apologetically up at the soldiers. "I apologize for my student's behavior. He's a bit of a handful. We're sorry that we got in your way, sir."

The other soldier beside the corporal smirked while the man they were actually focusing on scoffed. "Some teacher _you_ are." He slung his rifle back over his arm. "The standards in this place are pathetic. The first thing you should have taught your little riff-raffs is to watch where they're going, or do you need a little education yourself?"

"This whole country needs an education…"

"Stuff your apologies. Just keep an eye on the road next time you blithering idiot," the corporal pointed at the seething Naruto, before then pointing at Asuma. "And _you'd_ better keep an eye on your little brats from now on otherwise they might end up wandering off of a cliff if you don't."

Asuma frowned almost instantly at having his apology shot down, as did Shikamaru and Hinata.

Sure it was worrisome at first when Naruto started barking at the man, but then even with an offering of peace the strangers were still baring fangs at them. Either that or they were just rude soldiers intentionally looking for trouble.

In any case, they had their pride as shinobi as well as individuals. The students in particular clenched their fists when they realized that their teacher, the man that was practically raising them and supporting them in their line of work, was also being insulted, even without provocation on his part.

And he was trying to settle the disagreement. What was wrong with these guys?

"Ohh, I think we made the little mice angry, Stanton," the private on the corporal's right grinned, nudging him in the arm. "How scary…?"

"Don't fret, they're only mice. What harm can they do? With a sloppy teacher like theirs, I bet these monkeys couldn't even throw a punch properly even if they wanted to," the soldier now identified as Stanton exclaimed. Clearly he was a dick, someone who enjoyed picking on people he believed to be beneath him. Arrogance…. "They still use spears for Pete's sake, nothing to be scared of at all. Makes me wonder why we even came to make deals with these savages in the first place." Slinging his rifle strap, the man grinned. "Have a pleasant day…"

"You'd better keep that brat on a leash from now on," the private suggested in a cocky tone of voice, turning away with his friend to take their leave. "With those whiskers of his, I wouldn't be surprised if the little mongrel bit every person he came in contact with."

"MONGREL?" Naruto shouted in outrage, ducking out of Asuma's grip and dashing right at the soldier that named him. "I'll show you who the _mongrel_ is!"

Naruto had been insulted by strangers from his village many times before. However, this time he was being talked down at by soldiers who were supposed to be figures of authority and righteousness, as well as people who were basically representatives from their own country! Being treated and looked down at like he was a lowly animal, on top of having his home and his teacher insulted, was something he wasn't going to stand for.

The boy had a pretty short fuse in that department.

The soldier that had referred to the jinchuriki as a dog had no idea what was coming next till he was suddenly impaled by a small fist digging right into the kidney area. The man doubled over in shock, spewing out saliva when he was nearly thrown off his feet. Naruto then followed up by leaping off of the man's bent leg with his foot and hooking him across the face, sending the soldier barreling to the ground.

When Naruto landed and glared up the man that had started the argument, he saw him swing his rifle around and point it at him. Everyone in the area jumped when they saw him bring his main weapon out onto the field, with the blonde's team also responding critically.

Asuma reached for his kunai, intent on stopping this fight himself if need be. He was pissed off just like his squad, which was the main reason why the Jonin didn't stop his infuriated student in the first place, but now…

However, just as the corporal was bringing his rifle around Naruto was already targeting him. A single shot rang out like a sharp clap of thunder when the soldier let loose a round, only to have it fired skyward when his swift little opponent dashed in an orange blur right at him and batted the barrel with a parry straight up into the air.

After staggering his second opponent, Naruto then ran at him completely and leapt. He kneed the brute right in the chest, before twisting in the air and literally roundhouse kicking him across the face. That sent the soldier keeling over as well, with his face hitting the dirt road before the rest of his body with a heavy thud.

Naruto landed between his two fallen foes, panting heavily and almost growling angrily with every breath taken. The crowds gawked at the sight of such a young boy having quickly dispatched two of the foreign soldiers, with his team also looking on in surprise.

Seeing that Naruto had settled the conflict without serious fatalities, Asuma sighed and retracted his kunai. He folded his arms and shook his head. _"I'm gonna catch a lot of heat for this later. Dammit kid…"_ the Jonin thought while rubbing the side of his head. "Geez Naruto, don't jump in so eagerly you idiot."

Hearing his instructor addressing him, Naruto looked up toward his teacher with a blink. Catching his breath and regaining his composure, the boy shook his arms out before focusing his complete and undivided attention on the team leader. "S-Sorry… sensei…"

"Though I appreciate you standing up for the rest of us," Asuma said with a smile, rubbing his eye a little, "Couldn't you have had it out with someone who was _not_ from another continent? His friends aren't going to be too happy about this."

Hearing the groans emitting off of the soldiers rolling around on the ground in pain, Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly before smiling up at his team. He saw Shikamaru shaking his head with a smirk and spotted the concerned look he was getting from Hinata, and waved back at them to show that he was okay. "Ahh, I'm sure it'll be alright." He started walking over to rejoin them, stepping over the private holding in his guts. "They were bullies anyway. I'll take the responsibility of this myse…"

Before he could finish, Naruto caught something fast moving from his left blind spot and his eyes darted toward it in shock. On instinct he threw up a guard to protect his hea…

**BAAM!**

There was a loud bang, like a shotgun round being fired off and hitting a huge slab of meat hanging from a rack, followed quickly by what sounded like the barrier of sound breaking. The next thing Naruto saw was black as his body was literally sent spinning through the air before slamming straight into a stack of crates in an alleyway on the other side of the road. The wall of boxes exploded into a shower of splinters, sending dust and debris in the form of a huge cloud as the tower collapsed on itself, and Naruto went cart wheeling through the barriers.

The entire contingent of Team 10 jumped in shock, the crowds audibly gasping when they saw the once vengeful and strong boy that had jumped at the defense of his friends, get hurled into a wall like he had been fired out of a cannon.

Though their initial concerns were for their friend Shikamaru and Hinata stopped themselves from running to his aid to look back at the person responsible for sending Naruto flying in the first place. The fact that he had been attacked out of the blue meant that there was a third, even stronger player from the 'enemy's' side, so instincts told them to analyze the situation first before jumping in hastily.

Asuma and his students looked to where the two soldiers had been brought down and were now sitting up, where they saw a boy around Naruto's age standing at their defense. Wearing brown shorts, a yellow shirt unbuttoned and trailing on the wind, and bearing a brown skin complexion with black hair, the newcomer made his presence known by dropping out of the roundhouse kick he had just executed and took a stance.

"What the?" Shikamaru blinked, staring at the teenager several feet in front of him. "W-Who is that?"

Glare locked onto the cloud slowly dissipating, the boy rolled his shoulders before looking down at the soldiers he had assisted. He watched them rise to their feet, picking up their weapons while also licking at their wounds.

"Are you two okay?"

"Y-Yeah…" Corporal Stanton groaned, backing away towards the crowd.

"That little… punk…" the soldier's companion groaned, holding in his side as he limped away, "G-Get him… Nai…"

"Oh, I intend to," the dark skinned boy replied, rolling his shoulders again and turning back to glare at his target once he was certain his clients were out of harm's way. The soldiers regrouped with their comrades gathering with the crowd, guards from both the village's forces and the western visitors arriving on the scene.

Realizing that this person was with the foreigners, Hinata and the others then quickly looked back to the rubble.

"N-Naruto-kun," the Hyuuga exclaimed, bringing her hands up in worry.

At first there was nothing.

When no audible response or movement came from the passageway for the next few minutes, everybody began thinking that the boy was either knocked out or dead. However, when the dust finally settled and the crowds were graced with the sight of the splintered remains of a story stack of crates lying on the ground, everyone unexpectedly jumped in surprise when the blonde that had been blind-sided moments before, pulled himself out of the pile of crap and dusted himself down. Looking as though he had just taken a full-on beating from a pack of thugs, and gripping his left arm which had taken the full brunt of the kick that had lifted him off of his feet, the jinchuriki glared out onto the road.

Hinata sighed in relief, as did Shikamaru, whereas Asuma flinched when he noticed something off about Naruto's left arm and the way he just staggered out of the alleyway.

It was unlike the kid to actually feel anything after a hit like the one he took. Normally after being thrown off of his feet from a hit from the Jonin during their spars and crashing into several trees, the boy would simply shrug it off, stand up straight and grin.

Here, his face was twisted into one of frustration that was rarely seen, even after taking just one hit.

The Jonin sweated nervously, _"I-Is his arm broken?"_

"W-What the hell?" Swearing, Naruto kicked his way out of the destroyed crates and back onto the road, before glaring across at who he assumed was the one who attacked him. "W-Where… how… grr… who the hell are _you_?"

The boy he was addressing smirked, cracking his neck to the side before taking a fighting stance. Team 10 looked back at him in bewilderment, with Asuma also becoming more concerned when he saw the newcomer take a narrow, orthodox fighting stance and begin bobbing up and down on his toes. He also brought his hands up, above his head and on either side of his face, like a protective guard.

Naruto instantly became perplexed by his stance and his bobbing movements.

"My name is Nai Khanomtom," the young male exclaimed, a big grin on his face, "And I'm here to protect my clients." He was obviously referring to the soldiers he had been tasked in serving alongside.

Looking at his confrontational stance, the jinchuriki grinned and after spitting out the blood from the cuts in his mouth, slid into his own fighting stance. Sliding his dominant foot in front and across and bringing both hands up and in front, he assumed his Wing Chun fighting stance.

"So you want to play, huh?" Naruto exclaimed, ignoring his bruises, scratches, and the throbbing pain up and down his left side. "Alright then… bring it!"

The two squared off, keeping their eyes locked onto the other and nobody else.

"That brat's gonna get his ass kicked," the corporal that had taken the savage beating from before exclaimed, while being supported by two of his squad mates. "No one has ever been able to beat Nai before. This match is as good as settled."

While the teens approached the center, the soldiers and castle guards in the area, as well as Team 10, pulled back even further to the side and watched on with both anticipation and concern. While the audience was aware that a fight was about to break out between these two really strong youngsters who have just met, those with common sense about them couldn't help but worry.

Sweating bullets while also keeping his other students at bay to prevent them from jumping in haphazardly Asuma looked between both Naruto and his new opponent Nai.

While it was true both sides had acted out of defense, there was something unsettling about the person the jinchuriki was set to engage. Sure the Jonin had confidence in the boy's ability to fight on his own, there was no one from his village finer in taijutsu then maybe Rock Lee and his crew, but this situation felt different. This boy working with the westerners that just swooped in and literally downed Naruto with a single kick… something about him told Asuma that he was dangerous.

He was powerful… _really_ powerful…

"_He's not just strong,"_ Asuma thought nervously, looking across at the darker boy and the stance he had taken. It was quite an odd fighting form for someone to use, one that though it did look odd the instructor, swore he had seen something like it years before. It wasn't wide and low like the academy's taijutsu, nor was the hands held anywhere impressive that showed incredible aggression. In fact, it was a well balanced, confident stance that didn't require excessive movement.

Strangely, it resembled Naruto's _Blocking Fist_ style in practice by how he was staying on his toes and bobbing around. In contrast to the Wing Chun style the jinchuriki was now using which was more stationary this one appeared more natural and fluent.

It was while he was staring at the smirking boy with his hands raised up in a guard did Asuma finally realize who this young fighter was.

There was no way the guy was a shinobi, not with that stance, and he wasn't from this country either. Accounting for all his characteristics as well as the knowledge the instructor possessed, he was able to recall where he'd seen that fighting form before.

"_I've seen travelers and monks from Siam practice this style," _Asuma said, his eyes narrowing grimly at who he figured out Naruto was about to engage. _"A user of the 'The Art of Eight Limbs'…"_

"…_Muay Thai."_

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>_ And that's another chapter. Here I wanted to include a little more insight into Team 10's more laid back activities, as well as add a little more Naruto/Tenten and Naruto/Kin moments. It allows him to connect with them more and build up on their relationships._

_Now for the chapter. If anyone has ever played **Naruto Ultimate Ninja Heroes 2: The Phantom Fortress**, anyone would know who **Princess Kasumi** is and what **Castle Dusk** or **Mugen Castle** is in the game. In here, its taken place as the Arc that pretty much redefines Team 10s approach to shinobi life and shows the shinobi world and the characters just how vast the world actually is._

_In this Arc I'm calling the **Land of Dusk Arc** (since reciting the game name is such a pain), Team 10 will be put to its ultimate test._

_Now, in previous reviews, I've heard that people have been bitching about how 'oh the shinobi in Naruto are much stronger than westerners, they can blow up buildings and ships and easily beat guys with guns' or 'oh, guns are stupid. They can kill shinobi easily with guns.' Chuck that shit out the door because the Naruto series is filled with all sorts of supernatural and spiritual crap that, if you look at it from a certain point of view, levels the playing field._

_Look at it this way, if you take the Japanese ninja/shinobi from the real world and give them super powers that's basically what the Naruto series is in a nutshell, ninja with super powers taken from Japanese myth. Now, if you give people like samurai, boxers, muay thai fighters, taekwondo practitioners and other specialists like that, who use martial arts and their own abilities in combat, and give them super powers, that basically puts them in the same class as ninja._

_Ninja in the real world are ordinary people who know how to hide, use camouflage and fight, but they are human. That's the same as a Chinese martial artist. A martial artist can run, fight, hide and breathe like a ninja, given the right training._

_Basically, the shinobi in the series would have the same supernatural abilities as other outstanding fighters who can fight on par if not outclass a ninja entirely. This opens up the possibilities that shinobi aren't the only forced out there in the world to be reckoned with. Look at **Naruto Movie 2: The Legend of the Stone of Gelel.** Temujin is in fact the other name given to Genghis Khan, a warlord from hundreds of years ago if anybody knows their history, and if anyone remembers the movie, had outstanding abilities like Naruto, and he was from another country entirely in both the real world and in the Naruto series._

_It's no stretch of an imagination to think that people like Temujin can exist in the Naruto world._

_Also, the attitude of the foreigners. Basically I'm following along rough guidelines from history in how the less advanced people are treated as inconveniences by the occupying forces or something like that. Like how the soldiers act smuggly and look down on Naruto's team, you could say they're the Biff's of the army (Back to the Future reference, lol). However, it doesn't have to be anything to do with race, class or creed or anything to do with that. Not all the soldiers are like that, a lot of them are nice guys. You could say that Naruto and his team ran into a couple of dickheads looking for trouble and view themselves as high-and-mighty._

_The Elemental Nations trades and connects with the rest of the world through small or large companies like Gato Company, but they still remain a bit more independent and more inclosed in their own businesses. This arc explores that concept about Britannia (or the UK) wanting to open up secure trade with the Elemental Nations outside of the questional Gato Company and other corporations. There are ulterior motives behind this, so bare with me._

_Now, the new character introduced, a little bit of history to you readers about another noteworthy person:_

**Nai Khanomtom** (1774) – The most popular folklore regarding Muay Boran, the direct predecessor of the fighting style known as Muay Thai in Thailand is of **Nai Khanomtom**.

In 1767, Thailand (known as Siam back then) was invaded and taken over by Burmese troops, with many Thai people and Thai boxers taken as prisoners back to Burma.

In 1774, the Burmese King Hsinbyushin decided to host a seven-night, seven-day religious festival in honor of Buddha's relics, which included many forms of entertainment including hand-to-hand fighting. At one point, the King wanted to see how a muay boran fighter would fair against his country's lethwei fighting style champion. Nai Khanomtom was selected to fight against Burma's greatest champion. The ring was set up and the fight was set, with Nai performing the Wai Kru pre-fight dance (which can be seen at the beginning of Muay Thai matches by practitioners before each fight), to pay his respects to his teachers and ancestors. After dancing around his opponent, the fight started, in which Nai proceeded to pummel his opponent until he collapsed.

The referee said that the Burmese champion was 'distracted' by the dance that 'resulted' in him losing, and declared the knockout invalid. The King then asked Nai if he would fight against nine more champions, which he agreed to, and one after the other with no rest period, he defeated them. His last opponent was a great kick boxing teacher from Rakhine, in which Nai mangled him with vicious kicks. After which, nobody dared to challenge him.

The King granted Nai his freedom along with either riches or two beautiful Burmese wives. Nai chose the wives, saying that money was easier to find. His feat is celebrated every March 17th as **Boxer's Day** or **National Muay Boran Day **in his honor and of muay boran's.

This is Nai Khanomtom in his earlier days. In this story, he meets Naruto (Years before Siam's fall), and they're basically the same person with the same tastes in ramen and enthusiasm for fighting.

_It should also be noted that in the chapters to come, Nai would prove to be the only person in the world capable of beating and breaking Naruto and vice-versa, and becomes his rival._

_Though I admit this was a little jumpy, I basically approach each chapter like I'm writing whole episodes, it's kind of a drag. Ugh, Shikamaru is rubbing off on me._

_Hope you enjoyed the chapter and stay tuned._


	17. Land of Dusk Arc: Split Decision?

**NARUTO**

**The Art of Appropriation**

_Split Decision?_

**Konohagakure…**

**Naruto's home…**

It was mid-day, around the same time Naruto and his team had arrived at the _Port of Dusk_ on the other side of the country, and so far things were going well for the people of the _Hidden Leaf_.

While the atmospheres everywhere else were pretty high and tensions were still rising, everything else back inside the home village was pretty flat water. Smooth sailing, very little waves, things were all well and good for the villagers. It was a simple, normal day with a light breeze and warm sun, so what more could anybody possibly ask for?

Seeing that it was a fine day to catch some sunlight, Ran had decided to hang out on the back porch to indulge in some sake and some charming company. Her companion took the form of a rather frustrated Kin, who had also decided to join her and was currently sitting across from the woman engaged in an intense game of shogi. It was an activity she had taken on as something she could really be competitive about around here, but while she'd been having plenty of practice losing to Mr. Woo, the samurai wasn't thinking of going easy on her either.

Despite having half her mind in a bottle of alcohol and the other half minding the state of play, the enchanting drifter who wielded a katana like a God was taking Kin apart piece by piece.

The former kunoichi's eye twitched when she watched yet another one of her generals get taken away from her.

"I'm starting to get really annoyed at losing at this game. Why is everybody so good at everything in this village?"

"Well… would you like a list of reasons or just the consolation prize for your troubles?" Ran inquired, taking another shot of sake while observing Kin make an absolute fuss over her next move.

"Please…"

"Naruto sucks at this game," the samurai stated straight out, earning an almost immediate scowl from the raven haired girl.

"Just so you know, comparing me to him does not instill much confidence in myself," the girl replied.

"Confidence must be fought for. It's not like the world is suddenly going to ease up on you when things get tough and time seemingly starts slowing down on you. Every now and then situations call for you to be more aggressive," Ran stated, taking her pawn and shuffling it forward. It was a maneuver that had the girl in front of her, grit her teeth and fold her arms in exasperation. The samurai smiled, "However, I recommend that you do not take such action here… not when you're pitted against me."

"Whatever," Kin grunted, taking her king and moving him out of harm's way, "Still, I'd be happier if I was more or less compared to either one of _you_ guys?"

"Why do you say that?" Ran asked.

"Simple. You, Meow and Yim are super humans… forces of nature, storms to be reckoned with, and heroes from worlds beyond this one. If I knew exactly where I stood in contrast to you three, then maybe I could derive some measure of comfort knowing that I'm not too far down the ladder to call myself useless," Kin explained, expressing her concerns over her value as a human being.

The samurai chuckled, pouring herself another glass while also contemplating on her next move. Her eyes darting around the board from corner to corner, she took her knight and moved him around an opposing rook. "You think little of yourself because you think you're wallowing around on the losing end?"

"Let's face it, I'm not exactly an _outstanding_ person," Kin moped, looking up at her opponent with a sour expression. "Not only did I lose to one of the densest and loudest shinobi in the world, but I lost a lot of my dignity as a kunoichi, have admitted to most of my mistakes, am on long term house arrest, and am being overshadowed by _you_ monsters. How the heck am I supposed to feel knowing that I'm just a tiny pebble in a village filled with boulders?"

"Ah, but you're forgetting one little detail," Ran smiled pointing at the girl with a straight-forward hand gesture. "It's not about the size of the rocks that make the landscape but what they're made of. For instance, a boulder built on arrogance may be made of weak material and can crack under intense pressure. However, a pebble made up of stronger elements such as guts and an iron will, may last even longer than the boulder. You never know, maybe you're a pebble made of gold, one with a pure heart that stands out above the rest." The woman sat back a little while placing her hand on her lap as she raised her sake glass. "Don't look down on yourself when you've only begun to discover your potential."

"What potential? I mean…" Kin furrowed her brow and glared down at the board, the pair of them moving their pieces around a couple of times before settling on yet another standoff. "I lost in this game to a bird, which says that the intelligence I was once brought up to be believe was quite high, sucks, and aside from my ninjutsu I had nothing else going for me in any of the other departments."

"Naruto was exactly the same," Ran stated, causing the girl to look in her direction in surprise. Folding her arms, the samurai gave the raven teenager an intent gaze. "Before becoming Yim's apprentice, he had very little skill as a shinobi and lacked refinement in the techniques he practiced. However, with a little helping hand and a reason to work harder to become stronger, he was able to become the splendid shinobi he is today. Perhaps… you would be able to do the same if you followed after him."

Blinking, Kin looked away momentarily to dabble over the woman's words of comfort. This gave Ran the time she needed to consider her next moves on the board, leaving the kunoichi to dawn on the idea presented to her. It didn't take long for the former sound ninja to come to a conclusion on her own, which she admitted to with a warm and gentle smile.

"He's not so bad…" the girl said, her eyes shimmering with a sort of newfound revelation. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to give it a shot."

"There you go," Ran grinned, moving her general and taking out one of the girl's remaining pawns. Kin frowned deeply at watching another one of her pieces get spirited away from the battlefield, and as much as she wanted to protest her conscious thought better against and quickly overruled that motion, figuring it was not such a good idea to mess with a shinobi and samurai slayer when she was only three feet away from her. "Never give up! Keep moving forward. That's what Naruto always says anyway. He has so much confidence in himself and in those around him that he has no intention of stopping. You've got a lot of road ahead of you to cover if you want to catch up to him."

Kin sighed, giving the woman a calm glare. "Yeah… you can say that again. He's already a hundred lessons ahead of me."

The samurai smiled, leaning back with another shot of sake in hand and raising it to the girl suggestively. "Would you like it if Meow and I trained you? You'll be able to cover quite a bit of ground much faster if you had someone to help you in reaching your goal."

Looking surprised again, the girl pointed at herself. "Y-You would… train _me_… really?"

"Well, I'll certainly be here for a while. My job with Naruto is yet finished… not to mention I really like this village, so what harm can come from taking on another apprentice in the period of my stay here?" Ran smiled, placing her cup down and leaning towards the girl with a warm gaze. "Interested?"

Blinking, the former kunoichi smiled back and nodded her head affirmatively. "I… I think I'd like that. Thank you." Exchanging pleasant gazes, the two returned to the game at their feet and continued lashing out at each other's throats. However, it was while Kin was about to make her next move something in the back of her head clicked and she suddenly glared back up at a woman.

How could she have not noticed?

"Wait a second, what goal? I didn't say anything about my ambitions to you?"

Realizing exactly what the young girl was reading into, the samurai chuckled and looked away awkwardly, scratching her cheek at the same time. "Uhh… you see… I… I've… been watching how you and Naruto have been getting along quite recently, and since I _did_ suggest that in order for you to grow and become stronger you should follow him and you agreed, I merely assumed from that point that… Naruto _is_ your goal." Glancing around, she saw the girl's face slowly contort from suspicious to bafflement, followed by unbelievable shock with a shade of red on the side.

Drinking this completely new look on her in, the laid back samurai grinned mischievously. "Of course, he would be _now_… unless you already planned on pursuing him before?"

Sputtering, Kin blushed brightly and shook her head furiously. "Hell no! HELL NO!" She crossed her arms and threw them out defiantly. "I refuse to couple with that boy, in this world or the next." The kunoichi folded her arms and looked away, red faced. "You can't make me!"

"Well, if your intention is to grow strong _like_ him, odds are the two of you will be training alongside one another very soon," Ran explained in an enlightening tone, earning a very discomforting look from the girl across from her. "Many things can happen in a lifetime after all, especially if you follow the same path and live under the same roof."

It was quite clear Kin was becoming overly flustered at the rather suggestive thoughts of being in close proximity to the jinchuriki being expressed by the wandering samurai, but there was no helping it now. When that sort of idea was out there was no way of taking it back without leaving behind an incredibly strong aftertaste.

If you become aware of it you'll have to live with it, and the vagrant was well aware of this.

She allowed Kin to simmer where she sat for a while as the game rolled on.

"Naruto might return from his mission a much wiser man than before," Ran exclaimed, moving one of her leading pieces and taking another shot. She watched Kin commit her uneasiness to another maneuver in kind, with hesitation visible behind her obviously crumbling strategies. "His first job outside of the village… maybe something good will happen to him."

"Are you sure he's ready for it?" Kin asked troublingly, looking up at the samurai with uncertainty in her eyes. "C-Rank assignments can be pretty tough on a rookie leaving the nest for the first time. What makes you think he'll be able to pull through any problems if they happen to show up?"

"His teacher wouldn't have taken his team out if he wasn't sure of their abilities," Ran smiled, pouring herself another glass and swirling the contents. "Besides, I think I am right in saying that it was the perfect time for them to step it up. Yim, Meow and I have been training Naruto extra hard these past several weeks, so as one of his instructors I'm positive that after all of his hard work, if he was to run into something that posed a major problem for him…"

"…He won't end up mud wrestling…"

XXX

**Meanwhile…**

_**Port of Dusk…**_

Asuma blinked in shock. "Well… at least he's not mud wrestling."

Shikamaru and Hinata shared the exact same expressions of surprise as they gawked at their teammate currently engaging the foreign fighter. The entire team remained rooted where they stood at the edge of a once enthusiastically cheering crowd, all of whom had been silenced after witnessing the events of the past few seconds.

It had all been going so well at the beginning and things had started to heat up, until the unthinkable happened.

"A-Amazing," Hinata exclaimed, raising her hands to her chin and trying to stop her body from shaking like a leaf.

Shikamaru blinked, "I'm going to be honest; I did_ not_ see that coming…"

On Naruto's end the boy was all fired up.

Looking at his expression one could clearly see the sweat running down his face with an almost maniacal grin pulled across his lips. His current nature, appearance and response to the conflict he was currently occupied with was almost animalistic in a sense, as he clenched his fists tightly and breathed angrily through bared teeth.

Any opponent would be intimidated by such a look, as they would think he was possessed by the Kyuubi.

If only he was directing this glare at his opponent…

When it appeared the jinchuriki was initially directing all of this blind fury towards his target, he was in fact directing it at the ground he was holding with his hands.

In summary: Naruto was on his knees, while Nai on the other hand had backed off and was at this very moment circling him, still bouncing on his toes and assumed in an offensive stance. The young kick boxer glared down at the winded blonde as he grabbed dirt and shook up a storm where he had been brought down.

Things weren't looking so good for the jinchuriki…

"_Holy shit,"_ Naruto thought, biting back the pain in his abdominals as best as he could. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about the spasms racking his muscles and bones, and after seconds of attempting to pull through it opted to remain where he was for a little longer to recover. _"And things had started off so well for me…"_

After pulling himself out of the piles of destroyed crates he'd been kicked into minutes before, he was able to shrug off the dust, debris, as well as the cracked bones in his arm and his busted ribs. What followed afterwards had been an intense exchange of fists and kicks, as both he had the person who had almost caved in his entire body went at it in the middle of the street surrounded by both soldiers and civilians.

At first Naruto had started off the fight with a variety of parries and counters, attempting to get a feel for the other boy's style and rhythm. However, after two minutes of dancing around his more stationary target and getting his timing down, the jinchuriki went in for an attack.

Unfortunately, his actions all back fired on him.

After taking a roundhouse kick to the side followed by an uppercut to his abdominals, Naruto was almost instantaneously grounded and, from the feel of it, even more busted up than before.

This was unlike any of his spars he'd had with Meow and Yim, and was nowhere even close to his fight with the _Sound Team_. The blows he'd taken from Dosu, Kin and Zaku had at least been manageable, even with all of their intents to kill and getting the drop on him at the beginning of their fight.

This guy on the other hand…

"_Bloody hell,"_ Naruto gasped, looking up to see his opponent circle him again defensively, as if searching for an opening. In spite of having downed him, the pugilist was being incredibly careful. _"This guy… is strong. He's unbelievably strong!"_

He thought the world was taking a big shit on him right now, but in truth it wasn't. When you think you've taken all the punches the cold reality is that you haven't. Thinking back on it, Yim, Meow and even Asuma's punishing spars have all been about technique and combinations, and while their blows did indeed hurt and they had kicked him around like a ragdoll more times than he could count, they were all sharp and heavy. The attacks from this person though; they were both heavy and had high penetration. Two shots to the body and Naruto felt like his insides were on fire.

And he didn't even have to be thrown into any trees to feel his bones breaking.

"_Screw this!"_ Naruto grinned above the pain, grabbing some dirt in his hands before slamming both of his fists into the ground._ "I've taken more hits than these! No way am I going down in some one-hit wonder punching contest! I'll get him!"_

It was easier said than done.

Before the jinchuriki could properly reset for a third engagement, his opponent unexpectedly jumped at him with speed. Naruto gasped in shock when he caught the boxer leaping through the air and diving down at him knee first, prompting the jinchuriki to leap aside prematurely.

The blonde spun in a parallel, evasive maneuver across the ground, just in the nick of time to avoid Nai slamming into the road he had been kneeling over seconds before.

The kick boxer hit the road with a heavy crack, splitting the surface and glaring after his retreating opponent when he realized he had missed.

Back on his feet and his opponent also rising up to face him, Naruto's eye twitched as he glared down his target. Exchanging heated stares, the blonde shinobi watched as the teen started moving around from side to side across the way in that signature bobbing motion of his again, like he was still sizing up the young shinobi from a distance.

Eventually the darker skinned boy Nai took up position directly ahead and held his ground at the center yet kept his hands above him with his left fist extended further out in a narrow, orthodox stance.

Wanting to take the pace early in a reengagement despite the damage he had sustained, the jinchuriki tried to shuffle forward. The moment he did so however his left abdominal muscles convulsed and he visibly shuddered.

Naruto bit his teeth and held his ground, his eyes glancing down momentarily at his shaky lower body. His opponent thankfully failed to spot his distracted concerns, which bought him a few more much needed seconds of breathing space.

"_W-What the fuck…"_ Naruto thought furiously, testing the foundations of his seemingly distorted position. _"Just what the hell did the guy hit me with?" _He glared back at his opponent.

His foe's smirk had turned into a frown, and all excitement over the situation from him flooded away and was replaced with all seriousness. Nai shifted forward inch by inch, wondering who was going to be making the next move. The crowd surrounding them was literally silenced by the growing tension of the situation.

Finding strength in his legs, Naruto moved around.

The two fighters circled one another, with the jinchuriki's hand position switching from left hand dominant to right hand southpaw. The blonde blinked in surprise when his opponent also shifted to southpaw, his stance widening as a result.

Naruto stopped, as did Nai.

"_Whoever he is, he's no ordinary fighter,"_ Naruto thought, furrowing his brow. _"He's extremely sharp, focused and his roundhouse kick packs a wallop."_ His left eye twitched and he briefly looked down at his trembling left hand. _"He didn't just crack the bones in my forearm, but I'm pretty sure two of my ribs are broken. He managed to get me even with a guard up."_ He clenched his open palms into fists and held his stance. _"No doubt about it, he's strong."_

"_I've cracked rocks with my kicks, but this kid is able to stand through two," _Nai thought, looking the blonde up and down as they sized each other up. He saw the way he was standing and how his hands were extended outwards, definitely in an ideal blocking position. _"Wing Chun huh? First time I've ever seen a practitioner up close. This might be an interesting matchup."_ A smile reappeared on his face at the excitement of the battle to come.

"_Is he making fun of me?"_ Naruto blinked, seeing the other boy smirk. This had him tense and move forward instinctively. _"Fine… if you want me to bite first, I will…"_

However, just as he was about to take the initiative by closing the distance between them, his opponent suddenly dashed right at him!

Ducking in, Nai lunged with a left jab, with even greater speed that had the jinchuriki's eyes widen in surprise. The left punch cut through the air like a bladed weapon, which Naruto immediately parried and cut out with a left of his own, striking his attacker in the chest.

But when the jinchuriki expected the lightning fast counter to stagger his opponent, he got another unexpected surprise when his fist quite literally bounced off of the other boy's chest and Nai followed up unhindered with a right hook.

Naruto blinked in shock and blocked the right, his feet skidding across the ground on impact from the force that had been put behind it. Attempting to lock the blow in place the jinchuriki then followed with a right open-hand straight, only to have it shot down by a swift jab from his foe. Forced back across open ground, both the jinchuriki and the kick boxer exchanged swift blows, parries and counters, with Naruto blocking an uppercut before attempting to retaliate with a jab, which was also shot down the moment it was thrown before he was forced to duck a left hook.

Straightening up, the Genin instantly guarded against a right cross, an attack with enough force build up to send him skidding back across the ground. Naruto bit his teeth from the sheer effort of attempting to hold his own against the strikes, and peered through the gap in his arms at his opponent advancing on him.

It was becoming quite obvious to the young ninja that he was losing more ground by the second than in any other fight he'd had before.

Naruto stepped forward, blocking a body shot and a hook before attempting a straight cross of his own, only to receive a left hook across the face. The blow sent him staggering to the side while his world spun around him like he was caught in a twister.

Shaking out of it quickly, the jinchuriki slid back from his stumbling into his stance and turned back on his opponent who lunged at him with a jab. He immediately responded with a parry and a left straight kick, snapping out at his opponent's abdominals, but was shocked when Nai parried the straight with a right knee and continued advancing. The foreign fighter threw both hands out and literally shoved with his full body weight at Naruto's chest and sent the boy flying through the air.

Landing and sliding to a stop, Naruto reassumed a defensive stance. He ducked and weaved around hooks when his opponent was once again on top of him, jabbing out with straights and body shots to the guy's body, only to have his swift strikes bounce off of his target's unbelievably sturdy core and abdominals with every attempt. The jinchuriki gritted his teeth and guarded against a right roundhouse at his side, taking the blow that sent him stumbling again. He guarded his center a split second later when a left straight kick snapped out at him and the young shinobi was thrown across the road.

There was no denying it. Naruto was being kicked around like a God-damn ball.

"_Holy shit…"_ Naruto thought, his thoughts coming to a sudden stop when his back slammed into a brick wall. The jinchuriki looked behind him desperately, realizing he had been thrown into one of the buildings on the side of the street before looking forward again to see his opponent dashing straight at him. _"Dammit!"_

Naruto dodged left, avoiding a left side kick that impaled the wall and went straight through it. Sweat now running down his face, the jinchuriki backed off hurriedly when his opponent immediately followed up with right hooks, left jabs and various elbow strikes attempting to drive the young boy through the wall, but instead smashed up the brick surface and brought down the entire section of the building in the ensuing pursuit. When Naruto rolled against the remaining wall away from his opponent, the barrier they were up against crumbled to the ground, leaving behind a gaping hole.

The crowds gawked at the destruction the foreign fighter was able to bring about using only melee attacks, with Team 10 also looking on in astonishment.

"Whoa," Shikamaru murmured, seeing the dust choke up the air space and hide both fighters from view.

"_This guy is __**insanely**__ strong!"_ Naruto thought in shock, deciding to change tactics or risk being hammered into another corner. He kicked out with his left foot and pushed himself off of the building's framework just as his opponent leapt at him with an elbow strike. When Nai missed, the black haired boy watched his opponent sail through the air across the road and upon landing shuffle his way into the center of the clearing inside of the crowd.

The jinchuriki gritted his teeth and assumed another defensive stance, watching his opponent take his own offensive variation and make his way back toward him to reengage.

"_What is his body made of, steel?"_ Naruto questioned, switching to south paw dominant. _"Those same attacks brought guys like Zaku and even Kiba to their knees with only a few combinations. Why aren't they working?_" Naruto quickly ducked a haymaker when his opponent jumped at him, their positions switching when they turned to face one another after the pass. Both began to circle, eyes locked and guards up. _"This is bad…"_

Not only did Naruto realize that even though they were both nearly the same age and size, with only a couple inches difference between them, individual, swift counters and attacks had no effect on the kick boxer.

The jinchuriki's opponent had a shockingly sturdy body and was resilient to almost all of his attacks. Furthermore, the guy was calculative and aggressive, and had a very direct offensive style. He threw attacks with absolute confidence behind each swing without fear of a crippling counter, and the power he rotated in with his attacks was scary. Even with a guard or the use of parries to defend against the onslaught of punches and kicks, taking the guy's blows hurt like a bitch.

"_But that's the thing,"_ Naruto began thinking, watching his opponent circle just outside of reach. _"He has a well-rounded style and his attacks are heavy as hell, but I'm quicker than he is. Though the speed difference is only off by milliseconds, I can unload more combinations on him before he even has a chance to follow-through."_

"_His skills are quite impressive,"_ Nai murmured in his head while furrowing his brow at his opponent, both of them sizing each other up. _"Ordinary opponents would have tried to duke it out with me from the get-go and lose out from poor technique, but this guy fights smart and is quick on his toes. Though I admit he's not as strong as me, his attacks are sharp and all of them are aiming for vital areas."_ He moved in, aiming to take his opponent again and probably finish him off before things escalated beyond a street fight. _"I've tested him with more use of my upper body. Let's see how he handles more of my kicks."_

Immediately upon setting a strategy, Nai lashed out at the boy's legs with a left roundhouse. Naruto snapped out with a right straight and knocked his leg back before it could even lift off of the ground. Though this failed to shock the boxer, the foreign fighter returned with a right straight kick. The jinchuriki parried and followed up by stepping in with his left and jabbing out. Nai blocked and followed up with a right hook, only to have his opponent immediately weave under it and unleash a combination of chain punches to his center.

Taking the blows, Nai followed up with a left downward cross, his opponent weaving around and coming in with a right cross as a flowing counter. The kick boxer parried with a left and followed with a right elbow, but no matter what he did after, his opponent kept on ducking, weaving and dodging his strikes, and continued landing sharp chain punches and swift counters against him.

A left roundhouse kick shot out, which Naruto blocked but was thrown back again from the force. His opponent advanced immediately with a right knee and a jab at the same time. The jinchuriki parried the jab and stepped in to avoid the knee. Ramming his elbows into his opponent's neck, Naruto locked up the kick boxer with his arms folded against his collar and shoulders, and flicked out with a right kick, only for his opponent to block and retaliate with knee strikes.

Both fighters found themselves locked in a clinch, with Naruto pushing forward from an advantageous position under his opponent's head. His arms locked up against Nai's neck, the jinchuriki prevented the brawler from unloading punches and even body blows from their position, but because Nai had a dominant position over the blonde's head, he could still freely use knees and ram them into his sides. But the blonde wasn't making himself an easy target, continuingly kicking out at his foe's shins and ankles as he pushed the taller boy back to throw him off.

Naruto gritted his teeth and growled, finding the weight on top of him becoming a bit unbearable even with a lock. Nai remained calm and continued unloading knees in their grappling match, but was finding it a little bit difficult trying to keep his balance.

The kick boxer then changed tactics and used his upper clinch around his opponent's shoulders to his advantage, and began throwing the boy around. They circled and jerked at each other sharply, with Nai connecting with knees to Naruto's sides and the jinchuriki, albeit the throbbing pain from his cracked ribs attacked his opponent's legs with his own kicks, at the same time asphyxiating the pugilist with his neck lock and making each of his attacks uncomfortable.

Eventually, Nai, losing out in a close quarter standoff, managed to get his elbows in between Naruto's arms and threw the boy off. The moment the lock was broken both opponents sent straight kicks at each other. The snapping attacks connected and the two boys were blown back, where they then took up defensive stances.

Digging their feet in, Nai and Naruto maintained calm and collected expressions following their backbreaking grappling match, showing that they were still in good shape and eager to keep on going.

The crowd began murmuring and cheering excitedly after seeing the exchanges the two boys were able to unload. The soldiers from both sides also cheered, with several of the squads present making bets while others from Britannia's side, including a wounded Stanton and his comrade, gawked in amazement at how the blonde kid from out of town was able to go toe-to-toe with _their_ Nai.

Shikamaru and Hinata looked on with heavy anticipation, as did their teacher. However, the entirety of Team 10 couldn't help but look on with signs of worry as both opponents began circling each other again.

"The guy's tough, I'll give him that," the Jonin commented, placing his hand on his chin thoughtfully.

"But Naruto is just as tough as him," the Nara spoke, looking up at their instructor with concern. "Do you think he'll be able to beat him?"

"The guy can take Naruto's taijutsu head on with his own no problem, and although he's much stronger than him he's losing out in a match of speed," Asuma explained, his mind pondering over their strengths. "I guess the factor that will ultimately decide who wins this one will be _determination_."

"Well, when it comes to determination and fighting against the impossible," Shikamaru smirked, "Naruto's got this one hands down."

"Y-Yes," Hinata smiled, relief from their words flowing into her as she laced her fingers together and clenched her hands enthusiastically. "N-Naruto-kun will win. I know he will."

Although, even with his students cheered up and their fears set aside for the time being with his analysis, the Jonin couldn't help but continue to feel anxious. Though he had reassured the rest of his team that Naruto would be able to tear into the guy with sheer grit combined with his own skills in combat, he couldn't shake this uneasy feeling racking his gut that something bad was going to happen and that it was looming just around the bend.

"_Though I'm sure Naruto can win, this guy isn't making it easy on him. Their difference in speed isn't that far apart and the other boy can apparently take much more punishment. Even though he's landing points, Naruto's really hurting right now and is taking a lot more damage than his opponent,"_ Asuma frowned and brought his arms to his sides. His eye twitched restlessly, a physical reaction that very few could catch, _"Maybe I should step in…"_

However, when it looked as though the teacher was about to intervene, Naruto's eyes darted toward him then back to his opponent. Asuma caught his gesture with his honed reflexes and blinked in surprise, and after seeing the blonde look back at him several more times, the instructor nodded in understanding and smiled.

"_The stubborn runt… he's actually having fun?"_

Naruto smirked. _"I've got this one. Don't stop me, guys."_

Seeing his opponent smile had Nai a little on edge. Figuring it to be some form of retaliation for his own cocky glare from before, the martial artist from Siam opted to fix this and push this fight into his favor once again. Tightening his guard, he ducked in and dashed forward. The third jump in his speed didn't deter Naruto at all, who ducked under a hooking elbow and uncorked chain punches into his abdominals. He then moved around when the guy thrust forward with a knee, their positions switching as they circled each other sharply and at close range.

When they circled, Nai chopped at his opponent with a roundhouse to his leg. Naruto blocked and stepped in when the kick was thrown off, aiming to follow up with a cross. He landed a second later before ducking an elbow and dodging an uppercut, throwing swift chain punches into the boy's lower body and attempting to hit his face, but meeting blocks at every turn. When they broke off the engagement and circled again, Naruto stepped in with more chain punches, dodging a left and kicking out at his opponent's legs.

His opponent blocked, immediately moving in with another roundhouse and meeting a parry, which threw his leg back on the recoil. However, when it appeared both of them would begin exchanging blows for a second time, Nai's expression unexpectedly darkened.

"_Take this!"_

The swift change in moods caught the blonde by surprise when their eyes met as the young ninja slid in, attempting to close the distance to counter.

Naruto seized up when he saw Nai's face, his body literally stopping for barely a moment.

"_W-What the heck?"_ the jinchuriki thought, his breath catching in his throat.

The blonde had no idea what he was being hit with, but things seemed to just completely slow down around him. It was like a force was holding him back, overshadowing if not overpowering him altogether. All energy inside of his body was almost completely sapped away, and the world from his point of view visibly darkened as he was drawn into his opponent's gaze. It wouldn't be until seconds later of staring back into the cold, hard stare of his foe would the jinchuriki realize that he was being overpowered by only killing intent.

Naruto blinked back into reality when he physically came around to the realization that his attack had stopped.

The kick boxer immediately switched up, taking advantage of his opponent's split second hesitancy and instead of letting his initial kick fail, he swung in again with the same leg, and struck his frozen opponent in the lower leg before slicing up and down with a swift, third one.

Three simultaneous roundhouse kicks in a row.

That last left roundhouse struck Naruto in his forward right leg's thigh with a splintering crack, which he was unprepared to guard against. A sound like a gunshot rang out throughout the entire area, with enough impact behind it to silence all cheers and murmurings from the observing civilians and soldiers.

The jinchuriki's eyes widened when bolts of pain shot up him like lightning from the hit he took. Before he even realized what exactly had hit him, he was already falling forward.

The crowd gaped in shock, as did Team 10 after they saw the blonde take the swift hits and almost instantly buckle from the damage.

Shikamaru stepped forward. "Oh no!"

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata cried out.

"_K-Kami, what was that?"_ Naruto stumbled away, almost tripping over his own shaky feet but managing to regain his balance and land back on both legs. When he slid back into a stance and glared up, his opponent rushed at him with a jab.

Instinctively moving to counter, the jinchuriki straightened up to reengage as though nothing had happened, only for his battered right leg to suddenly give way. Naruto looked on in silent shock as he began falling backwards, his opponent lunging in and uncorking his next attack without any signs of stopping.

The boy's jab aimed to slice him down in a single stroke.

The entire crowd sucked in air all at once and held, watching in slow motion as Naruto keeled over like a fallen tree and his opponent chopped down at him with his finishing blow.

"_If that hits… I'll lose!"_ Naruto switched positions, bringing his right hand back and extending his left while still in mid-fall.

With that speed and at that angle, he wouldn't just lose…

He would get killed!

There was no way he was going to get hit by that swing!

"_I'm not done yet, you bastard!"_

The jab was coming quick. He had to counter now!

Concentrating hard, Naruto gritted his teeth and, with a yell of sheer effort put behind his aching body, he threw his right hand under and upwards in a hooking motion, palm open. The moment he did so a blast of wind was fired off, sending a wave of invisible energy whipping right at his opponent.

Nai, expecting to hit, continued moving forward without restraint. However, just as it seemed like he was about to land his strike and end this short bout once and for all, the boy suddenly winced when he was unexpectedly struck in the stomach by something hard and heavy, a sharp pain bolting through his entire nervous system at the brunt of the blow.

The gust of wind that wrapped around him nearly sent him barreling over all at once, but he managed to hold his ground and after staggering backwards, he was able to watch his opponent hit the ground with a heavy thud.

From their positions both fighters glared across at one another, while the assortment of onlookers, soldiers and members of Team 10 stared at the teenagers in utter astonishment.

…

…

…

"_I got him!"_ Naruto grinned with sweat dripping down his head from where he was lying, his body trembling from the effort of keeping himself righted.

"_W-What the hell was that?"_ Nai thought to himself, his body also trembling from the shock.

Was it a punch or an unconscious reaction to a feint? Did he trip? Thinking on it a little, there was no way it could have been out of hesitancy. It was a physical attack that stopped him. The only problem was that he just had no idea what it was. His opponent had been too far away to have unloaded a counter or a kick, and from the position he had been in there was no way he could have landed anything with that much force behind it.

So just what the heck stopped him?

Shaking off the impact of the invisible blow, Nai reset himself as fast as his body allowed, before dropping into a lowered stance and lunging in. _"Screw it! I'll just finish this while he's still out of it!"_

Seeing that his opponent wasn't stopping even after a direct blow from his strongest technique, Naruto gritted his teeth and sat up. Assuming a crouched position, the blonde yelled out and leapt off of the ground at top speed to meet the other boy's charge. In that instance when both opponents dashed at one another, they attacked with right straights to land with each other's faces if possible.

When they met at the center though, their attacks were grabbed by the wrists of their targets and were firmly held in place, with their foreheads slamming into one another at full speed and locking the pair in an intense staring match.

A dark-eyed Nai glared back through gritted teeth at an equally dark-eyed Naruto, both of whom attempting to push at one another but failing to overcome the other opposing force. The crowds began cheering at the renewed clash, egging the two to continue the fight as more wages were put forward. The soldiers in particular were betting amongst themselves, withholding from stopping the public disturbance because they'd never seen entertainment like this in a while.

It was like a deadly face-off between two forces of nature. It was also another reason why nobody wanted to intervene for fear of getting caught up in the typhoon.

The only tangible thought that sat in anybody's minds at that very moment was who would be the first to break the deadlock?

…

…

…

"What the hell is going on here?" a voice shouted over the silence.

Naruto and Nai blinked in surprise and looked away from each other. Further down the road, they saw the crowd on that part of the ring move aside to form a path as a young man riding a horse forced his way into view, accompanied by a platoon of soldiers. The horse reared back and kicked its forward feet with a whinnying call, before circling the two fighters who quickly broke out of their grapple. The once brawling fighters looked up at the person circling them, while Team 10 also watched on from the sidelines as the crowds further dispersed themselves.

The boy astride the horse was an officer, as indicated by how every western soldier immediately stood to attention at the sight of him. Despite only looking to be around fifteen years of age, it appeared as though he had already attained the rank of Captain and had an assortment of distinguished awards sewn above his left tunic pocket. Smartly dressed, hat, boots and all, the teen spared no effort in flaunting his superior position above the Britannia forces present.

The young shinobi in the area meanwhile counted his weapons, including a side arm, a short blade and what looked to be an incredibly long lance held in his right hand.

Ensuring that the crowd was parted and order was restored, the officer rode his horse alongside the two once battling youngsters and glared down at them. He looked from both the raven haired boy to the jinchuriki, before furrowing his brow and rounding his attention on the Muay Thai practitioner.

"Are you causing trouble again, Nai?"

The teen Naruto had been quarreling with minutes before chuckled and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Uhh… what makes you say that, sir?"

"I'm referring to this little street performance of yours," the officer shot back, using his lance as an arrow and pointing at the destroyed wall behind him. "Now, this destruction of property simply begs the question as to what would prompt a man of your disposition to try and tear an entire building apart with his bare hands."

"W-Well you see," Nai chuckled, before pointing nervously at his opponent.

Naruto gawked in surprise when he found all eyes in the area suddenly land on him and stick.

Looking between the brawler, the teen on the horse and the throng of onlookers, the blonde haired shinobi quickly backed up and threw his hands in front of him, waving them frantically. "N-Now wait just a second! I didn't start a damn thing here! I'm just another victim in some big misunderstanding! This whole fight started because of _them_!" He then pointed over to the corporal and private he could see standing at the edge of the crowd, both of whom were still sporting wounds from their beating earlier.

The Captain turned to the pair in question, both of whom standing further at attention and looking quite fearful in the newcomer's presence. They didn't say a word even against the accusations, due to them having failed to be given the order to stand at ease. This pretty much gave the shinobi that arrived into town the perfect opportunity to defend their case.

"We bumped into each other and they started picking on me and my friends," Naruto said, directing the young officer's attention to the rest of Team 10. When the Captain looked over at Asuma, Shikamaru and Hinata, he saw the three of them wave back at him pleasantly.

"H-Hi!" Hinata squeaked.

"We didn't do or say anything to upset anybody here, because we just got here!" the blonde continued, standing down a little when the man glared back at him. "If a bully starts picking on you, then you have a right to defend yourself. When I tried to do just that… well… I guess you can ask him about the rest." He then pointed back at Nai, who folded his arms and looked back up at the officer with a shrug.

Upon sizing up the brutes being accused as well as the team of shinobi who were the supposed victims of verbal abuse and provocation, the teen currently acting as judge nodded his head before steering his horse around, glancing down at the jinchuriki again.

"We are guests here; therefore we must treat our hosts with respect if we are to receive the same treatment in kind." The man glared across at the beaten corporal and the private, both of whom stiffened nervously. He smiled down at Naruto after directing his point across to the troops in the area and tipped his hat. "I apologize to you and your friends."

The jinchuriki sighed before looking over at his former opponent. He saw Nai grin and glance back up at the officer who suddenly sheathed his lance into his saddle and hopped off. A soldier from the sidelines quickly ran over to take the reins while the young man dismounted.

"You are very kind, Alex…"

"Oh, give it a rest, Nai," the officer sighed, dusting his tunic down once he was back on solid ground and looking back at the boy he had scolded before. "Don't go thinking that you're off the hook just yet. Because of your actions today, we not only have to compensate these kind folks for the damages you've caused, we also have to repair the walls you destroyed. I believe you're familiar with the phrase 'you break it, you bought it'?"

The young pugilist chuckled awkwardly and rubbed his neck. "I-It's been tossed around back at home, yes."

Naruto, gripping his side and still holding a considerably weakened stance, watched the pair interact from the side with great interest. He appeared a little taken aback that such a high ranking looking officer could exchange such pleasantries with someone who looked so far beneath him. However, upon looking at the situation a little more closely of how the soldier on the horse no older than them was giving the cheerful teenager such a displeasing look; the jinchuriki could only assume from their small back and forth that they had some sort of a friendship. It kind of reminded him of how he and his team communicated with one another, but things seemed a little bit different here.

Upon giving Nai a lecture on holding back in the future as well as showing restraint in public, the Captain then turned towards Team 10 and marched in their direction. The crowd watched on curiously as the young man stood before Asuma, Shikamaru and Hinata, and after taking in the appearances of all three of them, bowed to them in greeting as he had seen done many times upon his arrival here between locals and smiled in their direction.

"Good day, I'm Captain Alexander Edward Murray: 8th Earl of Dunmore, Head Officer of his Majesty's 5th Cavalry Regiment of the Royal Academy and platoon leader of Britannia's 16th Lancers Cavalry Unit, assigned as one of four guards in escort to his royal envoy. You may call me by my courtesy title Viscount Fincastle or Vincent. It is a pleasure to meet you."

His introduction was immediately met with a lot of bewildered and thunderstruck stares as a result of the amount of information crammed into his one title, to which Asuma saluted back rather weakly.

How the heck were they supposed to respond to that?

Noting their shared confusion, the young officer chuckled bashfully and straightened himself up. "Sorry about my forwardness. I was under the impression that it would have been rude of me to withhold my full name and title to esteemed guests to this town."

"Guests?" Shikamaru inquired, receiving an affirmative nod from the young officer.

"You _are_ the team delivering the package to the princess of this country, yes?"

Catching onto this point, Asuma quickly jumped back into life and approached the young man all business like. Fumbling like he was adjusting a nonexistent tie, he nodded enthusiastically towards the high ranking individual and raised a hand to him in greeting. Vincent took his hand and shook it firmly, while the adult's team members and Nai looked on curiously as the pair exchanged compliments.

"How do you do, I'm Asuma Sarutobi, Jonin Captain of Team 10 from the _Village Hidden in the Leaves_," the bearded man greeted, before feeling a little empty on the inside shortly afterwards as to how many of his own titles _he_ lacked. The shinobi sweat dropped inwardly while allowing his other conscious self at the back of his mind to do the talking in place of his mouth. _"Maybe I should add that I was once a part of the __**Twelve Guardian Ninjas**__… or would that be showing off. Geez, why the hell don't I have a cool name like him?"_

He bitched for failing to acquire a cool epithet for himself over his entire service history as a ninja of _Konohagakure_ thus far, taking a moment to curse Kakashi Hatake outright for actually having one. There was no way he was praising Gai though, that person just scared the crap out of him with his introductions.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance," Vincent smiled, looking back down after the handshake at Shikamaru and finally over at Hinata. It was when his eyes locked onto the blue haired girl in the jumper at the end did he give this particular individual a moment of pause, looking her up and down with an intense gaze.

The kunoichi visibly backed away when she saw the teen's eyes look her from head to toe, before watching him remove the hat from his head followed shortly by a bow of greeting. "And… it's a pleasure to meet you… miss…?"

"Uhh…umm…" the girl stammered, finding herself suddenly placed under the boy's uncomfortable gaze. Knowing that she was being singled out and that the officer was asking her directly for her name, she knew that she had to come up with an answer soon. After some incomprehensible mumbling, the kunoichi eventually mustered up enough confidence to respond. "I-I'm… Hinata Hyuuga."

"Hinata… Hyuuga?" the officer smiled, slowly reaching out and taking her hand in his. "It's nice to meet you." He lowered his head and gently kissed her knuckles, releasing it and reaching behind him with grace and elegance behind his movements.

If Hinata hadn't been blushing already from the strange display of affection from the foreigner, she certainly was seconds later when the teen in front of her suddenly pulled a bouquet of flowers out from behind him. Naruto, Shikamaru, Asuma and Nai jumped in surprise at the sudden appearance of the decorative collection of flora, with everybody else watching and wondering where the hell he had gotten the roses from.

What occurred next was something not even the most clairvoyant of individuals would have foreseen.

With a sparkly smile and a new air of contentment about his person, Vincent extended the flowers to the blue haired girl, who looked back at him nervously in spite of his meaningful gestures. She had no idea what she was supposed to do as she leaned away from the smells of gorgeous lilies and daisies being offered to her.

"I initially believed that there was no such thing as angels in this world, but now that I have seen one for myself, my belief in the existence of a world beyond this one has been reborn," Vincent exclaimed, his voice becoming husky with charm as he held the bunch of flowers out to the girl and more, which he began conjuring out of thin air. "Because you have graced this humble soul with such a wonderful portrait of beauty, I must ask that you accept this gift of mine. I picked these just for you…"

"P-Picked?" Hinata blinked, tapping one of the blue bells when a cluster of more plant life was thrust ever closer to her.

Shikamaru stared oddly at the sight of the serenading young male and the blushing kunoichi. _"We aren't even near any flower fields, where the hell is he getting these bouquets from?"_

"_It's true,"_ Asuma sighed, running a hand over his face in disbelief. _"There are people in this world even worse than Gai…"_

"If it is not to your liking, then I shall bring you an entire field of flowers and lay its very foundations at your feet, so that your footsteps may never touch the likes of ground again," the boy sang, placing his hand on his chest and posing grandly. The sparkles around him and the light engulfing his body seemed to get brighter, making Naruto and Nai flinch from their proximity to the teenager. "Oh, I will shower you with flowers and proclamations of love if you wish. Please, Hinata Hyuuga, tell me… how may this poor servant from across the seas enrich your life and raise you above the clouds?"

The crowds were silent… like… dead silent, Team 10 was gawking, and for some otherworldly reason that they just could not explain was that the young teenager had dropped to his knees, produced even more bouquets so that he was almost standing on a podium, and had a spotlight illuminating him from the heavens above. Though it wasn't something Asuma or Naruto hadn't seen before, it was definitely one for the record books.

It was like the guy was the member of some Host Club and was going out of his way to make Hinata feel appreciated.

He was quite literally showering the girl in cherry blossom petals at this point.

However, as if nothing at all abnormal was taking place in front of her or anything remotely interesting was happening, the nervous Hyuuga shrugged off the petals and looked about nervously. "I… I uhh…" Gulping, the girl quickly shuffled around the kneeling officer, who continued to beam in her direction before her composure just broke and she dashed over to Naruto for safety. "I'm sorry, but I cannot accept your gifts!" she shouted in a rush, before hiding herself behind the blonde who she viewed as her pillar of strength.

Though it was in her character to faint more often than normal when in Naruto's presence, around a person like _THAT_… she would risk a coma to hide from this boy.

In that very moment upon receiving the girl's answer, the spotlight once illuminating Vincent was switched off like curtains down at the end of a show, and the previously proud and charming officer splintered where he knelt.

Actually, the accurate term to vividly describe his reaction to the girl's reply would be that the boy's once glamorous image suddenly turned into stone and his entire body from the head down fractured. No joke. It was like those animated sequences in cartoons in which the guy was shot down by the girl he admired and had been showering praise over her, and was left kneeling in a thunderstruck state in the middle of the street.

That was exactly what happened to the great Earl.

The next thing everybody was aware of was that the young officer was standing next to a wall on the other side of the street with his hand against it, looking down at the ground with a raincloud floating overhead. The small, black ball of fluff began pouring down on top of him, framing depression and presenting yet another over the top theatrical performance to the audience.

Team 10 stared at him.

"O…-kay…" Shikamaru murmured uneasily, watching the raincloud soak the officer to the bone. "Is this really the guy that's supposed to take us to the palace, because I think he's broken?"

Not just broken; shattered, on his knees and wet. However, rejection was one of those many things a guy had to deal with if he was going to make it in the world of love. Today, he just came on too strong…

WAY too strong. Hinata was still hiding behind her crush who was also giving the distraught officer an odd look.

Asuma shrugged. "Well… what can you do?" If Kurenai had brushed him off like that on his first proposition, the Jonin was pretty sure he would have been in the same state of person as him.

Letting out a sigh, Nai looked over at Team 10 with a wave to get their attention. "Sorry for the misunderstanding. We'll escort you guys the rest of the way over to the castle so that you won't get side-tracked." Upon receiving a set of nods from Asuma and Shikamaru, he then looked over at Naruto, whose silent stare he matched with a hard glare of his own.

Hinata looked worryingly between them, wondering if the account between the two boys had been settled or not. Her hands on the jinchuriki's shoulders tightened as she watched their brows furrow and their stares lock, before the raven haired boy broke the ice with a smirk.

"You have a lot of skill for someone your age. I enjoyed our fight."

Naruto smirked back cockily. "Ditto…"

Shrugging his shoulders, Nai waltzed over to where Vincent was still sulking. Taking the guy by the arms and patting him reassuringly, he then proceeded to lead him through the crowds in the direction of the castle that was their destination. The soldiers scattered around the scene dropped out of attention and went about dispersing the villagers and redirecting traffic to restore order to this part of town. The visiting shinobi took the breakup of the audience as a sign that the situation out here was over for the time being, and followed after the horse being led after its owner.

Asuma and Shikamaru approached Naruto's position, and just as the jinchuriki was about to march on with the rest of the group, he suddenly collapsed to the ground.

The Jonin anticipated this from his battered student and caught him in mid-fall, lowering him down with great care as the boy groaned out in pain. "Easy. Didn't I tell you not to make such a big fuss, you idiot."

Naruto arched his back sharply when he landed on the stinging pain in his side, the adrenaline rush fading and being replaced by complete awareness. His senses spoke wonders to his brain and gave him the full details of the damage he had actually sustained in the brawl. "M-My options… were limited… sensei…"

"Geez, you and your problems," Shikamaru sighed, kneeling beside his friend along with a now seriously concerned Hinata.

The kunoichi gulped, her attention fixing with Naruto when he reached down with his right to grip his left arm. "A-Are you going to be okay?"

"Not for a while I should think," Asuma replied for the blonde, unzipping the kid's jacket as he rested his back against him and pulled up his blue shirt to reveal his stomach. When the three of them got a better look at the teen's side from where they were able to see he had taken the brunt of damage, they all reeled back in surprise at the dark, purple bruise stretched across his side just below his chest line.

They could safely assume from that point that that was where he had taken the first kick.

"H-He got me," Naruto hissed, feeling his teacher prod the inflamed area to assess the overall damage under touch. His right leg also twisted in discomfort when Shikamaru and Hinata rolled up his pant legging, both of them remembering he had also taken some serious damage from the roundhouse kicks at the end of the duel.

Surely things couldn't have been as worse as they were. Not for Naruto. The guy was a power house after all, he could pull through anything.

Unfortunately though…

If the broken ribs and his fractured left arm weren't bad enough, the Hyuuga and her teammates were barely able to contain their shock when they saw the jinchuriki's right thigh up close. Normally, leg muscles when suffering from a certain amount of trauma or bruising would swell up and become inflamed with a bit of reddish discoloration. Some ice and bed rest over a few-day period would cure a problem like that in a jiffy, and if attended to by a medic-nin, then the issue would be fixed in just a few hours.

Looking at Naruto's thigh though where he had taken the biggest hit of all, it looked as though the big muscles in his leg had just exploded! A huge swelling sensation the size of his arm with veins visible and a dark, blackish color appearing around the heavily afflicted area were the most appealing signs of injury. It came as such a big surprise to the team that they had half a mind to believe that the femur had cracked, but after another look over Asuma assured his student that he had taken it well, and that it was only an extreme case of swelling and bruising.

"I'm sure we can find a doctor to fix this right up for yah, kid," Asuma exclaimed, seeing the boy pant heavily from the pain he must still be feeling. With the help of Hinata, they managed to apply bandages to the boy's chest and leg, before covering up the wounds and pulling him into a sitting position. "Don't worry… you're not gonna die…"

"Oh… I'm not worried about dying, Asuma-sensei. I don't plan on passing on just yet," Naruto grinned back through a sweaty face as he was righted on the ground. His team remained at his side as support, smiling his way as he reached up with his good arm and rubbed his head. "I'll get better by the end of today just you watch, believe it."

"Heh, nice guts," Asuma exclaimed, patting him on the back. His expression then became serious when he saw the boy smile at him. "But consider yourself lucky that you weren't arrested or taken away by the soldiers. Good thing that _that_ Captain showed up."

"Y-Yeah," Naruto chuckled looking back around and down the road, where they saw the teen officer in question along with Nai waiting for them further up ahead. His eyes darted around the soldiers guarding them before landing on the pugilist teenager he had been having it out with only minutes ago, a sight which caused the blonde to visibly frown and sit up some more. Shikamaru took him by the shoulder to make sure that he didn't fall. "T-That guy…?"

"He's a Muay Thai fighter," Asuma stated, seeing his students immediately turn to stare at him at the mention of the individual.

"M-Muay Thai?" Hinata murmured, not liking the sound of that name.

"What's that?" the Nara asked.

The Jonin sighed and nodded them in the direction of the waiting escort. "It's an old form of martial arts from the country of Siam to the far south, a vicious self-defense method that employs the use of striking, grappling and kicking to overwhelm a hostile target," the man informed, seeing his students develop rather nervous expressions at his telling of the fighting style that they had just witnessed. "I've seen street performers and monks practice that style in the past, but only to a small degree. That boy there however, he's something else entirely."

"No kidding," Shikamaru exclaimed, looking over at Naruto to see his friend still glaring out towards his former opponent. "Judging from his incredibly direct and effective offensive capabilities and his speed, it's easy to tell from a distance that he has a really strong body with a lot of power built up behind his blows. I bet he's got a lot more tricks tucked up behind those kicks of his too."

"Yeah… and with those muscles, he can definitely take punches," Naruto replied, clenching his fists as he returned his friends' stares with his own. "But… what do you really think? How did _I_ do?"

Hearing him inquire into his capabilities for a second opinion, Asuma smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You did well. If he hadn't gotten the drop on you from the get-go, I'm sure that one-on-one you would have had him on the ropes… but…"

"But… if the fight had continued from where it started… I would have lost?" the blonde asked, looking back at his teacher with a dejected gaze. He then glanced around at his friends, also seeing the stares of concern they were throwing back at him. "R-Really?"

"N-Naruto-kun," Hinata murmured, watching the boy turn away with an even more downhearted expression when no support was given on his part.

Coming around with a half-smile, Shikamaru nudged him in the arm. "Hey, it's okay. Everybody loses once in a while. You just have to pick yourself up, remember?"

There was silence. Naruto didn't say a word to back him or even defend his own momentary show of weakness. Of course, while Asuma and the rest of the team responded with worry over his state of mind and person, the entirety of Team 10 looked back at the blonde in surprise when they unexpectedly heard him chuckle.

Watching closely, they saw the jinchuriki look ahead of him with a wide grin, running a hand through his hair to clear his fringe from his sight. After sharing a laugh with the rest of the world for but a moment, the young shinobi then held up his fist and glared straight down the road towards the one that had been kicking him around only minutes before.

Pride as a shinobi aside, the jinchuriki looked as though he was psyched up for another round.

"I want to fight him _again_…" Naruto said with grit and certainty. His words though shocking at first, brought a smile to all three of his friends, particularly from a concerned Hinata, who was reassured that his spirit hadn't wavered in the slightest following his severe beat down. "Oh yeah… I was injured and I wasn't even fighting at my best. He's the perfect opponent for me to test my skills against!"

Shaking his head, Asuma chuckled and pulled him to his feet. Shikamaru helped the blonde up as well as the Team prepared to set off and follow after their escort. Any longer and they would inconvenience the officer that had come all this way out here to find them in the first place. It was a mistake that they did not wish to repeat.

"I'm sure you'll get another chance. Just rest for now…"

"Sure," Naruto grinned, looking over his shoulder at his teacher. He saw Asuma and Hinata stare back, wondering why he was looking so happy in spite of his pain. The look he directed towards them also gave them something else to be baffled about. "But I won't be the only one resting…"

The Jonin blinked, recoiling a little at his extended piece of information. "Why do you say that?"

The jinchuriki smirked, looking ahead of him.

"He may have gotten me in the last few seconds… but I got him _as well_…"

OOO

Nai smirked, turning heel when he saw the contingent of Team 10 collect their fallen comrade and begin walking in their direction. Seeing that they were locked onto their tail with no other problems holding them back, the kick boxer wasted no time in heading on his way alongside his companions.

Vincent, now back on his horse and seemingly back to his previous, collected self, was looking over his shoulder to see if the shinobi were on their heels. Once assured that everything was right with the troop, he directed his soldiers to follow and began moving out to the castle. However, upon resetting their course across town in supervision of the esteemed guests, the man from the lancer cavalry unit couldn't help but glance down towards Nai as the young man strolled along with his hands in his pockets.

"He must have been some kid?"

Blinking, the pugilist looked up at the officer. "Huh?"

Vincent smirked and looked ahead as his horse trotted forward. "You've had many sparring sessions with a lot of the officers in my division yet none of them presented any form of contest to you. However, when I arrived on the scene and saw how you were butting heads with a boy no older than yourself… well… I was a little bit worried."

Nai blinked, looking back in front of him with a childish frown and scowl. "Don't get the wrong idea. The kid's punches were light."

"Yet you managed to bring down an entire wall in the ensuing tussle," Vincent chuckled, looking away with a contemplative smirk. "How do you explain that now?"

"Grrr, okay! Fine! He was good!" Nai replied, shrugging his shoulders with a huff. "His punches were sharp and he was damn fast, I could barely keep up with him. But he was on his last legs too… I don't thi-" The teenager's eyes suddenly widened and he shuddered to a stop.

Sensing his friend's footsteps skid to a halt Vincent tugged the reins on his horse and also stopped in his tracks, a signal that had all the other soldiers walking around them to come to attention. All eyes fell on Nai the moment focus was drawn to him, where they saw the teen stagger forward with a look of what seemed like utter terror drawn across his face. The beads of sweat also appearing added to his shaken state.

"H-Hey, Nai?" the Captain spoke, turning to him in worry. "You okay? What's wrong?"

Choking, Nai stumbled off to the side, his shoulder involuntarily ramming into a temporary stall. The people behind it parted sharply when he rammed into their posts, nearly knocking the goods that was being sold off of the desk. The young fighter gripped his chest and, using the post as extra support, bared his teeth as he keeled forward.

Moments later and after emitting several strangled sounds, the teen fell to his knees and threw up. The soldiers in escort looked on in shock, as did the captain and the civilians standing around the boy as he puked up his guts and what he had had for lunch that day. They had no idea what the heck was happening to their comrade as he retched and heaved up blood, before his coughing came to an end several worrisome seconds later.

Barely hanging onto the post he had crashed into, Nai pulled himself to his feet. A Britannia soldier off to the side came over to him for help, taking him by the arm to pull him the rest of the way up.

"You okay, sir?"

Coughing up whatever there was left, the boxer brought a hand up to his lips to wipe his mouth clean. When he looked down at the gauze in his palm he saw blood smeared across it, which prompted him to stare in silent shock and bewilderment.

After several seconds of gawking, he then reached down to his stomach where a sharp bolt of pain zapped free and spread throughout the rest of his system. Wincing a little, he focused attention down at his exposed stomach through the gap of his unbuttoned top. It was there, wedged cleanly just under his ribs across his front and side, the raven haired boy saw from his hunched over position a hand print engraved into his muscles and flesh. The area around it was swelling up badly, a sign that whatever it was that had hit him had dug in deep and was the cause of his internal bleeding.

Though it came as a shock that he didn't feel or notice it before now, Nai quickly came to the realization of what it could be.

Eyes darting, he thought back to the last moments of his fight and looked over his shoulder. Just a dozen yards away he could see Team 10 walking towards them with their friend. His eyes quickly locked onto the blonde, where his gaze met with his momentarily before both parties looked away.

"Nai?"

Shaking it off, the boxer looked up at Vincent, where he saw the teen looking down at him with the same amount of concern as before.

"What happened?"

Blinking, the pugilist stared ahead almost vacantly, adjusting his arm's position around the soldier's shoulders as he was slowly led away from the stall. As he stumbled along with the help from the guard, the teen frowned.

"I got hit… _bad_…"

Vincent blinked, ordering the rest of their convoy to follow. "How bad?"

Gasping for air, the boy looked up. "He held back… that's how bad," Nai answered. His mind delving deeper into his already vast, acquired knowledge of martial arts and techniques, the teen quickly recalled as to where he had seen or experienced something like this before. _"That was no ordinary gust of wind. That was an armor piercer technique?"_

It was inconceivable. Someone from this land actually knew how to control chi?

At first he thought that only the people from Qing could harness that energy, but apparently the boy being supported by his team several meters behind had actually learned how to use it as well. As a result, even Nai was being carried away from their ring by a fellow comrade, like the whole fight had led them to an impossible tie.

Seeing the captain up on the horse still giving him a concerned look, Nai managed to shake off his surprise and grin back at him.

"He held back… and that means…" He looked ahead of him, continuing his vocal exclamations in thought. _"He could have beaten me, just as I could have beaten __**him**__!"_

Nai looked over his shoulder one last time, where Team 10 had managed to catch up with the soldiers and his eyes fell back upon an equally battered Naruto with his arm around Shikamaru.

"_Interesting." _The kick boxer smirked. _"Most interesting…"_

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> And so the conflict ends. This was just a demonstration of what Nai can do and, because it was localized in a populated area, neither fighter was able to bring out the big guns, not just yet. This will basically establish the conflicts to come and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.

The officer that came around to stop the fight is another historic character. I'll leave it up to you devoted readers to research the originals of the 8th Earl of Dunmore, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	18. Land of Dusk Arc: Meeting of Two Worlds

**NARUTO**

**The Art of Appropriation**

_The Meeting of Two Worlds_

**_Port of Dusk_…**

**_Mugen Castle_ Throne Room…**

Unlike the rest of his little team of rookies just starting out their lives as shinobi of _Konohagakure_, Asuma had years of experience under his belt _with_ honors and golden stars included. He was pretty sure he also had a smiley face drawn over his profile by the Hokage himself.

Rightly so hitchhiking his unblemished record, he'd visited many places in his lifetime, among which included a wide variety of institutes, summer houses and five-start properties he wasn't even allowed access to. Those adventures however were on a need-to-know basis, stories that would be better suited for an R-rated movie than a documentary.

Compared to his team of freshmen _he_ was a skyscraper stocked to the brim with unfathomable amounts of history behind its construction and operated by a force of over a hundred strong. Those were pretty impressive stats for a man in his prime. The Genin on the other hand were only houses; small, newly built, and who have yet to face the tests and hardships of time while holding a roof above peoples' heads.

Hence, with this contrast in mind, it was only fitting that the Jonin was able bask in the sheer bewilderment and amazement that Naruto, Shikamaru and Hinata expressed the moment they set foot inside of _Mugen Castle_; the capital building of the port town and the most recognized piece of architecture within the village.

Sure from a distance the structure was huge; not that there weren't other big things floating about in the harbor. This one looked even more impressive with its overall exterior design and attention to detail.

The moment the team fell within the shadow of the colossus that was the princess' residence, the group of rookies was quite literally thrown into a whirlpool of wonder. The impact the castle had over them resulted in a prolonged pause for about a few minutes outside, which was spent gawking up at the building before Asuma, albeit amusement derived from his students' gaping fish impressions, herded them indoors with a grin and a chuckle.

On the outside the castle looked more like a tower, stacked and formed by what appeared to be numerous other buildings; sort of like _Jenga_ only more stable and was holding up a down sight better than the _Tower of Babel_. It was an almost post-modern design of castle combining traditional yet extravagant _Elemental Nation_ architecture. But aside from the massive courtyard at the base of the steps leading up to the castle surrounded by a lush, beautiful garden filled with exotic wild flowers, the inside of the building was even more impressive.

The insides practically screamed royalty. Imagine the inside of _Nagoya Castle_ combined with elements taken from the imperial palace of the _Forbidden City_ with many levels, stairwells and hundreds of rooms and other chambers hidden behind shoji doors. The spire that was the castle was blocky on the outside but leading out from the center, followed a circular skeletal structure. The red pillars and framework against a light brownish canvas background and white doors pretty much set the tone. It was amazing that something like this was constructed from human hands alone.

After making their way through the castle following the main stretch of corridor marked by a red carpet, passing through many chambers all looking exactly the same as the last one, the team and their escort eventually arrived at the throne room.

This room was even bigger than the others. A ballroom sized assembly area with beautifully painted walls, a stretch of varnished floor with a raised platform at the very end with the throne elevated on a series of steps, overlooking a long dining table set up for visiting guests and councils. It should be noted that there were already a great number of individuals here, with about half of them looking to be aligned with the western visitors.

Team 10 was led around the side of the room, following the wall directly behind Captain Alexander Edward Murray and Nai; the former still carrying his lance and marching along with an air of pride whereas the latter had bandages wrapped around his abdomen and was looking quite miserable.

Naruto, still being helped along by Shikamaru and Hinata, couldn't help but trade hostile glances with the raven haired brute that he had had a savage punch-out with earlier that day. Asuma made sure to keep an eye on both boys, just to ensure that they didn't start something again.

Arriving just off to the side of the throne, the visiting Team was able to catch a glimpse of the princess herself sitting in her seat accompanied by a man who they assumed to be her bodyguard.

The princess herself was fair and beautiful, with long dark hair framing a gentle face with white robes adorned on her person. She sat upon the cushions silently, looking out towards her guests with an admirable smile as both her council and the envoys that arrived with the western ships communed. It was pretty much all routine business at the moment.

The most opposing force being conveyed towards the young squad however that was currently present in the room was her guardian. To Team 10, this guy spelled tough… but not in a bad way.

In contrast to the guards dressed in black with silver armor, this man wore a very traditional, smart looking suit with designs taken from this country's clothing and had long, black hair tied back into a ponytail. A rounded face, pointy nose and sharp eyes gave him the appearance of a very perceptive individual, and matched with his thin build and a height comparable to that of Asuma's, all of this was made much more prominent by the presence of a katana he was holding in his right hand.

It was kind of odd for a bodyguard or butler of his stature to be holding his katana rather than carrying it at his side, but perhaps it was part of his discipline or principle, as it was bound to his hand in rope.

Noticing the entourage of guests, the guardian excused himself from his princess' side to approach the team. Asuma stepped forward and bowed in greeting to the man, who also bowed in kind. The Jonin then reached into his bag and pulled out the box that his team was tasked with delivering and handed it to the individual, who took it with great care.

"Thank you very much for your services, shinobi of _Konohagakure_," the man exclaimed in a rough voice. Although it was unquestionably an intimidating tone to use in his address he did give the youngsters a smile, but that expression didn't really settle the nerves felt by either Naruto or Hinata as they looked up at the shockingly tall samurai adorned in classy garb.

"You're most welcome," Asuma exclaimed, nodding back to him. "I hope that this will help you guys in further developing a good relationship with the visitor's to this continent."

"I pray that this gesture will move us towards sealing the deal between our two worlds within the week," the servant replied, putting the box under his arm. "After all, we are in the presence of a lot of distinguished men and nobles from across the seas; people with power who wish to open up secure channels between our great countries. This is all for the benefit of both the _Elemental Nations_ and the _Western Empires_, you see."

"I can only assume so," Asuma grinned, looking out across the room at all of the men in suits, all of whom were engaged in conversation. Yup. There was no doubt in his mind that this was a really high-class party. There were a bunch of old dudes with canes and monocles, not to mention a number of military personnel, particularly generals. It actually made the rest of the team feel a little insecure at how poorly dressed they were compared to the rest of the crowd. "With the number of boats in the harbor and the _suits_ in here… I'm just a little surprised that the Daimyo's aren't around to say hello to the newcomers."

"They have sent representatives to sit in with the council," the bodyguard informed with a smile. "Due to the large number of foreigners here many of the big leaders felt uncomfortable with making appearances, so they sent their most trusted of aids to partake in the negotiations in their places."

"Sounds reasonable," Asuma exclaimed. _"I figured as much. The daimyo normally travel with swaths of bodyguards, not to mention with the sudden spike in the populace in this town it presents the perfect opportunity for any would-be assassins to come in here no problem under the guise of one of the outsiders. It's a pretty complicated set-up."_

"Our security is stretched out over the entire port and will remain as such throughout the entirety of the proceedings. We have platoons of soldiers stationed at every entrance and patrolling the streets. To try anything here would be equivalent to suicide," the bodyguard stated, before bowing again to the Jonin with a smile. "Oh yes, where are my manners? I have yet to introduce myself. I am Princess Kasumi's right hand and _Captain of the Guard_, Okita Soji. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintances."

Asuma smiled and nodded back, "The pleasure is all mine. My name is Asuma Sarutobi, leader of Team 10," He then gestured to the kids surrounding him, "And this group of troublemakers is the squad I'm in charge of, Shikamaru, Hinata and Naruto."

The three youngsters smiled pleasantly and waved, albeit some trouble from the middle man since he was being supported by his two friends. Still, this did little to put off or even affront the captain, who smiled back and acknowledged their presence with a bow. Of course, once he was back to a regular standing position the swordsman brushed his chin with his fingers before pointing down at the blonde in the orange jump suit.

"Let me guess: trouble in the streets with…" He then pointed at Nai, who was standing beside Vincent to the right of the team and trying to appear formal, "him?" It was all too clear. The bandages were a dead giveaway.

Realizing that he was being singled out this time, Nai huffed, folded his arms and looked away. "_He_ started it." The boy was then elbowed sharply in the side by his irritated looking companion. "Ouch! Okay, okay… it was all just a misunderstanding." He rubbed his bandaged torso. "That's still tender, dammit Vincent."

"Well, fortunately it was just a disagreement between two children and not between diplomats from different countries," Okita smiled, readjusting the box under his arm and putting it in his hands, before then turning heel. "I pray that the peace will be kept between all parties participating in this symposium. Now, if you will all kindly wait here."

Upon receiving their gestures affirming that they would hold firm, the Okita then approached the throne. He presented the gift to the princess who took it with a grateful smile on her face. The Genin standing by their sensei couldn't help their curiosity and craned their heads around to see exactly what it was that they had been transporting, and watched out of sight as the young country leader opened the package.

When the lid was popped and the cardboard was removed by Okita as assist, Kasumi revealed the gift to be a solid gold statue of a bear (From _Naruto Shippuden Episode 194: The Worst Three-Legged Race_), an unusual little item but it definitely held true merit as a bequest. It was then after admiring the artifact for a few seconds, she then rose from her seat and proceeded down the stairs toward one of the foreigners engaged in conversation with a daimyo from a neighboring nation.

Arriving at their side, she gave the foreigner the gift, which he accepted gladly.

While the young princess went about her official duties entertaining and communing with the guests under the watchful eye of Okita, the entirety of Team 10, Asuma and their two escorts remained on the far side of the room, indistinctly overseeing the rest of the meeting. It was a very free-for-all gathering, diplomats from different states speaking with each other whenever possible, almost like this was more of a casual get-together or a party than a real conference. Of course, who were the shinobi to judge?

This was none of their concern.

"So our job here is done then?" Shikamaru inquired, looking up at their teacher for an answer. He saw Asuma leaning up against the wall, arms folded. Expressing nothing else but a small nod of his head, the small action made by the instructor was all the body-language the Nara needed to settle on a conclusion. "Well… aside from the monotonous trek across the entire country, this assignment was pretty uneventful…pretty cool."

"Speak for yourself," Naruto mumbled, his leg giving him pins-and-needles again from standing on it. He readjusted his arms around both of his friends, _"Geez… why does this stuff always happen to me?"_ He was a magnet for trouble.

The jinchuriki wanted to have a seat, but too bad there weren't any chairs for them and this was a standing occasion. He just needed to bite his teeth and see this through till they were dismissed from the court.

They couldn't just leave without their client's consent or the rest of their paycheck. It looked as though that they would be here for just a little while longer.

That was all well and good for Team 10 except for the fact that Vincent had decided to make another move on Hinata. The boy casually slid over to her side and smiled down at her. When the girl finally noticed after several seconds that he was close to leaning against her shoulder, she started sputtering again. The charmer from Britannia smirked and propped his lance up against the wedge between his chest and shoulder, at the same time sliding his hands casually into his pockets.

"This is quite an assembly, isn't it?"

Gulping, the blue haired girl stammered. "Uhh… y-y-yes…"

The young man sighed, leaning back against the wall and smiling up towards the ceiling. "Months before our two worlds were only able to communicate through minute trade and vessels sailing between ports under the management of private companies. However, now that we have crossed the great pond and made it onto your soil, we'll finally be able to trade under flags. Isn't that a fantastic prospect?"

"I… I guess it is," Hinata nodded, glancing up at the boy. She flinched when she saw him gaze back down at her with full intensity, "D-Does that mean that you're here to stay?"

"Probably," Vincent replied, tipping his hat forward. "It would be beneficial for both sides if we were to also trade associates, and not just packaging crates and resources. If our countrymen were to establish temporary roost here, it would not inconvenience us in the slightest if _your_ people were to also go on over to our country and set up shop there. By having eyes and ears on both sides of the ocean we would be able to reinforce our already tightly forming bond?" He winked down at the kunoichi and gave another sparkling grin.

Too bad for Naruto and Shikamaru they were standing right next to Hinata with the former having no choice since he was wounded. Nai on the other hand could walk around as freely as he pleased, but because he too was in proximity with the lot of them he was able to hear every word spouted from his companion's mouth. He made gagging gestures and poses in the background as Vincent continued with his performance and made everybody around him uncomfortable.

The Hyuuga huddled up against a sick looking Naruto for protection. The jinchuriki was green-faced mainly from listening to the constant dribble and wondering why in the world the universe was punishing him when he had already taken such a vicious beating.

"I agree… with forming bonds and strengthening relationships," Hinata gulped, tightening her grip around her teammate's arm and leaning further away from the officer flirting with her. "All of us will be able to continue on with our work more c-comfortably knowing that we have friends out there whom we can look to for help… i-if we need it."

The Captain nodded, looking back out towards the gathering of officials from the two worlds. "True. Everybody needs friends that they can count on, which is why I hope that we can move forward with this setup as quickly as possible so that the bridge between our nations can be secured and that the people from both continents will be able to come and go as they please without consequence."

"Don't feel too at ease just yet," Shikamaru interrupted, attracting the attention of the officer who rounded on the other two standing nearby. "A big move like that takes a lot of time and preparation. You're not just talking about a small nation from this land trading with another from your continent; you're talking about trade between all nations from both ends of the spectrum."

Vincent blinked, giving the brown haired boy a smile. "Why do you say that?"

It wasn't that big of a mystery. Shikamaru directed all of their attention back out onto the floor towards the smartly dressed officials exchanging pleasantries and pouring drinks for each other. The various colors and appearances were singled out in the following explanations. "Look around. You don't just have noblemen from our nations accompanied by their officers; there are lots of suits from different countries from _your_ land in this room as well." The Nara smirked and looked back at the Captain. "Your good friend Nai gave it away the moment we laid eyes on him because he's from another country altogether. It's not one state that wants a piece of the action but many, right?"

The officer chuckled, folding his arms and looking back at the perceptive young man. "Good eye. However, there are only representatives here. Nations from both mainland Europa, which is the continent Britannia is aligned with, and the Americas are here for the purpose of 'checking things out' on this end. A lot of countries have interests in opening up trade but are unsure of whether they wish to follow-through with officially setting up channels. Britannia however is already decided, and wishes to open the doors between both their ports and the ones here in the _Land of Dusk_."

Asuma, cluing in on all the little details, nodded his head in understanding. The instructor and Shikamaru appeared to be the only ones from the group who were really following this, whereas Naruto and Hinata were just confused. Nevertheless, all of them continued to lend an ear to this boy's explanations while intravenously cutting in just to make sure that they were all on the same page. The pugilist Nai was also standing by with a weather ear open.

"So if I got this straight the envoy you're tasked with guarding is from Britannia, which is a nation of _Europa_, and the representative we just delivered the package to, is the Princess of the Land of Dusk, a country allied with the _Elemental Nations_. These are the two main players here who wish to sign a treaty for secure trade between both nations. However, representatives from other nations from Europa and these… _Americas_ are also here for interest purposes, as are the Daimyos and government officials from our land," Asuma inquired.

Vincent nodded, "Yup."

"Then… summing up all the suits, the ships and the setups, this is basically a signing of the paper for the history books, isn't it?" the Jonin concluded with a raised eyebrow.

Talk about a Forrest Gump moment. While all this history channel stuff was going on right in front of them, his group was basically playing the extra-guy role in the background that unknowingly gets caught up in all this important crap.

"Right you are, sir," the teenager replied with a smile.

"Well, this should be interesting," Asuma exclaimed openly with his arms still folded. He then gave the officer another inquisitive look, "But one question still remains unanswered. What is your purpose here as an individual a part of a much larger group?"

"My purpose?" Vincent blinked, looking back down at the three Genin staring at him.

"You m-mentioned you were one of four guards assigned as escort to your envoy visiting this nation," Hinata spoke up, raising a hand in her query. "A-After you stopped the fight."

"Oh, of course," the Captain jumped back into reality, stepping off of the wall and onto the floor. He took a position directly before Team 10, lance in hand. At the same time Nai hung behind him with his arms folded and trying to look interested. The cavalry officer smiled back at Hinata, his eyes then tracing over the others in his presence. "I am an officer of Britannia's detachment along with three other specialists hired from allied countries. We not only serve as bodyguards to the representatives but are also here to attend conferences as secondary emissaries."

"Hmm… sounds tough," Naruto murmured.

His team could agree with him, mostly for the fact that not even _they_ had been given responsibilities like the ones this other guy had, and they were practically the same age. All they ever had the privilege of doing thus far in service of both their village and their country were pathetic odd jobs like finding cats and transporting goods. Just who exactly were these people?

With these facts dawning on them, especially the memories of picking up dog crap on their last D-Rank mission, Naruto, Hinata and Shikamaru turned to scowl up at their sensei. Although… the kunoichi was leaning more along the lines of displeased rather than agitated. Nevertheless, the Jonin noticed their unsavory glares and after a brief second of consideration, inconspicuously looked away and started whistling nonchalantly.

Shikamaru turned back to the young officer with the staff, seeing him step closer to Nai. The two boys from the foreign group took up positions side by side, while the four members of Team 10 stared them down, both factions sizing each other up for the second time since meeting.

"You mentioned four?" the Nara restarted, looking over at Nai to see the raven haired teen grin back with a wave, "You as well?"

"Yup!" the pugilist exclaimed, thumping his fist against his chest. "I'm the second strongest guard and the fourth hired!" He then thumbed over to the officer standing beside him. "Alex over here is the third strongest but is one of the higher rankers."

"So… you two are a part of the same team," Naruto exclaimed excitedly, looking between them with interest.

He kind of figured that much given how they interacted with one another in public. But putting their personalities and relationships aside they both seemed pretty tough. Given the standards of grunt abilities from both countries, these two teenagers about the same ages as him, Shikamaru and Hinata, definitely ranked high as specialists. In terms of shinobi rankings, they stood around Genin or low Chunin level, or at least that was what Naruto perceived from his fight with Nai.

Attaining Genin level for ordinary people was no easy chore, there had to be intense training involved, exercises that were much harder than ordinary drills for your standard soldier. The fact that they were also young meant that they also had to be students back in their worlds. They were exactly _like_ them. This made Naruto wonder as to how many other powerful fighters there were out there in the big, wide world.

"Where are the other two?" Shikamaru asked curiously.

Nai smiled, running out into the hall and scrutinizing the multitude of faces. Eventually his sights fell upon his targets and with a beaming smile, he waved toward the person or persons till they received the message and decided to come on over to investigate. The kick boxer then jogged back over to where Team 10 stood, with Naruto managing to hop off of Shikamaru and Hinata.

The jinchuriki was eager to meet the newcomers and in spite of the numbing pain in his leg, found the strength to stand under his own power.

The groups waited for a minute or so before they were eventually joined by two other strangers. When these two came to stand behind Nai and beside Vincent, Naruto and the others looked up at them in awe.

Now, the pair working for the foreigners did come as a preliminary surprise but after some reflection and time, Team 10 was eventually able to shake off the shock. They could roll with an extremely strong pugilist from another country who could go toe to toe with Naruto and a young officer they assumed had his own talents, so it was all good.

These two new guys however were a completely different story.

Another teenager around fifteen years of age but looking more like a young adult stood at least a head and a half higher than Shikamaru and his companions. He was also wearing a blue military uniform not associated with the Britannia forces.

Aside from the clothing that was quite distinct and the fact he didn't appear to be carrying any weapons whatsoever, there were two other notable aspects about his physical appearance. Number one, he had a youthful, chiseled face, like it was literally taken off of the statues of Ancient Greece. That was his immediate appeal. Second of all, he was big. Like… _buff_ big. Despite his age, his tight uniform revealed a rather beefy exterior starting from his broad chest and shoulders down to his legs. The guy was a walking brawler.

The fact that he had an incredibly serious expression in play topped with appropriate lighting had the rookie members of Team 10 feeling a little… small. The man in blue was presenting himself as quite an imposing figure by how he was glaring at them.

The second newcomer was a man around Asuma's age and nearly the same height. A young, fit looking male, he wore a khaki uniform much like the Britannia forces only the insignia didn't connect him to the forces at all. He had many badges stitched above his tunic pocket and a ranking of a Major. He also wore a kepi instead of a helmet, leather boots, gloves, and had a rather unordinary sword sheathed at his side. Looking more closely at the man's weapons aside from the sidearm, the sword didn't look like a katana or anything else Naruto had seen before.

Asuma however recognized the individual's sword as a saber used by the westerners, with a golden handle and a straight blade. It wasn't a bad looking thing either, definitely worthy of praise to the craftsman who molded it.

Nai grinned proudly at his own entourage and gestured to the two strangers. "These guys are-**THONK-**GARGHH!" The boy was comically interrupted when the adult behind him knocked him over the back of his head, getting him to lean forward from the braining and grip the pulsating bruise.

"You simpleton, what's with all the jumping around?" the swordsman grumbled with a scowl. "Mind your manners and keep your actions to a minimum. We're still in attendance of an important meeting."

Whimpering, the kick boxer with the growing lump forming out of his hair grinned up at his elder. "But Peter…**THONK-**GAHH!" He slumped over a second time.

"It's Periklis, not Peter. Honestly, I don't know where in the world you got _Peter_ from," the man replied, before tapping the youngster in the rear with his boot. The boy yelped and spun around furiously. "You're a complete wreck. What on earth happened to you?"

Nai huffed with red in his cheeks. "I got beat up."

The swordsman smirked. "Not just anybody can do that." He looked up towards the guests who were Team 10, all four of whom were still looking in the group's direction in sheer perplexity. The westerner's eyes wandered over the faces, before falling upon a blonde haired boy with bandages wrapped around his right leg and visible around his stomach. The man tipped his hat with a smile. "I'm assuming you're the one that put Nai in such a miserable state."

Blinking, Naruto smiled and pointed at himself. "It wasn't easy. Sorry about that."

"No need to trouble yourself. I can tell it wasn't your intention to do so, given how you've also taken a few unwanted bruises yourself," the man said while adjusting his saber. The Jonin standing beside his squad visibly flinched when he noticed the man's hand movements, and couldn't help but stare at his opponent's fingers wrapped securely around his weapon's pommel. "I apologize on his behalf, since he's quite a stubborn child."

"Hey!" Nai shouted back, earning a scowl in return.

"Now don't try to argue with me youngling. You know I'm right."

Puffing out his cheeks the kick boxer folded his arms with a growl. Suddenly, before he could mumble anymore complaints about troublesome adults, he was grabbed from behind by the other teenager standing beside Vincent, who proceeded to crush him against his chest in a massive bear hug. Team 10 immediately fell into bewilderment when the new boy squashed the pugilist against his body and smothered him with what appeared to be pink diamonds floating around his head.

"Oh, my dear Nai, how can it be that the man who has proven himself to be _my_ equal has found himself in such poor condition!" the teenager cried out as he lifted his companion off of the ground, tears streaming out of his eyes and pouring down his once serious face. Now it looked as though he had adorned the mask of a Shakespearean actor, which turned out to be, hilariously enough, his normal persona. "I WEEP FOR YOU! Please tell me that you are alright!"

Nai, his face turning blue from being stifled by the man's clothing, choked out a response. "Gaargh… gah… W-William… can't… breathe…"

"Oh no! It's even worse than I thought! He is asphyxiated with pain!" the boy shouted, releasing his hold of the kick boxer who fell to the ground, gasping for air. The teenager standing over him cracked his knuckles before grabbing his blue tunic. "Then… I must take drastic measures!"

While the swordsman and lancer on their team looked away in mortification, Asuma's squad gawked at the 'performer' when, with lightning like speed, he unbuttoned his top and threw it off all in one go. Nai almost screamed out in abject horror when he found himself gazing up at the teenager flashing his unbelievably muscular upper body down at him. It was almost like the door he didn't want opened had indeed been opened, and was pouring blinding light down upon him.

The boy in the blue uniform smoothed back his shortly cut hair and struck a strongman pose, his biceps and chest muscles twitching. Though his build was more like that of an incredibly fit, heavyweight boxer, since he was still young and there wouldn't be that much definition, he was still unbelievably cut. It was like someone had been injected with a small amount of steroids.

"As I suspected, you are in desperate need of my assistance!" the teen exclaimed, striking another pose with his arms out, flashing his six-pack. "What you need is an example of a perfect, physical specimen to inspire your recovery!"

Before Nai could sound even one minute protest, he was once again picked up and brought into a massive bear hug by his companion. The contingent of Team 10 and the other two members of Britannia's guard paled when they saw the kick boxer pressed in between bicep and chest, and was damn near crushed into submission.

"Feel the sweat dripping down my magnificent curves! Isn't it wonderful? See! You're looking better already!"

"W-What are you doing?" Nai screamed out, "Don't rub your chest on me!"

In spite of all the shouting, the diplomats paid them little mind. Typical associate behavior was their assumption. The group's antics went on unhindered and Nai was forced to further endure the passionate embrace of his companion. Had he not been so injured he would have probably shaken him off. But of course the universe was playing hard ball.

Naruto, looking a little pale, glanced up at an even more horrified looking Asuma. "And you say I'm bad?"

The Jonin chuckled awkwardly, scratching his cheek when he smiled down at his student. "D-Did I now?"

"Many… many times, sensei," Naruto frowned. "I think you owe me an apology."

"Actually, I think you'd fit pretty well with these guys," Shikamaru stated observantly with a cocky smile.

A tick mark appeared on the blonde's head, after which he then glared at his teammate, "Who asked you?"

The show went on for a little bit longer when the adult among the foreigners decided to intervene. He peeled Nai away from the other exuberant teenager, who threw his tunic back over his shoulders and returned to standing where he was, sparkling like a jewel. While a close to passing out kick boxer hung back in the shadows of his senpai, the more mature ones of the troop decided to meet each other on equal footing.

It pretty much went in this order; Asuma and the officer with the saber, Hinata and Vincent, and Shikamaru and the brutish looking teenager with stars in his eyes. Naruto kept to the center, looking between all parties.

"So you're all of them?" Asuma smiled, rubbing his chin. "I have to say I'm quite intrigued. For a force of this size it's only logical that they'd select _you_ four as the head guards."

The man with the saber chuckled, bowing to the Jonin. "Why, thank you kindly." Hand on his chest the ranking officer present beamed up at the shinobi. "I am Major Periklis Pierrakos-Mavromichalis, Officer of the _Hellenic Republican Army_, captain of the four and secondary representative for my nation. I believe you've already met young Nai and Vincent, representatives from both Siam and Britannia respectively?" He pointed to the still wheezing boy behind him and the distinguished looking teenager with the lance. His fingers tapped against his sword, movements which Asuma's eyes flickered towards uneasily. "It is a real pleasure to make your acquaintances."

It was then the larger teenage male in blue stepped forward and jabbed his thumb into his chest. Grinning proudly with diamonds sparkling around him in a show of pride, as opposed to Vincent who had diamonds sparkling around him in a show of glamour; the young male began his own introductions to Team 10. "And I am Lieutenant William Muldoon, officer of the _Northern Republican Army_ and secondary envoy from the Americas. Nice to meet you all!"

The trio of youngsters smiled and introduced each other in kind, with Asuma also saluting.

"It is by my reckoning that we have encountered kindred spirits in these lands," Vincent exclaimed, running his hand through his hair in slow motion, giving him that aura of grandeur again. "What a rare and fascinating turn of events; practitioners of the arts meeting each other on friendly terms."

The Major identified as Periklis nodded his head in agreement, adjusting his kepi. "I concur. Perhaps the heavens have some unspoken plan in store for us."

Shikamaru shrugged and picked his ear, "Whatever. It's not like the folks upstairs really care about what's going on down here."

"Oh, and why do you say that?" the boy named William boomed as he stepped forward, leaning down to meet the unmotivated looking Nara in the eye. The Genin leaned away slightly at the intensity of the slightly older boy's stare. "Do you not have faith?"

Feeling a little insecure about his own well-being, Shikamaru frowned back, "I do, but it's too much of a hassle badgering a bunch of old guys about our problems when I'm pretty sure they have their own lives they want to live."

William gasped and straightened himself up while striking the 'Superman' pose. "Such disregard towards his own youth! Why, with an attitude like that, odds are that a man with exuberant potential such as yours will more than likely wither away in some corner as the best years of his life pass him by! EMBRACE YOUR PASSIONS AND TAKE TO THE SKIES!" The man hugged himself before striking another, very Greek-statue like stance with tears streaming down from his eyes. "Seize the day! Real men do not look down upon life but move forward and grow!"

Flinching from the bright lights emulating off of the buff teenager, Shikamaru sweat-dropped, "Yeah, sure… whatever you say."

"Please… allow me to reinvigorate you!" William shouted, slamming his hands together before taking Shikamaru by the shoulders and lifting him several feet off the ground, like a child. "Come! Let's let real men be men together and wrestle till the sun goes down!" Now, while this comment had Naruto and Hinata lean away looking rather oddly up at the American, Shikamaru just stared back with his ever-present, emotionless gaze.

"Put me down…"

Asuma chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. _"Typical…"_

Hinata giggled and pressed her fingers together, and Naruto was grinning up at his companion being man-handled by a very Meow/Gai like character. Though the atmosphere should have been tenser than this, what with all the pretentious looking rich people hanging around, these guys seemed pretty normal to them… or as normal as ninja viewed the rest of the world. It was quite honestly fun being in their company.

Periklis ended up calming his subordinate down by peeling Shikamaru away, who went back to stand beside Hinata for safety. It was while they were beginning to become more acquainted with one another that a guard from the westerner's side approached the swordsman of the four and whispered in his ear. Nodding in understanding the Major adjusted the weapon at his side and bowed to the shinobi.

"I must return to base. We're having some problems with the fishing trawlers coming back into port." Tipping his hat to Asuma, he then bid his companions 'good day' before following after the runner.

Team 10 watched from alongside the other three as the senior officer parted, an intermission that gave the group time for discussion.

"He seems like a pretty nice guy," Shikamaru smiled, hands in his pockets.

"No kiddin'," Naruto grinned.

Hinata looked up at Asuma to see their instructor still staring after the swordsman. "W-What do you think, s-sensei?"

She got no response.

The entire squad turned to face their teacher, where they saw the Jonin glaring after the fencer with an uncomfortable shadow cast over his eyes.

It quickly became somewhat discomforting for the members of Team 10 as they'd never seen their usually carefree team leader use an expression like that. Shikamaru, Hinata and Naruto looked between each other worryingly for a moment, before turning their attention back to Nai and the others.

If their teacher was thinking deeply, perhaps it was best to leave him be and not risk getting scolded.

"_That Periklis is no ordinary warrior… nothing like Vincent and the other grunts out on the streets. He's something else entirely," _Asuma frowned, subtly looking back at the others under his wing, where he saw the formerly mentioned engaging in conversation with Shikamaru, while Hinata and Naruto were chatting with Nai and William.

It was quite clear from his point of view that, though the newcomers were still in their mid teens, they were all masters of their professions. The Muay Thai fighter in particular showed terrific form, skill and strength during his little spat with Naruto in public, which led to the injuring of both participants and the destruction of a person's property. In his humblest opinion as an instructor, even though the boy's speed, finesse and experience didn't even come close to his, he was pretty sure that Nai's stamina and hitting power was on the exact same level as his own. That Vincent character also had a suave, cool air about his head, with insight and a calculative nature similar to that of Shikamaru's, and a stride suggesting balance and form refined from years of precision bodywork. Then there was William, a boy so terrifyingly similar to Gai that he didn't even want to try and decipher him. However, the teen looked and felt as though he had enough raw power that could rival a summoning animal the size of a building.

But in spite of whatever terrific skills these young representatives possessed, their auras didn't hold a torch to the one that that other officer had, who had just left their presence mere moments ago.

"_There's no doubt, all four of these guys are strong,"_ Asuma frowned. _"But compared to his and even my own team that Periklis fellow is in a whole other league. I haven't sensed a presence with such pressure like his since the last time I saw Kakashi in a serious fight… which means he possesses Jonin-level instincts… maybe more. It's not just his character that gives it away but also his mannerisms."_

Like how he was keeping his fingers trained on his blade the entire time. It was a note worth pointing out.

He remembered how the swordsman's grip never strayed from around the pommel of his main weapon. Asuma realized that it wasn't just a comfortable position for the wrist and hand to be placed while at attention; it was also because the man was keeping his sword within reach of his touch out of reflex, like he was expecting hostilities from square one. This told Asuma two other things about his opposite; that he was as cautious as he was disciplined and that the highest ranking bodyguard of the western envoys was an above experienced _soldier_.

That man Periklis was a veteran, one who knew exactly how games like the one going on around them was played out. His unconscious motions were so refined that even a twitch of his finger was enough to have even the skilled leader of Team 10 almost reach for his own trench knives.

Asuma rubbed the back of his head, turning to look out over the crowd before them while at the same time ignoring William giving Naruto a bear hug and the raincloud of dismay hovering over Hinata's head as she was being hit on by Vincent for a third time.

"_What kind of monster am I dealing with?"_

XXX

**Meanwhile…**

**Outside of the Hall…**

With a stoic expression on his face, Periklis made his way down the hall and down the entrance steps leading in and out of the palace. To his left and right there were castle guards belonging to the princess posted at every key point and fixture in sight, and around the front gate stood a platoon of soldiers from both sides. Things were pretty feng shui with the security around here, making it a very intriguing sight for commuters coming and going, and providing a great deterrent for any would-be assassins. Not that he was a killer in that sense, the swordsman just felt more at home wandering around in such a high-class, tightly defended place.

He stopped for a moment to light a cigarette, using the fresh air outside of Castle Dusk to indulge himself a little. After taking a few breaths he then made his way for the main exit. He returned a salute to the guards posted on their side when he passed and just when it seemed like he was home free, he suddenly stopped dead.

If his peripherals weren't deceiving him then he realized that he had yet another guest to contend with. Unlike the shinobi he had met with, this was a guest he was not too fond of seeing out at this time of day and in such a high profile area.

Periklis glared ahead of him, biting down at the end of his cigarette. "I thought I told you to stay inside the hotel."

Not even bothering to turn, the man knew that standing directly by the front gate and leaning up against the wall just out of sight of security was a young girl around sixteen years of age with green hair and golden eyes staring at the ground. Average in height and incredibly gorgeous, almost goddess like in complexion, she was wearing a flowery white and blue kimono and sandals, an outfit she had picked up whilst she was in this country. Though it was rather an unorthodox change from the western clothes she had worn traveling here, Periklis has known her long enough to tolerate her little quirks.

"I was bored," the girl replied, simple as that.

The swordsman frowned. "Well, you're just going to have to deal with it for the time being. I'm afraid we're going to be staying here for a little while longer." Getting nothing but silence as his answer, Periklis glanced in her direction to see his companion staring at the ground with her arms folded. "You wouldn't just come out here for any petty reason other than to probably find some pizza, which by the way is rarely sold in this country. So what prompted you to follow me all the way to the princess's castle?"

The girl with green hair looked up, her eyes narrowing slightly, "You sensed it too, didn't you?"

Her question had the swordsman flinch. Expressing his alarm to her question with a subtle change in his expression, the man then glared ahead of him quickly so as to not rouse any suspicion that he was distressed. His docile partner stared back at him, even though she wasn't expecting a reply any time soon.

"I did."

"So you should already know my reason?" the girl exclaimed, her tone set on level and expression unchanging.

The man huffed on his cigarette and rolled it about between his lips. The tapping of his finger against the pommel of his sword also began showcasing his unease. "I never thought I'd sense another one of _those_ in this country. His potential to control the _Power of Kings_ is unfathomable, just as chilling as your previous client, and he certainly acts the part as the team's leader…"

"If you're referring to the man with the odd scruffle and the distasteful uniform, it's not him," the girl replied, earning a surprised glance from her keeper. She frowned back when she met his disbelieving gaze, "I'm talking about that blonde haired boy in orange."

Clenching his fist, the man gritted his teeth and glared down at the ground. "Damn it. I was hoping it wasn't going to be him. I was trying desperately to ignore it. Perhaps if I made it out to be someone who was older and more capable of carrying the burden…" There was good reason for his distress. The course that he had taken was one wrapped in pain and torment.

The fact that it was also a child wasn't doing his conscious any good.

"Regardless of the situation, that boy has definitely caught my attention," the girl interrupted, looking back around with a smile. "Destinies entwined and pathways crossing… I would certainly like to meet with him…"

Periklis looked back at her in shock. He turned quickly and approached, desperation glaring in his actions, "C.C, don't… there's no need to involve a child that young… not again!"

The green haired girl smiled and glanced back up at her companion, "You don't need to worry yourself, Periklis. It's not like I'm going to propose a contract with him right off the bat. If I do, then it will be his choice of whether or not he wishes to accept it." She stopped when the swordsman slid to a halt directly in front of her and glared straight back into her enchantress-like eyes. "But against the one we're really after, the harbinger of disaster, we may need all the help we can get."

"The one we're after is the devil, someone who stole from _you_ and wrecked havoc across the western world with the power he maliciously took," Periklis stated, reminding her of her previous predicament. "How can you even consider…"

"I'm not just considering," C.C replied, maintaining her composure, "I've decided."

The two of them glared at each other, almost like they were trying to figure the other person out or intimidate the other party. It was then, after an uncomfortable silence had passed, the girl smirked and lowered her head.

"You don't need to fret, Periklis. I'm not forgetting the contract that you and I have made," the girl replied quietly, earning a sigh from her companion and a head nod from her in kind. "You know better than anyone that I only do what needs to be done."

"Sometimes I question the way you go about achieving these goals of yours. I may know you well enough to count you as a trusted ally, but it's often really hard following your true intentions," Periklis breathed, turning heel. She was as stubborn as always, not to mention she withheld a lot of important information from him that he wished he knew. Unfortunately, she was that enigmatic of a person, someone he figured he would never be able to understand.

Perhaps a day would come when somebody would finally be able to connect with her.

Spitting out his cigarette, the man ran a hand over his face. "Very well, I will allow you to meet with him." He then spun around quickly and pointed at her, "But after this conference is over! I don't need you sticking your nose in business where it doesn't belong. Make him a part of your plan once all things on this end have been put to rest."

The girl smirked, "Boy, you certainly are a bossy one."

"Where do you think I picked that up?" Shaking his head with a half-smile, Periklis wheeled about and headed off. C.C followed, moving to trot beside him as they made their way away from the palace and any wandering eyes. While pushing a path through the crowd, the girl smiled up at her friend.

"By the way… where _can_ I find some pizza around here?"

The swordsman sighed, "I told you… it's really difficult to find _any_ stores that sell them in this country. I'll make it for you myself when we get you back to the apartment."

C.C took on a rather sour expression and looked away unenthusiastically. "But yours always taste gravelly…"

"Oh, shut it…"

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Newhistoric/cameo characters introduced in this chapter, let's take a look…

**Historic Characters:**

**Periklis Pierrakos-Mavromichalis - **(1863-1938) Fencer, military officer and politician, Periklis was born in Greece and served as an officer in the Hellenic Army, fighting in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897, Balkan Wars and World War I, and is also known for winning bronze in the Summer Olympics in the amateur foil event.

**William Muldoon – **(May 25, 1852 – June 3, 1933) Nicknamed 'The Solid Man', William was a Greco-Roman Wrestling Champion as well as a physical culturist, and the first chairman of the_ New York State Athletic Commission_. He was of Irish descent, served in the army in the Sixth Calvary during the Civil War and trained John L. Sullivan for his famous 75-round fight against Jake Kilrain for the world heavyweight bare-knuckle boxing championship title.

**Okita Soji –** (1842-July 19th, 1868) – Was the captain of the first unit of the Shinsengumi, a special police force in Kyoto during the last shogunate period. He was one of the best swordsmen of the Shinsengumi along with Saito Hajime and Nagakura Shinpachi.

**Cameo Character:**

**C.C./C2 **– is a fictional character and the tritagonist of _Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion_. She is immortal and appears as a sixteen year old girl, choosing to follow her own choices regardless of whether or not they inconvenience others. She has the ability to make contracts with people and bestow upon them the _Power of the Kings_, or better known as the power of Geass. She has claimed to have made hundreds of contracts with people over her life time, but none of them she felt would be able to take on her immortality.

In this story, one of C.C's contracts was made with Periklis, and she bestowed a Geass power upon him… more on that later.

Following the defeat of Britannia in the American Civil War, Britannia fell back in line of history, taking up the roll as the United Kingdom in our world _**and**_ this world. Therefore, the timeline leading up to the Code Geass canon timeline has been skewed and muddled up into the Naruto timeline of this world, and the Britannia bloodline has been long severed. C.C. still exists in this world because she is immortal, but her future has been changed drastically, and thus her encounter with Lelouch may or may not happen. Instead, her eyes have fallen on Naruto…

**I like using existing characters because I don't have to spend hours thinking up ridiculous OC characters that very little people care about. Every character I have written so far is already an existing character, and they all have parts to play in this story. It's basically one massive crossover fic on an epic scale. If you read carefully you might be surprised at what else you might find.**


	19. Land of Dusk Arc: City of Two Worlds

**NARUTO**

**The Art of Appropriation**

_The City of Two Worlds_

**_Mugen Castle_ Throne Room…**

The end of the conference was as uneventful as the end of a factory worker's shift, lacking any real energy or immediacy. When the speaker announced the meeting's closure, the government officials and generals were slowly escorted out of the chamber and sent either to their rooms inside of the palace or off of the premises. Those who were providing protection also offered fine escort services, proof that the princess of this land was kind and considerate even towards guests from another land. The room was quick to empty.

Once all visitors save for a handful of others had finally vacated the hall, all who remained were the members of Team 10, the three youngest of the Guard of Four, Princess Kasumi, her bodyguard, and the primary representative from Britannia standing in the presence of each other. The moment silence fell upon the assembly room the leader of the country permitted the visitors to approach. That was exactly what Team 10 did, albeit some sluggishness from the resident jinchuriki.

"Stop dragging your feet, Naruto," Shikamaru groaned, feeling his friend hobbling after him with a hand on his shoulder.

The blonde scowled, "Well, I'd like to see you walk straight with your thigh blown out." This coaxed an amused smirk from his teammate, which did little to improve the Uzumaki's mood.

The squad formed up behind their instructor, while Nai and his companions took up positions beside the Britannia representative. Now while things had been pretty much smooth sailing for the lot of them when the teams from both sides had been able to freely interact in their corner, now that they were in the presence of more prestigious faces, the mood changed drastically.

Team 10 and the Guard of Four slapped their game faces on, ready for business.

"First and foremost, I'd like to personally welcome you Konoha shinobi to my palace," the leader of the country Princess Kasumi exclaimed, directing her addresses toward the entire squad and earning smiles from all of them. "While I assume it was tough for all of you getting here, I greatly appreciate you delivering my package to me safely and in perfect condition."

"It was all in a day's work, Kasumi-sama," Asuma bowed gratefully.

"I would like to thank you all properly." She then gestured to the Britannia representative. When all eyes fell on the leader of the Western forces visiting the country, the squad from _Konohagakure_ almost found themselves immediately taken with the man in the suit. Unlike a lot of the other government envoys that had graced the room prior to their 'evacuation', all of whom had looked completely military related from their garb and what not, this gentleman was more or less dressed both formerly and properly.

The man definitely went all out in making an impression. Next to the tailed, black and white suit, he also had a rounded face with a head of neatly combed hair that with a spiky top, and though he appeared gruff he still had a most brilliant smile. This appealed greatly to the youngsters, all of whom stared back at the gentleman in awe.

"Before I move on to payment, I would like all of you to meet Britannia's Trade Ambassador."

The man curtly nodded to each of the members of Team 10, smiling all around before focusing his gaze on Asuma, the obvious head of the pack, "Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill. It's a real pleasure to make your acquaintances."

"It's nice to meet you too," Asuma replied, bowing his head. "I hope you find the present we delivered to your liking. It means a great deal to a number of the clans on this continent, so consider it passed on with the highest of compliments."

"Oh, it is spectacular. Thank you very kindly," the envoy replied with a lighthearted chortle, "It is a most wonderful gift. I just don't know how I am ever going to return such a gesture. It has such incredible aesthetic and historic quality in it, definitely a piece worthy for the museum of antiquities." He slipped his hands behind him, "But of course, it was a present given from one person to another, therefore instead of finding itself behind four inches of glass, it will reside in a special place back home and in my heart."

"Consider it a symbol of our new friendship," Kasumi spoke up, bringing her hands together in front of her and engaging the diplomat eye to eye. "I wish to strengthen our bonds and free up communication as much as possible, ensuring that our two horizons remain unclouded. I assume that all of the arrangements for the treaty have been finalized?"

"Yes, indeed. The media will be here on the day to cover the procession, and I have just sent a message out to the top brass confirming that all parties have agreed to the signing of the document," Mr. Churchill replied with a wink. "We will get the official nod by tomorrow."

"Splendid," Kasumi clapped her hands together, turning back to the leader of Team 10, "This is a most momentous occasion for all of us. At the end of this week, Sir Winston Churchill's associates and my own will be standing at the top of the palace stairs in the courtyard signing the agreement for open trade to be permitted between both countries. It will be the first official, international trade organization founded between a state from our continent and another."

"Our signatures give consent to the trade groups under two flags to conduct their businesses via the rules and accords established between two parties," Churchill continued, puffing out his chest. "This is to make sure that no weapons or material with malicious intent is exchanged between lands. The purpose of this is strictly for the safe processing of both civilians and basic supply items across the ocean."

"That's good," Asuma breathed. Trade was a really complicated thing at times. There was a lot of black tape involved with private companies, not to mention incredibly controversial stuff like drugs, weapons, slaves and all that. The fact that this deal was being made under the supervision of two superior bodies with military might backing them up, assured the shinobi that nothing underhanded would be taking place. The heads appeared to be completely mature, level and professional about this deal, so Asuma couldn't sense anything unsavory going on at this point in time. _"I was a bit worried about all of the soldiers here. But now I see that they will be the enforcers of this new trade route. Interesting."_

But of course, since he was on the topic, Asuma did notice that there were quite a lot of Britannian forces here, so this still struck a cautious note with the Jonin. Unless there was something going on otherwise, he needed to keep a clear head for further investigation.

"It's a major breakthrough for our countries," Churchill sniffed, "I look forward to the day when all nations across the globe will one day come together under a single banner, to ensure peace without the need for borders all around."

"It's a big dream," Kasumi added.

"No kidding," Shikamaru agreed, scratching his cheek. He was slapped over the head by Naruto, "Ow! What?"

"In any case, it's going to be a big day. We're hosting a festival with entertainment and fireworks to commemorate the officiating of the treaty, so the village will be crowded with patrons from across the continent," the princess concluded, waving a hand towards her servant. Okita answered immediately, stepping towards the team leader and handing him a large envelope. "You will find enclosed your full payment and a little something extra as thanks for all your trouble."

"It was our pleasure, your grace," Asuma replied, taking the letter and slipping it into his vest pocket for safe keeping. "If there is anything else you need, please let us know. We shinobi of _Konohagakure_ will accept any mission, anytime and anywhere. I believe you still have our number?"

Kasumi smiled, examining the Jonin from head to toe and taking a moment to consider his words carefully. Sensing an opportunity, the village leader took advantage of the silence to look around at the others, pausing for an extended few seconds when her attention landed on Naruto. Though the jinchuriki and his companions became overly perplexed by the royal's sudden inspection of their group, their surprise was only encouraged further when the girl beamed excitedly and turned back to their squad leader.

"Actually, now that I think about it, there is _one_ other job I was wondering if your team would be able to do for me."

"Oh? And what would that be?"

"You see, since I have most of my forces spread out across the land in preparation for the coming event, I was hoping to hire on some extra hands to help with the work load. Would your team be interested in performing some bodyguard services for me until the conclusion of the festival at the end of this week?" Kasumi inquired, bringing her hands up in front of her in a clear sign of hope. She smiled sweetly at them all, "I would very much like it if you accepted. I just need a small, part time escort around town, and it would make me feel a whole lot more comfortable up on the podium if I had some company closer to my age standing beside me."

"Bodyguard work, huh," Asuma murmured, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "Well…that does sound tempting and all, your grace. However…"

"However?"

"I'm not too sure if my team is quite yet up to the task." He scrutinized his young, eagerly listening squad gathered up behind him. "Not right now anyway. They are still Genin after all with only a small amount of experience, so to suddenly step up from delivery work to guarding village leaders… I think it might be asking too much of them too quickly."

You can only expect what was going to happen next after hearing the man say that.

"Please, please, please, Asuma-sensei!" Naruto unexpectedly rushed forward, dropping to his knees in front of the man with a desperate look in his eyes. Sure his leg stung like a bitch in protest to his strenuous actions, he didn't give a flying shit! This was a once in a life time offer that was being dangled right in front of them! Understandably, knowing that they would be able to work for a real princess from another country and a friendly one to boot, well, it had the dreamer literally springing at the opportunity. "Can we? Can we? Can we? Please! Please! Please!"

Yes sir, it just went to show how much of a child he really was.

"I'm with Naruto on this one," Shikamaru spoke up as well, catching the Jonin by surprise at the sloth's sudden support of his teammate. "Since we're all the way out here anyway, it wouldn't hurt extending our leave from the village for a little while longer. I guess it's just more convenient this way, since there's no point in wasting energy trading teams up. Let's just go with it." He shrugged.

Just as lazy as ever. Typical.

"I-It would be good experience for us," Hinata exclaimed timidly. "I would very much like to learn more about the other important jobs a shinobi is involved with. I-I want to help out as much as I can." Her vote made it three for three for the kids, something that leaned their teacher towards an appropriate and reasonable response.

With any luck the man would make the right call for them. Naruto was way more than eager about it, Shikamaru simply wanted to crash in town for a while, and Hinata wanted to explore, much like her jinchuriki crush. Everyone had their reasons including their teacher, so how could you argue with that logic?

There words only served to turn the wheel further.

"Alright then, we'll do it," Asuma replied, bowing to the princess. "Thank you for the opportunity. We won't let you down." His team followed up instantly with a cheer, with Shikamaru waving a hand at their success rather than vocalizing their victory in the blandest way possible. Hell, even Nai and his squad over by Mr. Churchill smiled to themselves at seeing that their counterparts would be sticking around.

"Then it's decided," Kasumi said, clapping her hands together, "I'll be sure to pay for your extended services at the end of the period. You may stay on in the palace in one of the guest suites so you don't have to go to all the trouble of finding a hotel. Additionally, I will be able to call on you whenever possible, agreed?"

"Sweet!" Naruto cheered, earning a giggle from the village leader.

"This castle serves as a beacon to everyone living in the _Land of Dusk_. It is also rich in natural energy, which is why there is such diversity of plant life in the gardens and valleys. I'm sure that your stay here will be most comfortable," the princess concluded, before gesturing their attention toward the Guard of Four. "Nai and William will escort you to your room."

The pugilist made a sour face. "Oh… why me?" he groaned. Vincent elbowed him in the side for the second time, causing him yet more pain to what he already had to bare with.

"Do as she says, you stubborn mule," the officer hissed. "Don't make me reprimand you again, or would you like to spar with _me_ in your present condition?"

"F-Fine …" Nai choked, rubbing the bandaged areas around his waist before looking away to scold at the corner.

"Wonderful. Then this meeting is adjourned," Churchill laughed, tipping his head to the nation's leader beside him.

The well-mannered diplomat bade everyone a good day and left the chamber promptly, with Vincent following in his shadow. Business was a tireless, often incomprehensible machine after all; it was always on the move. The soldier needed to stick to his client, as per the requirements of his contract, no matter the state of affairs.

Kasumi also left on her own errand. She needed to inform the council members and guards on the new development, while also parting final instructions with the Jonin leader of Team 10. Apparently the squad would be on call early in the morning to escort her around town as she assessed the various institutes being occupied by the Western forces. Kasumi also intended to visit the ships in the harbor, which was foreseen by all to be one heck of an excursion for the able kids under Asuma's wing.

"Man, I can't wait to get going tomorrow," Naruto grinned, hobbling after his team as they were lead out of the hall by the kick boxer and his exuberant partner. "Protecting a princess, checking out the foreigners and those big-ass boats in the harbor… it's like all the best things on my 'to-do-list' are coming together into one, perfect chapter in this amazing story of my life."

"How long is this _list_ anyway? Wait, don't answer that. Just… let me know when you get to the end of your 'epic' adventure, or submit it to me in writing," Shikamaru yawned, throwing his hands behind his head. "However, out of curiosity, how long will it take?"

"Hopefully not too long." The jinchuriki staggered over to his friend and jabbed him in the arm. "So far I've only covered the first few pages since starting out at the academy. There are tons of other things I haven't checked off yet; like running between countries on a marathon, finding pirate's treasure, and rescuing a damsel in distress. This mission might actually cover the stuff on pages two through to five, if I'm lucky."

"Honestly, I hope it doesn't come to that," the Nara grumbled. "More things to do, basically means more work for _**us**_. I'm all good with just watching out for Ms Kasumi until the end of the week, beat around the bush a little, watch some history go by, then coo-coo-ca-choo waltz back home and stop by at the hot springs along the way. If fortune favors the reserved then maybe they have an open-air bath in this palace for the intermediary period…?"

"You'll end up a shriveled prune if you stew in the water for too long."

"The less moving around for me the better."

"You're just pained because you don't want to go through another one of Asuma-sensei's endurance exercises or his D-Rank, pot of luck draws, huh?"

"You know me better than I know myself Naruto, I'm flattered," Shikamaru grinned at his friend, who continued to limp along beside him. "So… what DO you think will happen to us on this part of our trip? Enlighten me."

"What's this?" Naruto tried to look shocked, "You're asking _me_ what _I_ think will happen? You're actually getting into this gig? Why… Shikamaru, what's happened to you?" He tried to act the part too, but as usual Naruto was just acting like Naruto. It was pretty much his hobby to try and yank on people's strings, and for some reason it worked really well for him. He just had trouble working the tones.

"I wised up a pinch," Shikamaru replied simply. "Perhaps I'm trying to be a little bit more open-minded like you. Maybe if I approached this mission with your kind of mind set, I won't go insane like several others characters we've already met." His eyes trained onto William's back, whom the members of Team 10 all immediately focused on.

As if feeling their eyes boring into his broad shoulders like laser beams against a piece of lino, the brawny American looked over his shoulders at the trio being herded along by their Jonin instructor. They didn't even try to avert their gazes when the teen's eyes fell upon them and, right on cue, as if there inquisitiveness was his audience, the American struck another pose while continuing to walk backwards. He chose the 'thoughtful hero' pose for this particular demonstration.

"Real men don't succumb to insanity! The mind bends before the will of men! That is the undeniable truth of the universe! MAN IS THE MASTER OF ALL ASPECTS OF HIS LIFE!" His biceps threatened to rip through the cloth of his tunic, a sight that had Team 10 pale. "If man cannot take control of his life… THEN WHAT IS THE POINT OF LIVING?!"

The foundations of the castle quite literally trembled from his vocals. A servant moving empty dishes across the hall amusingly shrieked in terror and dropped the plates she was carrying at the boy's voice carrying throughout the entire building.

"God, why'd you guys get him going again?" Nai whined. Even though he was trying to avoid being part of the conversation, he was standing right next to the guy. Animated tears streamed out of his eyes as he led the visiting team up the stairs towards whatever floor they were going to. It would be one hell of a climb and a hell of a lot of torment as William continued to be… well… his usual self.

"I think this could be fun," Hinata spoke up, the group ascending another flight of steps. She rubbed her fingers together when Naruto and Shikamaru glanced her way. "With the number of soldiers and guards walking around… i-it would be impossible for any bad people to try anything funny in this place. Things should go okay for us."

"Yeah. I mean, why else would Asuma-sensei say _yes_ to this if he didn't think we could handle it?" Naruto grinned and leaned back, his eyes falling on their teacher trotting after them. "Right, sensei?"

"Damn straight," Asuma chuckled.

"See," Naruto continued, making a gesture between his, Shikamaru and Hinata's heads. It was like he was trying to point out the invisible thread linking them all together. Though it wasn't a tangible element, he knew that it was there. "We speak the same language."

"More like we _think_ on the exact same wave length," the Nara commented. "Don't get me wrong, it sounds cool at first. But, and I'm being serious here, if I start hearing the thoughts of any of you guys while we're standing several blocks apart from each other, consider me gone for good… or dead. I don't know. Perhaps I'll retire at the tender age of thirteen and spare myself the pain of endless, subconscious clairvoyant understanding on a fifth-dimensional level."

"Speak small, book face. Some of us can't understand bone-idleness," Naruto murmured, earning a scoff from Asuma and a chuckle from Nai up ahead.

"I'll be over the next hill if I start hearing your senseless ramblings of ramen," Shikamaru kindly rephrased, which had the blonde scratching his head.

"Why didn't you say that before?"

"I DID say that before."

"Whatever," Naruto replied. He nearly tripped up on the last step up, but managed to find support on the railing. Shikamaru helped his friend along by looping his arm over his shoulders, and Hinata took the other side.

"Don't force yourself, N-Naruto-kun," the kunoichi affectionately whispered.

"No biggy. I'm cool, Hinata-chan," the boy replied coolly, yet still sounded a little bit forced due to his numerous injuries. Though his leg was continuing to give him the shits, he felt so much better being in the company of his friends. There was no way he would be able to make it along without their help, so it was understandable why he was so delighted that he had comrades who would support him like this. "Don't worry about it. My leg is healing great. It'll be brand spanking new by bedtime."

"_And_… is there anything else you can see?" Shikamaru asked, grunting as they made the last flight of stairs.

"Well… I see a hot bath, a comfortable futon and a delicious breakfast!" Naruto licked his lips. He should have added dinner somewhere in that equation. Damn he was hungry. "You asked me about what would probably happen on this mission, Shikamaru-kun? There you go."

"I think I'll enjoy that."

While Team 10 bantered under the supervision of their teacher, Nai, who was leading the 'tour party', had managed to catch the last words spoken by the jinchuriki from over his shoulder. The point towards his leg proved to be an interesting piece of information, as it gave the pugilist a better idea as to the recovery rate of his opponent in contrast to his own. Though he was surprised that he didn't snap his opponent's femur with one of his best shots at the end of their fight, Nai was even more stunned to see that the blonde haired knucklehead was still walking about under his own power, even after taking a direct hit.

I mean, sure he was being supported by his friends a lot of the time, but shit… he was _still_ on his feet.

Just who was this freak of nature? He certainly was no ordinary human being.

Nai winced at the throbbing pains in his stomach and he turned his gaze back ahead, where he saw a cheerful William parading around inanely. Now leading the group down a hallway decorated in beautiful, awe-inspiring prints painted over sliding doors left and right, the boy counted the rooms before stopping short of the one at the end. He turned to face Team 10 when they all merged up behind him, making sure to clear away for a couple of servants running errands on this level.

"The suite you have been assigned is right here," Nai smiled, opening up the chamber for them with a simple push. "The level you are on is just above the one assigned to us. There are toilets on the left and bedrooms to the right. The in-door baths on this level are further down the corridor and the main dining hall is on the third floor overlooking the harbor. If there is anything you need just ask the servants. They will attend to your needs."

"Picked this up from your stay already?" Shikamaru asked with a smirk, strolling past the darker skinned boy.

"It's a bonus," the boxer shrugged, waving to both the Nara and Hinata as they went in. He even spared a courteous nod to Asuma when he passed, the Jonin thanking him kindly for the directions.

However, just before Naruto could walk through and join his friends, Nai's hand unexpectedly shot out and grabbed his wrist. The jinchuriki's head immediately snapped towards the kick boxer, both oppositions promptly throwing each other into an intense standoff.

Asuma noticed their actions through his peripherals straight away. Responding to the warning lights, the instructor halted his own stride and fixed a careful glare on the both of them. Though neither boy was decisively throwing any punches at this point, the atmosphere around them became so thick so quickly it almost felt as though another fight would start at any second.

All parties waited to see what would happen. Even William, Shikamaru and Hinata took note of the quandary, yet instead of responding out of alarm, decided to hold their ground where they stood.

There was no point in throwing themselves into a scrap if one hadn't started yet.

In fact, both boys surprisingly had a right in mind not to start a new one.

Instead of testing the boy's mettle physically, Nai chose to smirk at his former opponent and lowered his head to him, "You showed me some sweet moves out on the street. Who taught you how to fight like that?"

Blinking, Naruto smirked back and jerked his hand out of the other boy's grip, "My teachers."

"Teachers?"

"Oh yeah. Funny story; I have more than one," the blonde chuckled, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "They live in the same house as me so I guess you could say they're like my older sisters or something."

"Really?"

"Yeah. But don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's a bad thing, it's great. They taught me tons of useful stuff and I love hanging out with them."

This spiked Nai's curiosity that much more. "So, the style named after and practiced by the great Yim Wing-Chun isn't the only form of martial arts you've learned?"

The blonde blinked in surprise. "You… know about Yim-chan?"

Hearing this question earned a snicker from the Siam native. "I've been traveling on foot from country to country for several months now, so I guess you could say I've come to recognize many styles of martial arts in the time I've had," Nai explained, grinning and holding a fist up to him. "You've got fantastic technique. Your hand-to-hand skills alone are incredibly polished for someone of your age."

"Oh, thanks. You too," Naruto turned to face him completely. "You must have some great teachers yourself. Who trained you?"

"Well… my father for one, then my master," Nai pumped out his chest proudly. "Though they were both awesome, I'd say master is the strongest instructor I've ever had! Master is SO strong; he can rip through solid rock with his bare hands and bench-press mountains!" Both appeared awe struck at that piece of information, even the teller. "It's my dream to become more powerful than him; to become the strongest in the world!"

"Wow. With that kind of strength, he could take on an entire country," the jinchuriki exclaimed, giving the boy his utmost attention. "So your sensei is that powerful?"

"Yes! And if I work hard enough and overcome every obstacle I'm faced with on my journey, I'm sure that I will surpass him one day!" He raised his head up high, his dreams carrying on through the wind. "One day…"

"SUCH AMBITION! SUCH HEARTFELT DETERMINATION! OH, NAI!" William suddenly shouted, towering over the boy from behind and collecting him up into another bear hug. The kick boxer cried out in shock as he was pressed up against the rippling pectorals of his companion. "You are the quintessence of soul that I myself wish to possess some day! Come! Butter me up in your dreams of self-improvement!"

"NO!" Nai cried out, struggling to break free from the terrifying individual. "Let me go, William!"

"Don't be so greedy, Nai! Share some of your youth with the rest of the world!" William bellowed, hoisting the boy over his shoulder. As if the pugilist were a rifle, the man turned heel and fast marched down the corridor, waving in parting to the shinobi just as Nai started pounding against his back with his fists. "Good day, Team 10! We shall meet again!"

"W-Wait… put me down! Right now!"

"Nonsense! We must focus on getting you fixed up so that you can get back into full, fighting shape! To do that, I must take you down to the ring to reinvigorate your mentality and have you watch as my beautiful muscles batter the training bags!"

"HELP ME!" Kicking and screaming, the kick boxer was carried away against his own will.

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. Though he felt sorry for Nai, he also felt a sense of liberation for his own sake because he didn't have to suffer through the same torment that _that_ guy was being put through. Man-handling didn't sit too well with the jinchuriki, even though the only people he would probably let it slide for were his teachers back home and Asuma. The latter was a bit of a long stretch, but he'd worry about that road when he came to it. The man commanded respect.

Problem with that was he had to earn it first.

Point of reference, the Jonin in question was presently leaning against the doorframe, arms folded and looking proudly down at the blonde nuisance. He stroked his beard when the jinchuriki turned to face him.

"Do you want to be carried off into the sunset too?"

"Ha-ha!" Naruto chuckled sarcastically, pushing past his teacher and into the room with a shallow step in his stride.

Asuma laughed to himself when all of his students were finally in and accounted for, leaving the squad leader alone to look out into the corridors and through to the grand stair hall beyond. "The kids hate and love me at the same time. Though I'm pretty sure there's a greater amount of love in there then contempt, I can live with that." He pulled out a cigarette and popped it between his lips, but after considering where he was chose not to light it.

Instead the man held it in his teeth and shook his head, thinking back on what his previous experiences with young apprentices were like. "It's got to be some kind of curse."

And here he was thinking he'd already won them over.

True, but there were always going to be some rough edges needing to be trimmed out, and getting them to completely idolize him was one of those issues. Naruto and Shikamaru were his main goals, whereas Hinata was definitely proving to be an enigma in that department. Hell, Asuma couldn't tell whether she was being timid or passively aggressive. She was quite honestly the potential scariest of the three.

Determining that the area was safe, he shut the door. There was business needing to be discussed with his team concerning the specifications of their mission tomorrow and over the course of the week, not to mention a relaxing bath, followed by dinner, and then sleep.

Sweet, sweet sleep…

XXX

**The very next day…**

Apparently things weren't that different out here in the wild, wild world compared to life back home in _Konohagakure_. In fact, _Konohagakure_ was probably more terrifying by contrast.

Just like any other regular day, save for the fact that they were all staying in the same room, the team got up, got dressed and had breakfast, before setting out on the dot to meet up with their latest client. They gathered at the foot of the castle steps and waited for her to arrive at the predetermined time, and spent that period either adjusting their jackets or kicking at the dirt.

As expected of sovereign descent, Princess Kasumi emerged from the castle alongside her personal bodyguard Okita. Upon relaying instructions to him part way down the staircase, he bowed to her in acknowledgement and kept watch of her until she was safely beside Asuma, who greeted her curtly. The samurai butler then went off to do whatever it was he was ordered to do, leaving the leader of the country in the hands of the youngsters.

"Chin up guys," Asuma spoke, escorting the princess toward the gates with his small troop following close behind. "Keep your eyes open and be on the lookout for any suspicious activity. You can never be too careful on these kinds of missions, so be on guard."

"_**Yes, sensei,"**_ the trio said in sync.

Kasumi giggled at their uniformed response.

"There's no need to be so tense you guys. It's just a routine inspection," the raven haired princess informed them, looking up at Asuma strolling stock straight beside her with his hands in his pockets. "I believe I said that all I wanted from you four were your services and abilities as bodyguards, not another entourage of soldiers watching my back. I get enough of that from Okita-kun."

"Sorry, your highness," the man nodded apologetically, "I'm just trying to whip my little rookies into shape. This is as much of a learning experience for them as the delivery mission. I can't afford to have them slacking off or neglecting any aspects of their training. There's more for a shinobi to learn than just strategy in combat, jutsu and fighting techniques. There's also mission etiquette and conduct." He grinned back at the three in question, all of whom bolted upright considerably as soon as his eyes rounded on them, "Right my cute little apprentices?"

"Y-Yes," Hinata squeaked, whereas Naruto grinned back nervously and Shikamaru gave his characteristic yawn and a thumbs-up.

"No need to sweat the little details, sensei."

"Beautiful," Asuma smiled, looking back at the princess for confirmation.

That was exactly what he received, moments before Kasumi decided to turn her attention to the teenagers behind her. She looked from the nervous face of the kunoichi to the sort-of bored, systematically occupied expression worn by Shikamaru as he drank in their surroundings of the stores and hotels they were now passing by in the village's streets. Considering their present conditions and how attentive they were to their tasks, she then focused her gaze on Naruto.

It came as a wonder to her why he wasn't limping anymore. In fact, he looked like he was feeling and looking better than ever. If memory served her, she was able to recall the details of the conference the other day word for word and gesture for gesture. Nothing escaped her keen eyes.

After inspecting his stride and the springs in both his feet, Kasumi then smiled up at the jinchuriki, "How is your leg?"

"Huh?" Naruto jumped, shaking himself out of his daze once the question was processed, "Oh… oh yeah. My legs are doing great. Though my thigh is still tingling a bit, everything's cool. I just need to walk around for a little while. This stroll should help stretch out my muscles and get my usual rhythm back into my footwork."

"That's good," Kasumi beamed, relief flooding through her at the news, "From what I heard from Okita-kun, you had a bit of a disagreement with Nai-kun close to the edge of town when a couple of insubordinate soldiers touring the village started picking on you and your friends."

Shikamaru scoffed, "Disagreement?"

"More like a punch-out," Naruto grinned back, hopping over a random rock lying in his path. "We had an argument and we fought until we stopped."

"Thankfully one of Nai's comrades had been scheduled to come greet us at the square and happened upon the scene. Had he not arrived when he did, I'm pretty sure Naruto and his brawling buddy would have beaten themselves into submission," Asuma replied, getting a bit of a discomforting look from Kasumi and an unsavory glare from the blonde following after him.

"Hey, if that fight had kept on going, I would have beaten that jerk into the road," the blonde retorted loudly, ramming his thumb into his chest. "I'd be wearing his face on the soles of my sandals right about now!"

Kasumi laughed when Shikamaru nudged Naruto roughly in the side to get him to ease up on his rather graphic responses, an action which earned him a pat on the back from Asuma.

The raven haired village leader reacted to the character expressed by the blonde shinobi with great interest, mostly for his unusually carefree nature, which he wasn't afraid to show even when in the presence of high ranking individuals like her. While his team members kept their sentences short and to the point, and made double sure not to speak out of term, _this_ boy just spoke his mind whenever he felt like it without a second thought to anyone or anything else around him. Not even his teacher or that other prospect Nai were as bold as he was.

There had to be some sort of story there, but Kasumi kept these suspicions to herself. For the time being, she quietly marveled at the boy's tact and, while she was being escorted through town, where they could see restaurants and businesses on either side of them opening up to greet the sun, kept a weather eye on the jinchuriki.

The group visited a number of places, mostly the lesser stores you wouldn't expect a princess to visit. While it would have made more sense for someone of Kasumi's position to visit those five-star places, she instead focused her attention on the little guys who would have been better suited for cozy spots in towns outside of the big city. Naruto, Shikamaru and Hinata were incredibly pleased by her diverse preferences and manner in which she presented herself as a village leader to her subjects. She revealed to them while visiting a small spice store owned by an elderly gentleman that she 'liked shopping for herself whenever possible' and that 'she appreciated above all others, the hard work of a person pursuing their dreams.'

This brought a big smile to Naruto's face.

She also took them around the factories, the squares where the parties were expected to be held in celebration of the invisible bridge to be erected between them and their western visitors, and to the lodgings where the delegates from across the seas were staying. From hotel to penthouse, she dragged the ninja all around town. They even had the pleasure of going onboard the HMS _Hood_, the battleship that had caught the visiting group's attention the day they stepped in sight of the village.

Shikamaru, Naruto and Hinata gawked at the superstructure of the vessel as they walked laps of the decks.

They pretty much ran on autopilot from then on since they were so completely entranced by everything else. The team drank in whatever there was to see, the seemingly impenetrable hull, the massive guns covered up for safety, the soldiers marching up and down the walkways, and the multitude of other ships in the harbor.

The jinchuriki and his companions were so captivated in one of the QF 4 inch Mk V guns undergoing maintenance that they missed the princess greeting the captain at the bridge a level up. Their teacher filled in the role as chief overseer as she interacted with the vessel's director and was given a special tour of the helm. The kids, figuring it was best that they didn't crowd the main control area, stayed behind to check out the rest of the awesome firepower, familiarizing themselves with the arsenal currently owned and operated by their western counterparts, and comparing it to their own.

"Damn," Naruto exclaimed, looking up at a towering AA gun and stepping aside to allow a runner to get past him. "I'd hate to be on the receiving end of this bad boy. Can you imagine the kind of shit you can fire out of this thing?"

"I'd rather not think about it," Shikamaru replied, stepping forward from behind his friend and bending over to get a better look at the gun's rotating shaft at the base. "How the hell can they make something of this size? The physics seem impossible…"

"You want to ask them?"

"Too much trouble," the Nara flat out responded, straightening up and letting out a huff. "To be honest, I'm more interested in learning how to stop one of these things if we ever found ourselves pitted against one."

"Y-You want to learn how to beat this thing, Shikamaru?" Hinata asked, taking up position beside her blonde teammate currently in partnership with the Nara over the topic.

Think of this moment as sort of like a gigantic game of _Battleship_. Har-har, have a giggle. The fact was that the normally indolent member of Team 10 had taken quite an interest in the subject at hand. It certainly made a lot of sense since Shikamaru thought along these lines a lot of the time. He was evenhanded, sharp, and pessimistic, considering every possibility, particularly the bad side of things and ways of counteracting against them.

It was always a gag to see the usually lazy member of Team 10 thinking on things that had others baffled, as he always had something incredibly insightful to add to group discussions.

Not that the others didn't have those defining moments, but for Shikamaru it was like 'one of the many'.

"Not really. But you never know when you'll need _that_ kind of strategy. I mean, look at this thing." He threw his arms out and gestured towards the sheer enormity of the ship they were on. "Over a thousand men and thousands of tons in weight; think about it. If an enemy force managed to get a hold of something like this, then it's a safe bet to assume that a lot of countries in this region would be in a heap of trouble."

His friends agreed with him wholeheartedly on that hypothesis.

With the notion of an enemy _shinobi_ fleet firmly implanted in their brains, the three of them soon found themselves trying to figure out ways and strategies designed to overcome a titan packing the same kind of force as this vessel, while at the same time keeping their voices to a minimum around the crew wandering about.

It was nerve rattling enough being on this ship surrounded by its unmanned armaments. They didn't need its sailors added to the equation.

"Well, you could capsize it with a water style technique or set it alight with a fire style jutsu," Naruto suggested. He received an unsure glance from his strategist friend, who looked around the deck level they were on a little more critically.

"It's too big to be capsized efficiently. You'd need a platoon of shinobi to be able to tip it, and even then you'd need to have a massive amount of chakra and a large enough jutsu to achieve success. I'll bet even a tsunami would have trouble trying to topple this thing," the boy replied. He looked down and tapped against the boards of the deck with his foot. "Fire style might work, it's got wooden decks. But the crew may have come up with several countermeasures to deal with open flames. This thing was designed to fight in a war after all."

"Alright… what about wind style?"

"Again, you'll need one that's big enough with enough chakra and piercing power," Shikamaru replied, ramming his fist into his palm. "This thing looks like it can cut through a wall of fire as well as a storm."

"M-Maybe you're thinking too much on how to bring it down from the outside," Hinata interjected, drawing both their eyes towards her. She pressed her hands together thoughtfully. "What about trying to take it down… from the inside?"

Options available: a soft underbelly or an indigestion problem?

Naruto knew from experience that the latter was always the biggest pain, not to mention it was a lot more difficult to deal with compared to something like a scratch from a knife. He and Shikamaru hadn't even considered that kind of solution to their problem till their teammate managed to bring it about into the light. After a few seconds of consideration, both of them smiled at the kunoichi for the key she had so kindly placed upon the table.

Why wouldn't she be able to come up with her own strategies? Hinata was smart, not to mention her fighting style focused primarily on inflicting internal damage. This kind of thing was right up her alley.

She shied away from their intense gazes.

"Good thinking, Hinata. No… not just good, _brilliant_," Shikamaru exclaimed, taking his chin in his hand, "Combustible material placed at key points around the hull or explosives in the ammunition chamber."

"Or you could take out the crew," Naruto exclaimed in a whisper, making a hand gesture that conveyed 'success', "A ship can't work without people, just like how a kunai can't hurt anyone or hit a target unless it's thrown." Shikamaru and Hinata agreed on that note too.

It was a big question: _'How do you sink a ship as formidable and as large as the Hood?'_ For a shinobi, doing things by hand always worked out for better or for worse depending on the scenario, since their kind was pretty much used to raiding fortresses and destroying buildings. While the _Hood_ was a grand ship and was guaranteed to be out on the ocean during battle, way out of reach of most opponents, shinobi could _walk_ on water.

Not that Team 10 could, since one of them hadn't exactly 'mastered' that stage of the training, whereas the other two hadn't even learned how to properly climb trees yet.

However, in general, all a shinobi had to do to cripple an armored vessel as big and as tough as this one was get in close, get on board, and wreck havoc with the crew.

That was just one way and perhaps the best plan a shinobi could formulate in dealing with a similar problem, unless they had a jutsu capable of causing damage to the landscape at a distance.

The team was about to take the discussion one step further into more effective methods of infiltration with more detail on attack planning, until Kasumi returned from her tour along with Asuma. They descended to the main deck, where the captain then started showing the group around to some of the other areas of the mighty _Hood_. The team that had waited patiently outside joined them in haste.

Naruto led the pack for the rest of that excursion whereas their Jonin instructor hung behind Kasumi to have a smoke.

Clicking his lighter a few times, Asuma quickly gave up when he saw that he was inadvertently holding up traffic, namely the rest of the tour. With a shrug, the shinobi absentmindedly tossed the chewed up cigarette down the nearest pipe; a habit that sailors had also developed when they couldn't find a proper way of disposing any small pieces of garbage that they just so happened to have on hand.

Let the guys in the lower levels deal with it, why not?

OOO

While the group went about their business on board the ship to the time when they had to leave for their next destination, the cigarette that Asuma had chucked down the exhaust stack had fallen out of a separate air conduit somewhere in the lower levels. Coincidentally, it fell out of the main pipeline and into a cargo hold where a couple of sailors were moving a crate from that room into another.

As good as naval personnel as they were, it was all too easy even for a sharp-eyed individual to miss a stick packed with tobacco the size of a finger falling out of an air vent into a partially lit room.

When the sailors left, the cigarette that had landed on top of a couple of barrels suddenly burst into a cloud of smoke, revealing a shadow clone of Asuma crouching in amongst the supplies. Keeping to the shadows, the Jonin then went about fulfilling the tasks that his creator had instructed of him.

"_Now… let's see what these Britannian guys are hiding around here…"_

He wasn't given his rank and elite status for nothing. There was something fishy going on with these westerners, a stench that had been bugging him even while he and his team were in attendance of that uneventful conference the day before. Though he admitted he was acting outside of the grounds of his agreed upon responsibilities as an escort, he was going to find out what this unpleasant odor tickling his nose was.

With a cluster of explosive tags in hand, the elusive shadow clone went about the ship from room to room as quietly as he could, making sure that he wasn't spotted by any of the crew…

XXX

The tour of the ships went on without a bump or bruise, otherwise a pretty successful excursion for the squad. It turned out to be a very educational experience for all of them. Kasumi became acquainted with the captains, they all had tours of each of the ships sitting in the harbor, and the youngsters reveled at the opportunity to get to know more about the vessels used by the foreigners. Damn, if the cargo ships weren't impressive enough there sure as hell was a lot of firepower in this fleet. The sight of the behemoth silhouettes alone made the entire group ecstatic.

The stuff that the Britannians had to show definitely made them a formidable force even for just a single fleet. If they were here in any capacity as an enemy, then the _Elemental Nations_ would definitely have something to worry about.

But thankfully, they were here in these waters on friendly terms.

Things were made a lot more enjoyable for Naruto and his team on board one of the destroyers when the ship's captain test fired several of the vessel's main guns on targets out in open water. The cannons were loud and the explosions were grand, the shockwaves reaching the shoreline even behind the barrels.

Shikamaru ended up having to clear out his ears for a good few minutes afterwards from how loud the artillery pieces actually were.

The team was hoping to get a little bit more familiar with some of the smaller crafts to see what else the visitors were packing. Unfortunately though, their grand tour of the sights was cut short at the wharfs, where the team arrived at a Britannian encampment. This particular area of the harbor in the warehouse district was being used by the soldiers and sailors as temporary lodgings. It was like a battle encampment, with tents lining the main roads and vehicles parked all over the place.

The citizens of the village had in fact taken a great interest in a lot of the equipment and the soldiers weren't at all bothered by them.

This showed just how well the Britannians had managed to integrate themselves with their hosts. Shikamaru estimated that there had to about four-thousand sailors resting in this temporary base, not to mention an additional one thousand infantry, half of which was contributing to security within the village.

Kasumi's outing ended here for the day and after being seen off by the captain of the last ship they visited, asked for Asuma to escort her back to the palace. Obliging, the Jonin dismissed his squad, saying to them that they could hang around for a little while longer and see what else they could 'dig up' on the foreigners. Though he didn't mean it as a bad thing, he did instruct them to behave, keep their excitement in check, as well as to try and soak up as much of the Britannian's activities as they could.

To Naruto, Shikamaru and Hinata, they felt like normal children being left at a fair ground with a bucket load of money to spend. I mean, what kind of trouble could a kid in that situation possibly get into? The fact that the youngsters looked like ordinary citizens, being shinobi and dressed in casual clothing and all, helped their case out a ton.

After Asuma left with the princess, the three of them weren't bothered or harassed by any of the soldiers or military personnel walking around at all. They were all pretty chilled around here, and that was good for the young team. They had an uneventful walk around the vehicles and warehouses, and even checked out a soccer game being played over by the clearing… well… Shikamaru and Hinata did anyway. The two of them had a really good time over by the field and even cheered for both sides.

Naruto on the other hand had preoccupied himself with something else entirely.

After realizing he had wandered away from them, the jinchuriki's teammates went out in search for him. They came across their friend later onwards, finding Naruto leaning over a railing up on a makeshift stand where a bunch of soldiers had gathered in audience. When Shikamaru and Hinata approached him on the uppermost walkway, they saw that the blonde had his arms folded, was leaning on them on the railing, and had a very intense expression in play.

This focused, contemplative expression was something that the pair seldom saw on his person, and prompted them to question his condition.

"W-What's wrong, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.

"Something on your mind…?"

**BANG!**

The two of them jumped at what they first thought was the sound of an artillery piece from one of the battleships in the harbor going off. However, realizing that they weren't on a ship anymore and that it wasn't an explosion of the combustible sort, they then looked over the side of the stand Naruto was unflinchingly peering over to see what all the commotion was about.

At the bottom of the gallery and in the center of the yard where everyone was currently focused, the team saw what appeared to be a small podium elevated onto some sort of makeshift platform with a canvas surface. Dimensions fitting a square with ropes stretched between four corner posts, Shikamaru immediately identified the western style arena as a boxing ring. There was a massive audience from both the village and the visiting soldiers, and there were also contenders resting on the side benches, awaiting their turn.

It was quite an impressive attendance, especially for the show going on inside of the arena.

Shikamaru and Hinata looked just in time to see one of the officers from Britannia's army get carried out of the ring on a stretcher. He was quickly replaced by another rather beefy looking soldier, who threw on a pair of boxing gloves and head safety gear. Dressed in a black singlet, trousers and boots, he then assumed an orthodox stance in his corner and glared across at his opponent.

It surprised the newly arrived Genin to see Nai over on the other side, wearing only shorts and ropes wrapped securely around his arms and legs. He was leaning against the post at ease with his arms sitting on the barriers, and apparently fully recovered from yesterday's tussle, just like Naruto. However, instead of resting for the day, he was already up and active, training in a manner in keeping with his practice.

The jinchuriki frowned, watching the kick boxer push himself off of the post and slowly make his way towards his opponent, who was at least twice his size.

"You don't need to worry about him," Shikamaru smiled, nudging the blonde in the arm and leaning forward against the railing just as he was, "He's tough. I'm sure he'll pull through this fight just fine."

"I'm not worried about him," Naruto replied instantly, beads of sweat running down his face, "I'm worried about his opponent."

"His opponent?" For a second time, all eyes fell upon the ring once again, where they saw Nai moving at a snail's pace around his opponent, who was balancing himself on his toes and, setting a good rhythm, began moving as well. They circled each other, eyes locked and guards up.

At first the round started off with a staring contest, nothing too serious. Both sides sized the other fighter up carefully while also making note of the distance between them.

Then, after a full minute of silence and it started to appear that the combatants would only be walking laps around the center for the duration of the match, things then unexpectedly exploded into high roller action when the hulking Britannian soldier went at the teen with a mixture of punches that he dished out with great ferocity. Straights cut through the air like bullets as Nai moved back, intercepting each hit with a parry and redirecting his opponent's attacks or blocking them to avoid them. He moved step by step at a surprisingly labored speed, allowing the taller brawler to power into him with everything he had.

Just like against Naruto, Nai circled his heavier foe slowly, taking no damage and just keeping his pace.

The soldier was quite quick. It was easy to see that he'd practiced boxing for quite a while. But as fast as he was and as loud as he yelled with every punch he threw, he simply could not land a clean hit on Nai. The muay thai fighter kept the circle and shimmied back from a flurry of hooks, ducking and slipping calmly. He ducked a jab and stepped in, experimenting with the distance before moving away again. Shikamaru and Hinata watched with anticipation as Nai zigzagged back, dodging a one-two, before being pushed into a corner.

Nai took up a turtle guard the instant he felt the ropes on his back, both arms covering his face as his opponent drove into him with punishing straights, before beginning to pummel him with hooks and uppercuts. He hit the teen under the guard in his stomach, ramming heavy blows into the body and rattling the barrier of the ring. The crowds cheered as the dull thuds echoed all around, the excitement climbing higher and higher.

"H-He's getting beaten," Hinata gasped, holding a hand over her mouth.

"I'm not so sure about that," Shikamaru added, narrowing his gaze as he watched the teen that had given Naruto so much trouble before get plowed further into the wall little by little. From the Nara's point of view, he could see that the kick boxer was not panicking or making any effort to move excessively whatsoever, and was just glaring up at his opponent from underneath his guard. "It looks to me like he's taking his time. The other guy is just being reckless. If you go up against an opponent who's able to maintain his cool in the heat of battle like that, then you're in danger of falling into whatever trap they're cooking up for you. That's scary smart…"

"But what can he do?" Hinata murmured, wincing when she saw Nai take a big hook across the guard and nearly crumble, "He's cornered. N-Nai-kun can't go anywhere."

"Watch his hands carefully, you'll see," Naruto stated, drawing his friend's attention to him and then to his point of interest.

Holding their breaths, the kunoichi and Shikamaru kept a close eye on the defending boy's fists, where they could see him still peering over his guard with narrowed eyebrows.

The soldier growled and shouted angrily with each blow, trying to break through the unyielding guard with full body swings that continued to shake the ring. It looked as though he was about to overwhelm the boy at any moment, but as he was soon to discover, his hits were nothing more than annoying flies compared to Nai's previous opponent.

The man swung in with a right straight with such speed that it had Shikamaru and Hinata leaning forward in shock, expecting a finishing blow. Much to their shock, instead of taking yet another hammering blow to his guard, Nai maneuvered around it with ease, pushing off of the soldier's shoulder and placing himself directly behind the buffer, larger man. When the boxer turned around to meet the teen, he found his back pressed into the corner.

Now the situation had been reversed, a turn of events that did not surprise Naruto one bit.

"Don't miss this," the jinchuriki said, gritting his teeth.

The soldier stepped forward, attempting to push through the teen to get out of his detrimental position. He moved with a left jab leading him, only to have it blocked by the boy's fist, leaving his body wide open. However, instead of going for the opening Nai ignored it completely and instead twisted in with a left hook.

His body spun like a cyclone and resonated with the force equivalent to one, the kick boxer's fist slamming into the soldier's face behind the guard with the sound of a gunshot ringing out across the district. The man's head blasted to the side as a result, a cloud of sweat and blood spraying into the air. Though it seemed gruesome, it was a damn sight better than watching his melon get ripped clean from his shoulders, even though it was excruciatingly close to detaching anyway.

Despite the headgear, the power in Nai's attack was like that of a locomotive running down a table laid out on the tracks. You can imagine what would happen to the table.

The soldier was knocked unconscious the moment the hit traveled through him, but Nai wasn't done yet. He quickly pulled back his left and followed up with a right hook, completing a one-two combination that sent the soldier cart-wheeling to the ground in the opposite direction. The battered man hit the canvas head first, followed by the rest of him.

The fight was over before it even began, and the most amazing thing was that Nai hadn't even broken a sweat. His glare and collected expression said it all.

Shikamaru and Hinata were stunned.

"Did you feel the shockwave when he hit the ground just now?" the Nara asked, his hands shaking just from watching the spar at this distance. "That was insane."

"N-Nai-kun is unbelievably strong," Hinata whispered, looking in the jinchuriki's direction to see Naruto sweating even more than he had been before. "Even though his speed isn't as great as yours, the power in his attacks is exactly the same as Asuma-sensei's, and the level of his technique is on par with our own."

"The way he held himself back until the very end also shows that he's a really conservative and intelligent fighter," Shikamaru exclaimed, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "He thinks on his feet, yet chooses not to rush things, meaning he also relies on stamina to carry him through a bout. It's like fighting is second nature to him."

"I also noticed one other thing," Naruto interrupted, drawing their attention back to him as he watched Nai hop out of the ring and dry himself off at the challenger's bench. "He moves extremely well and uses out-fighting tactics, but he leads his opponents into entering an in-fighting contest and lets them have it when they get too close. My guess is that he specializes in extreme close range, which explains his insane durability and power, but he isn't rigid or slow at all. He's really quite graceful when he's keeping his distance."

"Sounds like the perfect opponent for you," Shikamaru replied, seeing the blonde run a hand over his face, wiping sweat away and thinking about the number of rounds he'd seen earlier. "You've got good hitting power yourself."

"Not like him though," the jinchuriki said. He pointed towards the soldier that Nai had brought down with a single hit and was now being carried off of the ring by medical personnel. "Those soldiers he'd just fought were professionals… like… _really_ good fighters, even stronger than your average grunt. This was Nai's twentieth fight, and the twentieth officer he'd knocked out clean with just a single hit."

"You're kidding, right?" Shikamaru gaped. "These guys are tough even for regulars… but how can he…?"

"It's like he said yesterday," Naruto smirked, "He had a good teacher." His fists visibly clenched and his knuckles popped under the strain, a sight that drew his friends' eyes toward and then back up to him. A new expression of excitement came across the blonde's face while he watched Nai stretch out down on the floor and shadow box for a moment or two.

A couple more soldiers from the sidelines headed into the ring to have their shot, allowing the previous contender to have a moment to himself and the 'potential' challenger to take stock of him.

This whole setup was obviously some form of entertainment for the general crowd. But to the jinchuriki, instead of a show, it came off as a terrifying demonstration that Naruto had had the absolute privilege of observing.

Shikamaru knew his friend's character all too well to make an accurate guess as to what he was feeling right now. After all, weeks of watching him work and pretty much march through everything thrown at him had definitely given his companions a better idea as to what his interests and thoughts were like. The boy was like a machine compared to everyone else.

"You want to fight him that badly?"

"Oh yeah," Naruto grinned, turning to his squad mates with an almost literal glow about his person. He saw Hinata blink when he turned to face her. "But I can't do it alone, so I'll ask you guys directly. Who wants to start training for a whole new type of game?"

"A n-new type of game?" Hinata murmured.

The jinchuriki nodded, "I mean leveling up. Fix our weaknesses, trim away the fat, and sharpen our blades. If we want to start playing with the big guys, we have to get stronger and faster." He clenched his fists and extended it to them. "I don't know about you two, but I feel like showing everyone here just how strong we can _really_ get."

Feeling the positive energy radiating off of him like the sun, it would have almost been impossible for anyone there to say _no_ to him. His teachers would definitely be proud of the orange ball of energy, and Asuma would have patted him on the back, wishing him all the best.

While the Nara shook his head in amusement, finding his comrade's determination amazing as always, the Hyuuga blushed and wrapped her fingers together tightly.

Hinata fidgeted for a bit before gazing back up at her teammate, finding his attitude most admirable. "I-If you need our help… Naruto-kun… we are here for you."

"Fantastic," the jinchuriki cheered while hopping off of the railing. He straightened up his sleeves and jacket, "Then what are we waiting for?"

Hinata beamed, whereas Shikamaru just sighed exhaustedly.

He couldn't fight against these people, so what was the point? He may as well just go along with them and hope he didn't wake up the next morning with his finger glued to the inside of his ear. Seriously, Naruto sealed his arm inside of a cast and stuck a hook onto it the last time he fell asleep before training, and it had been hell on earth explaining it to everyone he met on the streets as well as to the staff at the hospital.

"Alright, if you insist… you troublesome blonde…" Shikamaru smiled, placing his hands on his hips. "For my sake, I'll take you up on the challenge… but just this once… understand?"

While the trio bumped fists and what not, falling into an animated discussion about how they were going to go about this 'leveling up' plan, down on the ground Nai had spotted Naruto up at the top of the stands and was currently watching him with full intent.

Seeing him and his friends sharing pleasantries, the young pugilist ventured a guess that it was all in response to seeing his previous fights. He knew he had felt a prickly sensation on the back of his neck earlier on from being watched by an enemy, and now that that figure has revealed itself to him, Nai was able to thank his wonderful sixth sense for locking his attention back onto his next, prospective opponent.

Upon seeing Naruto lead his group off with a spring in his step and a grin on his face, the kick boxer smiled as well and stretched his arms out in response to the sight.

"_Once all of this diplomacy is settled, we'll finish what we started…"_ Nai thought, punching a fist out towards the retreating shinobi with even more force. "I'm fired up, Naruto! So you'd better watch out… because I'm comin' for yah!"

The fact that the boy started laughing maniacally had a lot of the soldiers in the area look at him with great concern. Not wanting to trifle with a mad power puncher capable of astonishing physical feats, the officers wisely kept their distance, and went about with their training regime…

XXX

**Over the next few days…**

Naruto was really psyched about getting stronger, so much so that his teammates thought he wanted to take on the world right off the bat. Of course, instead of wanting to increase his skills and strengths the round-about, half-assed way that Sasuke normally did with that damn genius gene of his, he was going to do it with sheer grit and an iron fist. The jinchuriki was intent on surpassing his current level of wallowing around in the muddy shallows, and with Shikamaru and Hinata accompanying him he had even greater reason to push himself.

Asuma was ecstatic that his students were approaching him directly and asking for his help to train them. Of course, jumping for joy wasn't exactly in the teacher's programming, so he settled for a small smile, a cigarette, and a gesture of appreciation toward his group of younglings.

At the end of the day, when Kasumi was safely back inside the palace with Okita once again taking charge of her safety, Asuma took his team out to the back of the castle and started them off on the tree-climbing routine.

For Shikamaru and Hinata, he gambled that it would take them around a week to complete this task successfully, or even less if they seriously pushed themselves. However, while he gave them this exercise with extreme confidence in their abilities to handle it, he knew it wasn't going to be an easy haul. Predictably enough, while the Hyuuga was initially concerned about putting her feet against the tree and making a spectacular fall on the first go, Shikamaru just sat at the base of his and stared up at the wooden tower that was daring him to climb it.

Sure it was slow going at first, but Hinata eventually bucked up the confidence needed for her to start trying. Though there were a few falls, the girl wasn't going to be deterred by a handful of bruises. Just like Naruto would, every time she fell and hit the ground, she would pick herself up and keep on going.

Shikamaru however spent the better half of that afternoon staring up at the damn thing. Asuma could have pressured him to put forward more effort into the exercise, but after thinking on it a little more, he knew that all he'd get in return for his troubles was a lot of groaning and complaining about how the task was 'too troublesome', and would be forced to endure an hour of the boy repeatedly falling in and out of sleep. He gave up on encouraging the kid and allowed him to proceed at his own pace.

For Naruto, he gave the kid more chakra exercises, such as walking on water, running up spires, and even giving him a 'burst' technique. By using his chakra, he told the blonde that he'd be able to increase his dashing speed and hitting power by focusing his chakra at the bases of his hands and feet. It was very much like how he directed chi throughout his body, only he was using a different system of energy to accomplish this. It didn't surprise Naruto at how simple it came to him, since he'd been practicing with the basics of chakra as well as advancing himself in the chi department with his other teachers.

While all of this was going great for the jinchuriki, the practicality and everything, he still could only use chi techniques about five times per fight. Six was pushing it and seven meant that he would be passed out in the corner. He cursed himself for being ignorant of this ability from the get-go.

Naruto worked on _his_ exercises alongside Shikamaru and Hinata, from which they all suffered as a result. While Asuma also worked with his students individually over the next few days, he made double sure that they all got equal treatment.

The Jonin helped Naruto with driving and hitting power by providing the boy with a buffer he had to overcome. The Nara gave the instructor some otherwise interesting entertainment, with Asuma having him play as much shogi during break times as possible (and losing to the brat spectacularly) and then getting him to work on physical exercises, primarily taijutsu… which went well. Then he encouraged more aggression from Hinata. While the girl was still a little timid and didn't exactly show complete confidence as of yet, which had her ducking and running a lot of the time, Asuma was persistent.

The kids weren't going to break that easily either.

So over the next few days, after escorting Kasumi around the village to wherever she needed to go and answering to all her calls whenever she requested their presence, the team went back to training in the background. The palace guards weren't fussed, and the world kept on turning as per the usual course.

XXX

**Three days before the ceremony…**

A raging bull drooling profusely at the mouth let out a great, infuriated holler that echoed throughout the entire area, before ducking its head sharply and thundering across the clearing towards its target standing dead in its sights.

The soldiers of Britannia inside of this camp, set up some ways outside of the port town of Dusk, cheered wildly as the enraged animal charged across the yard, a trail of smoke kicking up behind it. The tremors in the ground made everybody believe that a train was passing them by, when in actuality it was the male Bos Taurus making all of the noise.

For a cow weighing over a thousand kilos, he certainly was fast.

It dipped its horns, ready to make impact or to perform a spectacular toss. Whichever method of execution it chose it wouldn't matter either way. The thing it was targeting was as good as dead whichever way you sliced it.

At full charging speed, it rammed headlong into its target, a loud 'bang' of a shockwave ringing out like the animal had just met another of its kind of the same weight distribution at the center. The result was biblical.

However, what the animal had shockingly run into and was effectively stopped by, was not another bull or a wall, but was in fact a human male, wearing nothing but trousers and boots, with his ripped upper body bathed in sweat.

Fists on his hips, William Muldoon stood his ground. The impact of the bull slamming into him shook the ground and garnished a loud cheer from the watching soldiers. As powerful as the bull was, William didn't even budge an inch from his spot. Hell, he was barely even fazed by the animal's charge. He took the full impact of the bull's skull and horns against his abs, which absorbed all of the force and stopped it dead.

What should have killed an ordinary man or at the very least sent him flying, America's youngest _Solid Man_ remained standing and unflinching.

The bull staggered away, huffing angrily as the teenager, once upright in a superman pose, had now assumed a fighting stance. Like a weary wrestler he circled the animal as it whipped its head irritably and slammed its hooves into the ground. Both the young adult and beast met each other as equals in the middle of the clearing, cheered and whooped on by an excited audience.

Eventually, the animal had had enough with the pacing, and with a kick of its back feet, charged towards the teenager again at full speed.

Muldoon grinned and clenched his fists, "MEEEEEEEEEEENNN!" He sent a right hook swinging at the animal's face at full speed. The impact of his fist was as loud as the bull's impact with him, the blow plowing through the Taurus' skull and sending it barreling away when William leapt around it. Knocked senseless, the animal stumbled around for several seconds.

Its world remaining a shaky haze as it circled the general area, before it managed to regain its balance shortly afterwards and finding its target standing calmly behind it.

It roared once again, charging with its horns down. William roared as well and rushed forward in kind. He caught its horns in an epic collision and started an intense grappling match with it.

They tossed and turned furiously, one trying to overpower the other. The whole thing quickly transformed into a battle of sheer grit and willpower, with the wrestler hollering out all sorts of nonsensical declarations of youth.

"Man vs Beast! A clash of superpowers! If you are a real man, then don't let the beast take control of you, ATTACK IT HEAD ON, BUT SHOW IT YOUR UTMOST RESPECT AS A GENTLEMAN!" William bellowed, tossing the animal aside and watching it stumble away. It skidded to a halt, circling, and once again setting its sights on the wrestler and readying itself for another contest. "Nature is wild and untamable, that is the irrefutable truth in life! The best one can do with the nature inside of them is to live with it!" The animal breathed out and charged one last time, the wrestler clenching his fist and assuming a lowered, crouching stance. "Come Taurus; let us show the world what two males in their prime are capable of!"

The bull whipped its horns one last time, only for its neck to be caught in a massive hook thrown by the huge teenager. William hollered out excitedly as he clothes-lined the mad animal and sent it hurling through the air, giving everyone an unbelievable spectacle as to how much power the man actually possessed. The bull hit the ground several meters away, rolled, before carting to a stop. It lay there where it was, panting, completely spent from his epic battle with a true power house.

Flexing his biceps, William assumed a strong-man pose and grinned towards the audience, raising a fist in triumph, "MEEEEEEEEEEEENN!" His cheer roused applause from the crowd, all of whom were now asking him for more.

While the amassed soldiers on that side of the camp praised the almighty wrestler for his efforts, across the lines of tents over in one of the open fields further away, another training exercise was currently in progress. Astride his noble steed and scorching the earth with his fierceness, Vincent was executing his own signature precision techniques with great proficiency and effort.

Riding his horse at full speed up and down the field of grass, the man performed a dazzling display of spins and swipes with his lance, flashing crescent arcs all around him.

It was almost like he was a Chinese martial artist twirling the staff around his neck, body, around his arms and between his hands. The weapon was incredibly long too, but he wielded it like a professional. His horse made a charge down a line, and after spinning the lance around he stabbed out at one of several small targets he had set up around the pitch.

The spear tip of his lance pierced through the plate sitting atop of the pole, shattering it. After which he spun the lance around his neck and swiped across with it at another plate, which had been set up on the other side. He hit the thing before the shattered pieces of the last one even hit the ground.

He kicked at the sides of his horse, pulling on the reigns single-handedly to make a sharp turn. His horse did as dictated and charged down another line of attack. Upon leveling out, Vincent stood up on the back of the horse's saddle. Mounting it like a surf board, he spun his lance around and slashed out at several more targets, shattering plate after plate on a single pass.

Once he reached the end, and all of his targets had been hit and destroyed, he turned his horse around one last time and charged down the last target.

Still crouched atop of the saddle and riding the wind like the avatar, he took careful aim at the oncoming circle. Several tense seconds later and after a great deal of patience, it soon fell within range, and he swiped upwards with the lance. The plate was knocked spinning high into the air, flashing under the rays of sun.

Vincent watched it soar out of reach, before crouching low and spinning his lance around his body several times.

After performing another array of graceful spins, the graceful young male then swung out with perfect accuracy, catching the plate on the tip of the spear and balancing it as the horse charged on.

Managing to keep it still at the tip while astride an animal with no shock absorbers, the young man smirked to himself before flicking the plate up and stabbing it with the lance. He pierced straight through its center without shattering it and once it was securely impaled like a piece of meat on a kebab, he pulled his horse to a stop.

"Whoa, steady boy," Vincent exclaimed, his horse slowing to a trot before ultimately coming to a stop. The animal huffed tiredly, its tail whipping around behind it.

The officer hopped off of his trusted companion and held him down, checking out the job he'd accomplished with the plate. Upon assessing the target's damage and the point where he'd punctured it, he then slammed it down on the ground and finished the job, before beginning to pull his horse back over to its stable.

Hearing the crowds of soldiers roaring from the yard where presumably Muldoon was challenging another predator to one-on-one 'manly' combat, Vincent shook his head and propped his staff against his shoulder. His horse whinnied in response to the noise.

"I know, boy," Vincent chuckled, stroking the horse's muzzle. "Our world is full of crazy people."

Him included; he just didn't see it or want to admit it. But it wasn't like it was the biggest, most life-threatening thing Vincent was most concerned about, oh no. There were other things on his mind, like the procession that they were soon to be a part of as well as the days to follow. Upon tying his horse down and removing his hat, brushing away the sweat with the back of his glove at the same time, the young officer smiled towards the sky and allowed a sigh to escape his lips.

He was looking forward to the days after the treaty. Though he wasn't one to get excited about these kinds of things, the future for his world across the seas and the one he was in looked quite promising…

"I swear; I will win Hinata's heart and continue to proclaim my undying love for her!" Vincent exclaimed, pretty much killing the mood and making a rather stupid looking pose in the middle of the valley. He could feel the sunset drifting across his face right now, showing the world that even the coolest of individuals could sink to an extreme low.

_Yeah, sure… whatever you say, buddy…_ would probably be what Kami was mumbling right about now.

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Man, this was exhausting to write. Don't worry, I have finished another chapter, I'll post it later onwards. Right now, I hope you enjoyed this one. It gives further scope to the situation as well as details another job Team 10 was actually hired to perform, rather than the C-Rank Wave mission 'transforming' into an A-Rank mission. That happens later.

I'm at the halfway point to the _**Land of Dusk**_ Arc, so bare with me. The final battle is approaching.

Britannia has dug their tents in and made themselves at home. But Asuma still has a sinking feeling that something is not right. Not that the kids are concerned, as an elite ninja he can't help but be suspicious.

Of course, the **historic character** that has appeared, I'm sure all of you will know very well:

**Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill** (30th November 1874 – 24th January 1965) – a British Conservative politician and statesmen known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders in history and served as _**Prime Minister**_ twice. Among his other occupations, he was also an officer in the British army, a historian, writer and artist. He is the only British prime minister to receive a Nobel Prize in Literature, and was the first person to be made an Honorary Citizen of the United States.

A charismatic politician, one of the most influential people in British history and personally one of the greatest leaders ever, before the First World War, Winston Churchill also served as _**President of the Board of Trade**_, a role which he is currently fulfilling as the representative from Britannia in this story, visiting the _Land of Dusk_ to establish a secure trade route under two flags between the two continents. This was back when he was in his youth, young, fresh, thin, charismatic, a damn fine sport with a good head of hair.

Note: this is before his time as Prime Minister.

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and stay tuned!


	20. Land of Dusk Arc: Menace of Two Worlds

**NARUTO**

**The Art of Appropriation**

_The Menace of Two Worlds_

**The next day, _Mugen Castle_...**

**Team 10's Room…**

"You're really good at this game, Hinata," Shikamaru chuckled, his hand hovering over the pieces of the shogi board in front of him. "Are you sure you hardly ever play, because it looks to me you've gotten into a few contests over the years."

"N-No… not at all," the Hyuuga replied, gulping when she watched the Nara take his gold general and move it across. This freed up a lot of space for her to move several of her higher ranking bishops, but she guessed from looking at his forces that he was setting up a trap especially for her. She decided to play it safe and moved her rook. "I'm not as confident as you at shogi… a-and your moves are so decisive. You've had a lot more practice than me."

"Don't sell yourself short," Shikamaru chuckled, scratching the back of his head. His pawn took hers in a clear win. Hinata started to panic, but the collected teen across from her quickly intervened with her freak-out before she could get the ball rolling. "You can't let little things like this get to you. Trust me; it will only make things worse. Just pace yourself, take as much time as you need, and move when you see fit to do so."

"O-Okay," the blue haired girl smiled, taking her friend's words of wisdom to heart. She pressed her fingers together as she looked over the board. "I-I'll try again." The Hyuuga took her own general and moved him to where she thought would be a good spot. The Nara did a bit of a double-take at that maneuver, having not expected her to make such an aggressive move oh so suddenly.

"_Shit,"_ the boy thought, the girl unwittingly throwing a wrench into his Plan A strategy. Though her strengths were nothing like Asuma's 'take-for-friggin-ever' tactic or Naruto's 'cheat-like-a-sunavabitch' thing, she was actually quite surprising when the situation called for it. The boy didn't know whether she executed moves like that on purpose to scare the hell out of people or did them purely by accident, but either way Hinata had just as many unpredictable moments as their blonde companion.

Deciding to take it up a peg, Shikamaru pressed all of his fingers together in an odd hand seal and held it in front of his stomach. He closed his eyes meditatively after taking in the playing field, and contemplated on his next move. In the meantime, Hinata looked across at him worryingly.

She'd seen Shikamaru assume this pose against Asuma whenever they placed shogi many times before. Every time he took up that state and used that hand seal, no one had ever been able to beat him.

While the two of them continued going at each other's throats at the coffee table in the middle of the room, over by the window Asuma was enjoying his own favorite past time by having a cigarette break while watching Naruto shadow sparring just feet from him. Why Naruto was practicing combat in their room the Jonin had no idea. However, the instructor had to give the boy points for working extra hard. It's like the 'off' switch didn't apply to the kid.

Despite all the action going on at both ends, it was still pretty quiet around here. It was so peaceful in fact that the four comfortable shinobi could literally hear the seagulls over the harbor crying out in chorus and the sergeants of both the palace guards and the Britannians barking out orders far below. The atmosphere gave them something to distract themselves, and focus on material other than work.

It was great.

"Are you always on overdrive or is this normal for you, Naruto?" Asuma asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

The blonde blinked and looked over at his instructor, stopping himself in mid-swing, "Why do you say that, sensei?"

"Well… there's only one other person in Konoha that I know of that has the same amount of energy as you, and he's _always_ on." Asuma shook his head and blew a plume of smoke out the window. "If you're so psyched about training then why don't you go outside and blow off some steam in the courtyard? I'm pretty sure there are a few disposable logs down there you can batter around for a bit. Who knows; it might do you some good?"

Or burn him out at the very least. The Jonin needed to find a proper outlet for the jinchuriki. It just wasn't right that a kid like him could have so much more energy than everybody else in the world. It wasn't physically possible.

Briefly sitting on his teacher's words, Naruto considered the alternative presented to him and stretched his arms out. He lowered his fists to his sides, switching his body to safety mode. "Actually… that's not a bad idea. I think I'll take you up on that suggestion, sensei!" Damn, if he could get some extra out-fighting practice in, he just might be able to pull one over Meow-chan when he got back. He was tired of her getting in all the hit-and-run shots in their spars. It was time for a change of pace.

The jinchuriki laughed out loud when he unexpectedly went leaping over chairs and tables in his dash for the entrance, startling his companions whilst rushing past them in an orange blur. "Thanks a bunch, Asuma-sensei!"

"Don't get too excited, kid," his teacher waved, making it just in time to see the blonde disappear out the door and go sprinting down the hallway. Hopefully he wouldn't run into any servants carrying any delicates through the corridors. That would be a disaster.

Actually, now that he thought about it, Asuma sort of double backed on his idea about letting his student go so readily. His eyes fell on Hinata, who along with Shikamaru were both looking toward him uncertainly.

"Why don't you guys go with him? I'm sure he'll appreciate the company."

The one leading the game in points turned his gaze back to the board longingly. "B-But…"

Hinata, in the meantime, took Asuma's suggestion under careful advisement while looking between the two males quietly. Of course, after only a few seconds of deliberation, the girl made up her mind on what she wanted to do next and leapt to her feet, rigidly heading for the door in haste, "I-I'll go!"

"H-Hey, hang on a second, Hinata," Shikamaru called, his voice unable to reach the girl in time on account of the door slamming shut on them. Once she was gone the Nara sighed and looked down at the shogi board, his hands held out in bewilderment, "Great. Now who am I supposed to finish this game with? I'm only two moves away from checkmate!"

Intrigued, Asuma flicked his cigarette out the window and joined the Nara on the other side of the playing field. Sitting before the flustered boy, the Jonin stroked his beard and considered the positions of each of the pieces. He grinned and looked up at his student.

"You sure about that?"

"Positive," Shikamaru replied without missing a beat, resting his head in his hand and glancing up at the smug looking teacher. "Want to test your theory?"

"Please…" Rolling up his sleeves, Asuma reached out and took the rook, which he used to take the boy's knight.

Unfortunately for the teacher, things played out exactly as the teenager predicted, and after swift and decisive moves, Shikamaru had the baffled Jonin's king cornered. To celebrate his success, the boy yawned, stretched his arms out and readied himself for a power nap. At the same time, Asuma gawked down at the board, trying to figure out exactly where he went wrong several seconds ago.

"Take it like a man and just give in," Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

Asuma bit the top of his finger. "What if I…?"

"No…"

"Yeah, but still, I could have just…"

"And ended up getting taken by my general? Yeah, sure," the Nara shook his head at his senior, the corner of his lip twitching. "Let's face it, even when you're the backup man you still suck at this, sensei."

Silence fell amongst the two of them, with Asuma gritting his teeth in an irritated manner as he tried to cook up a good response to the bottleneck Shikamaru had forced him into. Failing in that enterprise, he then lit another cigarette to compose himself and after a few minutes of glaring across at the king on the other side of the board, turned his glare toward his bored looking apprentice.

"Want to make it two out of three?"

Shikamaru threw his arms out, "Why not? You'll just end up losing for the hundredth time…"

OOO

It was a lovely day, warm sun, refreshing breeze, and very little to no guards out in the courtyard. What more could a couple of outgoing shinobi possibly ask for?

Naruto and Hinata, having made it out of the castle, took advantage of this tranquil setting provided to them by engaging in several, recreational spars out in the quad. As opposed to previous sessions shared by the pair in the past, in this particular one-on-one the two Genin changed things up a little by inputting a few of their more sophisticated techniques into the match to try and get the better of the other, all in an effort to polish up their moves. While the blonde touted with his Wing Chun, the kunoichi attacked using her Gentle Fist, but with much more assertiveness.

It was a double effort for both of them.

As they crossed fists, Hinata repeatedly received encouragement from her partner to be more and more direct in her offenses, all in an effort to press through his strong defense. With his slightly superior reach this was proving to be a little bit difficult for Hinata. Even though her primary style was set at long to mid-range as opposed to her opponent's, it was still a big call to try and get to him. However, this didn't stop the Hyuuga from trying her best.

Sandals off and styles decided, the pair began trading hits across the square the size of a basketball court. Hinata pursued her opponent as he slowly backed down, countering her every strike while weaving between her hands. Her open palm attacks were wide and came around in hooking motions, allowing Naruto better opportunities to trap her limbs or strike at open spaces. This prompted the girl to begin using more compact hits, while also applying more and more chakra bursts to try and throw the boy off of her.

Eventually, her hard pressed assault drove Naruto into a wall, literally. Finding his back suddenly pressed against concrete, the delighted boy began climbing up the barrier surrounding the castle grounds backwards, all the while maintaining a strong defensive. Hinata pursued him despite of this, using his change of direction as practice to fight while sticking to a vertical surface. Since she and Shikamaru, were learning tree climbing using chakra as leverage, this was the perfect opportunity for her to exercise concentration while engaged in combat, something that the Uzumaki used to his advantage.

He stuck in close and chopped at her neck when she jabbed out, her arm locked inside of his arm while hyper extended. The blonde furrowed his brow.

"Faster, Hinata-chan! Come on!"

Blushing brightly, the girl shook her head and gritted her teeth, "Y-Yes!" Her back was facing the ground a couple of stories below. Her opponent had the high ground.

This needed to be changed.

Hinata kicked upward with her left foot. With a swift twisting motion, she attacked Naruto on the outside with a hook strike, spinning them around so that the boy's back was turned towards the ground instead of hers, while she assault him from above. "Juken!"

With her right hand extended, she fired off a blast of chakra. The strike hit Naruto's cross arm block, the force of impact sending him plummeting several feet before his grip against the wall allowed him to skid to a stop. The jinchuriki's guard saved him from taking any damage to the body.

After sliding to a stop, the blonde looked up through a squinted gaze where he saw Hinata high above him on the wall dropped into an attack stance. Her gaze narrowed with her Byakugan, a split second before she dashed at him, effectively dropping down towards his level. Naruto responded instantaneously by leaping off of the wall, flipping across the open ground before landing in a crouched stance. Her opponent pursued, leaping off of the wall and landing in front of him. The space between them was set at three meters.

Before she could reengage, Naruto stood up quickly and held out his hand, "Time out."

Hinata stopped at the sight of his gesture, her expression changing from complete seriousness to surprise. She watched silently as the boy rolled up his sleeves and showed her the side of his right forearm, where two dots, like fingertips had been pressed roughly into his skin, could be seen.

The sight of damage had the kunoichi blink in shock. "N-Naruto-kun? D-Did I…?"

"It's okay. You just caught me by surprise," Naruto grinned, rolling his sleeve back over.

While adjusting the cuff and watching Hinata drop out of her stance to reassume her usual, timid state, the blonde flexed his hand several times to assess his condition. He frowned in thought, suddenly turning around and throwing his arm outward. A blast of wind reverberated off of his palm and rippled in the form of an invisible wave across the area, before colliding with a tree stump standing out in the clearing and blasting the top of it clean off.

Splinters littered the concrete, a sight of destruction that had Hinata gawking in amazement.

Naruto smiled and looked back at his training companion, "I can still use chi, which is good." He stretched his arms out, relieving himself of any tension he could feel in his muscles. "The energy system that allows me to use chi is structured differently from the chakra network. That means… if I'm faced with a Hyuuga or somebody who can stop shinobi from using their chakra, and they manage to cut off my control, I can still use my _other_ techniques." His expression remained the same as he faced his friend, who was listening intently and with great interest to his words.

The jinchuriki was able to deduce all of this from the attack he had taken from Hinata to key nodes along his arm, obviously attacks aimed at his primary energy circulatory system. This was definitely a discovery that would serve him well for his battles to come. _"Even if I am limited to five effective shots, whether long range or quick bursts… I still have a means of defending myself in the worst case scenario, when hand seals and chakra are out of the question."_

"Th-That's amazing, Naruto-kun," Hinata exclaimed with a delightful smile.

The blonde shook himself out of his daze and gave her a thumbs-up, "I know, right? I'm really quite surprised myself." Though on the outside he seemed fine, unbeknownst to his partner, the boy suddenly started to deflate mentally. Beads of sweat appeared and began to drip slowly down his forehead. _"But damn… even if I use chi only once, I still feel like an anvil is steadly being lowered onto my chest."_

It was a really unpleasant feeling; shortness of breath, weak limbs, sweat, and heat. Maybe now he was able to gain a much better idea as to how everybody else felt in contrast to him. After all, Naruto expending chi senselessly was very much like other people using chakra heedlessly. You felt like dead afterwards.

Shaking off the exhausted sensations racking his body, the jinchuriki managed to break out of his reverie and hopped on over to his companion with an excited grin, "You're getting better and better every single day, Hinata-chan. This is great!"

"R-Really?" Hinata jumped, not expecting her teammate to move toward her so suddenly. "Th-Thank you, Naruto-kun. But I'm… I'm honestly not that good at fighting or am as certain as everybody else, not like you or… or Shikamaru-kun, or Asuma-sensei. There's no way I could ever compare to any of you."

"Don't be silly. You're just as awesome as everybody else we know, like the idiot twins Kiba and Sasuke, and Ino, Sakura-chan, and even Asuma-sensei," Naruto stated without a shred of doubt or hesitance present in his tone. He stood before her firmly, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Though you may not be able to see it, you have the ability to be brave and strong just like everybody else. We can all see it."

"C-Can you?"

"Yes!" Naruto exclaimed, nodding his head rapidly. "Never ever doubt yourself. You need to have more confidence in your abilities and your strength. If you do… then you'll be able to bring out your full potential."

"I-I'm not so sure," Hinata whispered, looking away under the powerful gaze of her friend and teammate. Holding her hands together, the girl murmured uneasily, trying to adjust herself to the proximity with the boy she so greatly admired.

It was really difficult for her to think straight under that condition, as she was constantly fidgeting and shuffling on the spot. As much as she tried to brace herself, she could only wish that she could face him properly like everybody else. But there was just something about Naruto that made her like this; she couldn't find the words to describe it.

A silence fell between them. However, after a period of deep reflection under the intent stare of the jinchuriki, the girl's wavering eyes turned back to him. No longer alight with the Byakugan, she faced Naruto with her full spirit alone, and nothing else. She inhaled deeply, giving herself the needed composure she needed to look him in the eyes, "H-How do you do it, Naruto-kun? How do you find the courage to face the things that you are afraid of and are able to keep moving forward? How can you not be scared?"

"Not be scared?" Naruto blinked, scratching his head. "I… I don't really…"

"You and Shikamaru-kun are never worried, or frightened, or unsure of yourselves, especially with the things you are most passionate about, w-whether they are fighting or shogi," Hinata's eyes shimmered with all the energy she was able to bring about to make her words heard by the boy. It was taking everything she had not to light up and lose out, collapse or run away. "Tell me, how can I be like you? How can I get rid of my uncertainties… and not be scared?"

Naruto tilted his head, giving her words more thought than any other question he'd been asked before. Sure Yim, Ran and Meow had asked him many things in the time he'd spent under their wing, like how he was always so energetic, always shining with positive rays of light, and how he was always able to pick himself up after every fall. He answered all of those questions and with great enthusiasm.

However, now it was Hinata who was the one asking him where all of this strength that made him who he was, was coming from, and was taking it a step further by asking how she herself could master the same character that made him unlike any other shinobi in the village. It was sort of an odd thing to ask, especially from the Hyuuga who normally didn't pursue anything unless it was under the guiding hand of their mentor. It was a rare thing for Naruto to see for himself.

How he could respond to this puzzled him. Nevertheless, with a great deal of focus, and after stewing over the questions she had asked him, the jinchuriki decided to respond to her inquiries the best way he knew how…

The same way he always did when facing someone who was troubled and didn't know which path in life they had to take.

"Just face what you are scared of," Naruto said simply, shaking his head. "It's impossible not to be afraid. Everybody gets stuck with that crappy feeling, even me."

"B-But," Hinata blinked, pulling back a little and looking at him in a daze. "Y-You're always so… so valiant. You don't run from anything."

"Yeah… I guess it does seem that way a lot of the time," Naruto chuckled while giving her a happy grin, "But the truth is, whenever I fight or do anything risky I'm always a little bit nervous, even when I don't look it. I guess it might just be me acting stupid or trying to put up a front. I don't know. Still, I don't let it get to me."

"Then how do you do it? W-What do you do to look past it?"

"Well, by using _this_," he said, poking at the space on his chest where his heart was, before bringing the same hand he had used to gesture forward, and formed a fist. His knuckles popped as he clenched tightly, "And _this_. If you are still in one piece, able to move, able to see, able to feel, able to breathe, and able to think for yourself, then you can do _anything_. After all, I have many things to look forward to and a lot of friends waiting for me. I will never be able to forgive myself if I let them down."

Hinata stared, slowly taking in his words and the smile that came with them. The girl became entranced in the light that shone off of him, making him look like a truly wonderful person in her eyes.

"Knowing that I have friends to protect and more goals to reach, is enough to keep me going."

"So… it-it's a goal… and things you treasure the most that gives you so much confidence?" the kunoichi asked, leaning forward expectantly.

"Sure… if you would like to make a goal your reason to keep on going," Naruto smiled, stepping forward again and taking her by the shoulders. "Everyone has a choice. It can be anything you believe, anything you want, anything you need, or anything that is close to your heart." His grip tightened, a feeling that she could feel through her jumper. "As long as you have yourself and believe in yourself… you can do anything."

Hinata smiled, nodding in understanding.

Though he wasn't as smart as the other boys from the academy and acted like a goofball most of the time, for some reason Naruto knew exactly what to say in the moments when things needed to be said. He was completely different from anybody else _because_ of this quality. When there was a dispute, he'd act like a mediator, a knight, the one that settled the conflict. Hinata knew this from experience.

She remembered the time when the boy stepped in to save her all those years ago from a bunch of bullies she had had a run in with when she strayed from her aid. Even though he didn't know who she was and was alone at the time, he still intervened, and drew the bullies' attention away from her. Hell, he was outnumbered too, three to one. But that didn't stop him.

This was one of the many reasons why she came to admire him so, and felt compelled to follow him wherever he went.

When Naruto released her and moved away, throwing a few more jabs in practice, Hinata was left to her own devices and to further contemplate on the words of encouragement he'd shared with her. The kunoichi allowed the boy the space he needed to continue working, so that both were able to comfortably pursue the material that they had to sort.

Hinata smiled in a resolute manner, her fingers lacing together and her grip tightening with determination. _"Then… I will make Naruto-kun my goal,"_ the girl thought assuredly. _"Making him happy, making him smile… and protecting him, I will let that be the very thing that'll keep me going, and give me the strength I need."_

The jinchuriki had given her the answer she was looking for, and she was satisfied… for now. All she needed to do for the time being was work hard like Naruto did, and become strong like him so that she could walk along the same road beside him, Shikamaru and Asuma.

Things stayed quiet from that point onwards, and Hinata watched on as Naruto shadow sparred with a glow in her eyes, a smile on her face, and red in her cheeks.

However, just as the jinchuriki was about to fall into another serious session intent on breaking some sweat to burn off his excess energy, he was suddenly interrupted by the timely arrival of Kasumi.

The princess had spotted the pair of shinobi training on the far side of the courtyard, not too out of the way of the palace garden. Along with a couple of palace guards, the young village leader approached them and stood off for a while to watch them work. She became fascinated in the skills they showcased and got a feel for how they both operated and how they interacted with one another. Of course, when the time came for some questions needing to be answered and after Hinata was eventually left beaming at the boy admirably from the sidelines, clearly love struck but something neither of them realized as of yet, Kasumi decided to join in on their festivities.

When both members of Team 10 spotted her, they immediately grinded to a halt and graced the ruler of the country with a courteous bow. Out of the two of them, Hinata bowed the lowest, whereas Naruto was just being polite in the typical Naruto Uzumaki fashion…

A grin and a wave were satisfying enough.

"Hi there!"

"Good day," Kasumi giggled, at the same time gesturing to her guards with a simple, dismissive gesture. The men carrying lances and wearing samurai-like armor bowed to her in respect and departed shortly thereafter, allowing the young woman in white robes with a porcelain mask sitting on top of her head some breathing time. "You two are working really hard I see. Are you… expecting to fight in some big battle or a mission that you have to get ready for?"

"Well uhh… yes and no," Naruto chuckled, rubbing the back of his head.

"It is common practice for shinobi to train, w-whether there is a mission coming or not, your ladyship," Hinata exclaimed, smiling towards the young ruler just as her teammate was. "Our teachers taught this to us back at the academy, t-that we must always be attentive… even in peacetime."

"I see," the princess murmured in intrigue, looking around to inspect the damages. Not finding many, save for a few scrapes and niches in the walls and floor, obviously from kunai being spent as well as feet grinding against surfaces, Kasumi then turned back to the two with an even more interested glimmer about her. "It's really great having the kind of strengths you guys have, yes? Able to do the things shinobi can do?"

"It's a given, I guess," Naruto said, smiling over at Hinata. "All ninja are different. Some are just utterly ordinary but can become really strong with practice, and then there are others who have special gifts and work with them really well. I'd say we're just the ordinary guys." He saw the Hyuuga blush and look away, and though he didn't raise any questions on why she did, he simply smiled back at her before turning to face the princess again. "It's pretty cool though. We didn't start off with anything great, but we became an awesome team together."

"But you're also really strong yourselves, as individuals?"

"Well, I don't know about _me_, but Hinata-chan, definitely!" Naruto expressed grandly and in a loud voice. He startled a few birds out of a nearby tree at how loud he was.

Hinata blushed even more brightly than before and hid her face from view. "Oh… N-Naruto…" Kasumi noticed both her actions and her words, but didn't penalize her on either of them. She figured it was only natural since the girl liked this boy a lot, and she could clearly see why.

He was cute as well as charming in an unusual way, something that the princess found herself incredibly fascinated in.

"I may not be a ninja or one gifted with any remarkable abilities that you would consider genius, but I do know _some_ shinobi material," Kasumi said, bringing her hands out in front of her and placing one over the other. "Among basic chakra manipulation, I also know some genjutsu."

"Oh? What kind of genjutsu?" Hinata inquired in surprise.

"It's an inherit form of jutsu that allows me, the current ruler of the _Land of Dusk_, to sense and see everything that takes place in and around my village. Because the castle my family built serves as a medium for natural energy, I'm practically in tuned with a lot of my surroundings," Kasumi smiled, rubbing her cheek bashfully. "Using the same chakra that gathers within the castle I can also transform any illusions I create into reality, but this takes a while to craft and a lot of chakra for the technique to be successful."

"Wow," Naruto leapt at this information, standing before the princess alongside an equally astonished Hinata. The young lady leaned away in surprise. "That's pretty neat."

"Don't get me wrong, it… it does have its flaws," Kasumi said, looking away nervously. "I-I can't really see anything outside of my village or accurately count the number of people around me. Unless they're inside the castle, everyone's chakra signatures register as the same one. It's… really quite a tricky technique to master." Her explanations earned her a brushing aside gesture from her blonde audience, who went on with his own reply with his hands on his hips and a proud look in his eyes.

"I have heaps of flaws in my techniques, but that doesn't stop _me_ from trying to kick butt. If it works and doesn't have any drawbacks that can affect me in the long run, then I'm all good," the jinchuriki stated affirmatively, sniffing and turning his head with a twinkle above his brow. What better time than to be a little theatrical. Every other crazy person in this place was doing it… so why not him? "I just need to cover up as many weaknesses as I can, and I _will_… because I'm awesome."

"My, my, so bold," Kasumi exclaimed, finding more amusement from his overwhelming confidence then displeasure since she could detect all of the acting tones in his voice and gestures. "No excuses for your faults?"

"Not one," Naruto shook his head at each syllable, turning to grin back at the princess. "You can thank my teachers for that."

"Oh, I must," the young lady giggled, extending a hand to him. "Would you like to join me for a walk through town, Naruto-kun? I'm just going around the neighborhood to check out some of the shops and stalls opening for the ceremony."

"S-Sure, I guess. If it's just around here." The boy in orange stepped up to the offer and was soon dragged off by the heiress at his will, with her arm wrapped tightly around his. Not forgetting his manners or the presence of his comrade, the jinchuriki bid his teammate farewell for now, "I'll see you back here, 'kay Hinata-chan?" He waved.

"O-Okay. Have fun, Naruto-kun!" the kunoichi exclaimed, waving them off with a smile on her face.

Of course, the Hyuuga only maintained this air about her until they were completely gone from sight and once they were she brought her hands down to her chest and covered the area over her breastbone.

The kunoichi breathed out with a hint of forlorn, but did not allow any negative lines to appear across her expression. Hinata merely shook her head furiously and looked off in the direction the pair had wandered in, _"W-What's wrong with me? What is this pressure I'm suddenly feeling…?"_

Distrust? Envy? Jealousy perhaps? The heart was a fickle thing after all.

OOO

Now that he thought back on it, the idea seemed almost completely farfetched to the young jinchuriki.

I mean, a lowly shinobi of Genin rank escorting a princess of an old bloodline around the neighborhood in some far off village? Hell, if he was to tell this story to his friends back home he could guarantee that most of them wouldn't believe him. But it was the hard truth, damn it.

Grinning from ear to ear, the spiky haired troublemaker and the young village leader ran from shop to shop outside of the castle walls on a wild spree, browsing the interesting articles on display and indulging themselves like any ordinary teenagers would. While the princess would have probably had many opportunities in the past to explore her own home town whenever she was out on duty, the fact was that all of her outings to this day had strictly been business related and she had almost, always been in the company of her stiff bodyguards.

Being around someone closer to her own age and someone who was much more open than most shinobi out there was like a breath of fresh air coming down from the mountains. The moment she had laid eyes on Naruto, Kasumi knew almost instantly from watching him that he was different from the others.

He was more expressive, very energetic, and willing to break down barriers. She didn't know what to say to that. The jinchuriki just had this aura about him that set him apart from the flock.

Fully realizing the golden opportunity presented to her, Kasumi decided to take advantage of it and, upon recruiting him for her little rebellion, was able to break free of her regular shadows and hit the town in a spirited fashion. No papers, no formalities and no 'your highness' threatening to rain down on her parade from this one. For once she could forget all of that and focus on the act of play.

"Do you do this often?" Naruto asked, smiling as he watched the princess browse the shelves of scarves of a roadside stall before grabbing a couple and draping them over her arm.

"Do what often?"

"This? Leaving the palace to run around like a kid?"

Honestly, it was a surprise to him. At first Naruto thought the girl, the village leader and the ruler of the _Land of Dusk _was all about formalities and relations, what with all the mannerisms she conveyed to the group when she interacted with the representatives and officers from Britannia. She had been all polite, friendly and bubbly back then, doing her best to stand out as a mature and respectable ruler. But now… out in the streets with him dashing after her, she just seemed more fun loving then before, excited, and energetic.

Kind of like him, oddly enough.

Paying for the goods, Kasumi giggled and rushed off to the next shop with the jinchuriki tagging close behind. "Of course not. Why else do you think I asked you to come along with?"

"I don't know? Maybe because I thought you were going on some secret mission or something? You only asked for me when you jumped in on our training, remember?"

"Well, isn't this sort of like a 'secret mission'?" the girl asked cheekily, twirling around and beaming at the boy, before focusing on the fruit stall coming up on their right. "Sure I wanted _one_ of you to come along for some extra reassurance, but the truth is that I just wanted someone to talk to. You know… _really_ talk to."

"Oh. I see."

"Hey, it worked like a charm though, right?"

"What did?"

"My plan," Kasumi sang, skipping ahead and forcing her company to speed up. "I was finally able to lose the scary guys in armor and get some _me_ time. A princess has to have her freedoms too, you know. It just takes a while to get them. All I really needed was to get out of that circle for a while, the one surrounded by nothing but Okita-kun, the council and my soldiers. I needed a change of pace."

"And you chose me?" Naruto asked, scratching his head. "Why would you?" Back at home, people identified him with the words 'mischief', 'prankster' and 'trouble.' Based on those comparisons, the jinchuriki just didn't see how he, as an image, would be okay for anything like _this_… ever. Was he really an appropriate choice?

Kasumi seemed to think so.

"When you guys arrived in the village and I saw you all for the first time, I just knew that things were starting to get interesting around here."

"Interesting? Didn't we just come here on a mission for you?"

"Sure you did, but that's exactly my point," Kasumi exclaimed, poking him in the nose. "When I asked for a team to deliver my package, I didn't know they'd be sending _you_ four along. I always thought delivery missions made by ninja were done by a bunch of militarized grunts in uniform that had no concepts of fun. Not that I'm saying your teacher is a bore or anything like that, I'm sure you know what I'm saying?"

"That all ninja are drones?"

"Yes," the girl snapped her fingers. "Like that?"

"Aww, come on. We're not all like that. Shinobi have personalities and lives outside of work too. We're not all stiffs," Naruto laughed, the two of them skidding to a stop in front of another boutique stall. "Not like those officers and politicians hanging around your place. _Those_ guys are the real stiffs."

"True, true," Kasumi replied, taking a bracelet and once again depositing the funds in the shopkeeper's hand. The pair moved on quickly, barely even pausing to take a breath from their rushes. The shop owners they traded with had no idea who exactly it was they were serving till much later when the two kids were already out of sight. It was actually quite funny.

While they moved about, taking in the sights, sounds and enjoying the scenery, Naruto couldn't help thinking to himself as to why the girl was so pumped right now, as well as so keen on going out to explore with him. Seeing her smiling and laughing like she was, as well as speaking to him without any restraints whatsoever, it allowed the boy to come to a reasonable answer as to why the girl was acting like this.

Being cooped up in that castle all the time, surrounded by guards and constantly watched over with nobody her own age to speak with or to play with, she must have been bored out of her mind.

Not only that, but she must have also been pretty lonely too… a feeling that Naruto knew quite well.

It made perfect sense. Now that he was here with her, the girl was able to live up to one of her dreams of going out to have fun with someone her own age and someone whom she could share a genuine conversation with. She must have been waiting a really long time for someone like him to come along, and it was a thought that made the jinchuriki smile.

Naruto knew with absolute certainty that he'd definitely be happy if someone like that came around and enriched his life, and by fortunes smiling down upon him, someone actually did. Iruka-sensei, Yim-chan, Ran-chan, his friends… the feelings he received from finally being acknowledged as a person and being able to interact with people, were almost indescribable.

It was this thought that compelled him to move forward, support and accompany Kasumi. This going out, watching over the princess and protecting her, it wasn't just something he was obligated to do now; it was something he _wanted_ to do, as a friend…

"You're not like any village leader I know, and I know _Hokage-jiji_," Naruto pointed, following the girl into a clothing store and watching her pick out some casual material for her to try out. Among the articles she plucked from the hangers included jeans, shirts and shorts, stuff that the shinobi was unable to imagine the kimono wearing heiress in. "He's like, the _leader_ of leaders, the boss man and the strongest dude in the village… kind of scary…"

"Well, you're not like any ninja _I've_ ever met, and I've met quite a few," Kasumi said, tossing him an orange leather jacket with a white fur collar, cuffs, and had an orange swirl pattern symbol on the back, similar to the insignia that could be seen on the back of Jonin vests. Obviously it was a gimmick, but it was a strange one.

The jinchuriki caught it, studied it, and then looked back up at the princess with a befuddled expression in play. Kasumi smiled at him before nodding down at the winter piece.

"It suits you somehow."

Naruto smiled, "T-Thanks…"

"No problem."

The pair shared a grin, with Kasumi making sure to pay for everything that she had managed to get her hands on.

While Naruto was grateful for the present he received and wore the jacket with pride over his existing one, once they stepped outside again and after considering her gesture of kindness for a bit, he quickly came to the conclusion that he should probably return her act with one of his own. After all, he believed adamantly in the idea of equivalent exchange. No act of kindness should go unrewarded.

So, deciding to treat her to a surprise of his own, he dragged Kasumi over to a music stall, where the pair spent a long time looking over the unique instruments sitting around. After marveling at the guitars, the flutes and other pieces native to their countries, Naruto ultimately ended up buying the girl a music box with the picture of a white butterfly on top of it that played a beautiful tone, one which the girl spent the next couple of minutes listening to out on the streets.

It was breathtaking.

She hugged Naruto in return for it, and promised to treasure it forever.

Of course, no outing like this one could go incomplete without first stopping for some food. Entering a ramen bar a block or so away from the castle gates, Naruto and Kasumi sat in at the front counter side by side and ordered their… _usual_.

It would prove to be one of the greater highlights of the day.

Customers already present at the stand sat stunned as the jinchuriki downed his thirteenth bowl of ramen in a row, a number which went on to join the large collection of others he had already consumed with the empty dishes all being stacked up beside him. The boy licked his lips at every interval and didn't even stop to breathe or digest. He just inhaled one gargantuan serving after the other without pause. It was a sight that even had the equally energetic Kasumi gawking.

She watched him drink the bowls one by one, and by his sixteenth she began wondering to herself whether the boy had some sort of a black hole for a stomach.

This could be left up to debate, but the princess was certain that that was the case.

"Here you go, ms!" the owner suddenly spoke up, bringing everyone out of their frozen stupor and dropping the girl's own order onto the serving table with an almighty thud. The eating space shook from the impact of the dish, prompting Naruto to lower his bowl to investigate.

The jinchuriki's eyes widened when he saw the mother of all sundaes sitting directly in front of Kasumi. If you thought your jumbo dessert was the biggest there ever was to be served at your local parlor, let me tell you this right now, there was nothing that could compare to _this_ monstrosity.

The glass cup was the size of a large vase, with ice-cream of countless flavors stacked up one on top of the other from base to peak. The toppings added more to the spectacle. Chocolate sticks, bananas, strawberries, blue berries, black berries, cones and mangos, with a glimmer of sprinkles and chocolate sauce, all of which pretty much rounded out the eighth wonder of the ice-cream world.

"A whimsical patissier's parfait, with fresh fruit, choux chocolate, strawberry, rice dumplings and almonds… oh yes, and extra sprinkles," the owner exclaimed, rolling up his sleeves as the girl's eyes twinkled at the sight of her treat. "Enjoy."

As Kasumi picked up her spoon, rolled back her own sleeves and prepared to dive in, Naruto looked over at the manager now beginning to carry his empty bowls away. To say that the boy was astonished would have been a hilarious understatement.

"What kind of ramen bar serves _that_?" the jinchuriki asked, staggered.

Receiving a grin from the chef, the blonde turned back to his client.

The princess noticed his baffled look. Blinking a couple of times, she returned his gaze with a casual smile before cheekily sticking her tongue out at him.

OOO

By that afternoon, Naruto and Kasumi had pretty much done everything they physically could in the area that they were in, with whatever time they had available to them. After running from shop to shop, stopping to eat, listening to a traveling musician on the side of the road and participating in some festival activities set up for the coming week, the pair eventually returned to the castle's front gates with their arms crammed with all sorts of goodies and spirits lifted. They strolled into view laughing and grinning, with the princess sporting a new look of jeans and a shirt with a love heart on the front, and Naruto wearing his new jacket and a giant green, stuffed frog sitting comfortably on his back.

"You can keep the fox toy," the jinchuriki said suddenly, watching the girl playing around with the stuffed animal he'd won especially for her, "I knew you wanted it by how you were ogling the thing from the other side of the stand."

"Thanks, Naruto-kun," the princess replied, hugging the orange critter in question closer to her so that it squeaked. She then stepped over to the youngster, giving him a more intrigued look over with a mischievous grin. "I had no idea you were so good at yo-yo fishing. Guys are normally clumsy when it comes to hooking and lifting those balloons. How do you do it?"

"My teachers taught me to be incredibly patient, so I guess you could call it skill," Naruto stated, giving her a wild smirk and a thumbs-up. "The real surprise though was _your_ ball tossing. How in the world do you curve a straight like that while the ball is in flight? That has to be some kind of magic trick." He pointed at her accusingly, to which she giggled and kicked him in the leg while he was in mid-stride.

"That's a secret," Kasumi replied, winking at him. "I'm sure you of all people would understand."

"At least you got those sandals you wanted. They look lovely by the way," Naruto said, pointing at the aforementioned articles. The girl smiled and showed off the sides, the hand-crafted stars flashing under the sun.

"What can I say; I just had to have them."

Kids were kids after all, even battle-hardened shinobi and esteemed princesses. The pair grinned and chatted all the way up the stairs, at the same time continuing to trade pleasantries and share gifts with one another freely. It had undoubtedly been a fantastic time for both of them.

However, all of their fun and excitement ended when they reached the entrance to the great bastion of the village, where they were met with the shadows of Okita and Shikamaru, both of whom had been waiting patiently for them to arrive. The sight of their stoic companions signaled the end of their day and the conclusion of their time together.

Kasumi trotted over to the samurai standing off to the side and apologized for her absence. The servant excused her of any infractions, and after relinquishing her of the gear she had collected to take up to her room, prepared to lead his mistress off.

However, before she could step into the castle and disappear for the rest of the afternoon, the princess stopped and turned to see Naruto standing over by his comrade, looking after her with a look of inquest. She smiled when she met his gaze.

"Thank you so much for taking me out, Naruto-kun."

The blonde grinned, "Anytime, Kasumi-chan!"

The girl blushed at his affectionate response and waved back to him, "I… hope to see you and your friends with me at the signing ceremony. It will be a great time for all of us, I know it."

"Count on it!"

After thanking Naruto for a good time, and receiving a pleasant warmth in return from him, Kasumi then followed her right-hand man inside, where she would vanish into the castle's labyrinth of corridors seconds later. The jinchuriki gazed fondly after her till she was no longer in sight, before directing his attention back toward his fellow teammate, who was waiting silently by the entrance pillars for him to finish his 'good-byes.'

The pair exchanged stares.

"Alright, if you have something to say to me, go right ahead," Naruto said, adjusting the bags he had under his arms and bracing for a tongue lashing.

The Nara sighed, scratching his head exhaustedly, "Please tell me you didn't spend all of your money on useless junk." Clearly, he was referring to the pile of stuff the boy had dragged into the palace with him. What kind of message did that send to the other soldiers standing around? Really?

"What? No way," the jinchuriki chuckled, hopping on the spot. He spun around and showed off his new jacket, "These were all presents and pocket change."

"Presents? Good on yah. And pocket change, I assume you spent most at the stalls… you must be one hell of a gamer," the indolent one commented, taking note of how bloated the plastic bags were.

The two mischief makers had been out for quite a bit, as indicated by the setting sun. While Asuma and the others had been initially concerned for the pair's wellbeing, when word came in that a couple of teenagers matching the description of the missing two were splurging all around the shops in the area and were causing a scene at a ramen bar, the guards were quick to rest at ease, and dispatched their most trusted aid to wait on their return. Shikamaru didn't mind the standing around and doing nothing till his teammate came back, but he never expected Naruto and his client to return the way they did.

"How was the date by the way?"

"Date? What date?"

"That date," Shikamaru smirked.

"That wasn't a date," Naruto denied, looking a little taken aback. "What made you think that it was one? I was just out with a friend."

"Sure you were," Shikamaru yawned, giving the boy a pat on the shoulder in a form of praise. The blonde stumbled when he nearly dropped his stuff, "Smooth. You bagged a princess in just a few days. That's got to be a record… or one for the fairytale industry."

"Hey. I resent that!" Naruto snapped back, watching his teammate turn and make a retreat for the staircase. He followed after his companion just to keep barking at him, even when Shikamaru was clearly trying to make a run for it. "Kasumi is just a really nice girl and a really cool person to hang around with. Nothing weird happened today, I swear."

"Alright, I believe you," Shikamaru replied good-naturedly while smirking confidently out of sight of the jinchuriki's flustered stare. "Just don't go bragging about how great your day was to Hinata."

"Why wouldn't I? It was just an escort job… and why do you keep bringing up Hinata-chan like that? It's really strange."

"_Man… you're dense,"_ the Nara shook his head, looking over his shoulder at the blonde. "That's not how I figure it."

"Why don't you take her out to the village next time? I'm sure even a bum like you will have a blast if you at least put some effort into it."

"Escorting an energetic princess? Too troublesome."

"Ugh, how did I know you were going to say that?" Naruto groaned.

"Either way, since it was _you_ who took Kasumi outside of the castle walls, I'm pretty sure Asuma is going to chew you out for going on an escort job without backup… if you're lucky."

"I was shanghaied into service. I had no choice," Naruto rebutted.

"I'd recommend you decorate your response a little bit better then. It might help your case and explain the giant frog you're piggybacking."

"Oh, funny story that one… you're going to love this…"

Unfortunately, Naruto had little time to chat with Shikamaru when the pair was suddenly confronted by a large, ominous shadow. Blocking their way up the stairs to the upper floors of the castle, the two looked ahead of them to around mid-way on the first flight to see none other than Nai standing in their path. His arms folded and wearing the same attire as before with an irate looking scowl on his face, the young man faced off against the two young shinobi as if he had just sighted them as his enemy.

The appearance of the Britannian assistant had both the blonde and his tired looking friend look back at him in confusion.

"Can we… help you?" Shikamaru asked, not really feeling any kind of threatening undertones coming off of the wall yet still finding his presence most suspicious.

Flicking some hair out of his face, the impatient Nai marched down the steps until he stood directly before them. Looking between the two squad mates, he then fixed his stare on Naruto and nodded towards the palace entrance they had just strolled through.

"Can we talk?"

Naruto blinked, "Huh? What for?"

"Just come with me," the young male replied a little more forcefully, pushing past the shinobi and leading on.

The members of Team 10 stared after the hulking pugilist in puzzlement, looking at one another questioningly and scratching their heads. This was really weird for the jinchuriki; first it was Kasumi and now it was _this_ guy. What, did Naruto just attract people?

If he did, then why hadn't this ever happened to him before? His life would have gone a whole lot smoother in earlier years had he been able to get people like this to follow after him.

Eventually deciding that a friendly response was the best way to go about this case, so as to not infuriate the agro looking foreigner, Naruto created a couple of clones to carry his stuff back up to his apartment and hurried after the kick boxer. "Tell Asuma-sensei that I'll be along in a little while, okay Shikamaru?"

"Whatever, dude. Good luck." Hopefully the Nara wouldn't have to later explain to his teacher that one of his closest of friends was pummeled to death by a teenager out to settle a score with him. With whatever luck seemed to be hanging around his blonde companion, perhaps today wouldn't end like that.

Still, Shikamaru couldn't help but look out for all the pros and cons of life every waking minute, so he was kind of edgy. Taking the initiative, with a roll of his neck and a tilt of his head, the sloth decided to follow the clones back up to their room and marched on ahead with seemingly no issues to stew over. He paced his ascent, wanting to arrive as late as possible.

To pass the time, he decided to count the number of stairs there were from the ground floor to the one his team was staying on.

If Asuma was going to be questioning anyone, it would be the Naruto clones. No way was the Nara going to walk into that verbal storm.

OOO

Naruto looked at the shoulders of the larger boy nervously as they exited the palace and began walking across town.

Due to it pulling into the later hours of the afternoon, businesses that had been open during the day began shutting up for the coming night, while all those that were supposed to be open to the twilight started to roll open their doors to meet the nocturnal movement. It looked like it was going to be a lot of fun out on the town for partygoers tonight.

However, both boys completely ignored the changes and the crowd thinning out around them, and completely focused on their objectives ahead, simply walked on. The jinchuriki actually had to pick up the pace to stay within earshot of the other since he was moving so fast.

Neither boy dared to say a word to each other over the next few minutes for fear of breaking the mood that had been established between them. As a result, an uncomfortable silence passed as Nai, keeping his gaze locked firmly on the road in front, weaved down street after street for the next few minutes before eventually arriving at the harbor.

All of the big ships pulled up to the wharfs sat in plain sight further down the coastline. Having decided to stick closer to where all of the smaller boats were stationed and where a larger gap had been opened up for regular villagers to go fishing, Nai kept up the lead and took Naruto for a walk down the jetty. The quick march eventually brought the pair to a boulevard where there was a long stretch of footpath beside a wave-breaker barrier.

The pair followed that walkway, with Nai slowing up his pace to allow Naruto to catch up to him.

The jinchuriki looked across at the kick boxer when they found themselves striding side by side. Seeing his expression still set on stoic, Naruto figured that after fifteen minutes of silence, they'd come far enough on their short journey and opted to change the station to a more comfortable tone, "Umm… you… wanted to say something to me?"

Why the hell was he dragged all the way out here?

Was he going to be set-upon by a gang or something? Killed? If so…

Nai noticed the glare being sent his way, a sight that had him cart to a halt with his hands still in his pockets. He met Naruto's stare eye to eye, the pugilist's jaw tightening.

"I heard you've been training hard the past few days… since the start of this week if I'm right in saying."

"Yeah, my entire team has been training," Naruto replied, folding his arms. "What's it to you?"

Nai smirked, pulling his hands out and marching over to the railing running alongside the wave breakers. "I'm just curious, that's all. You know, I'm still waiting for you to come down to my floor to challenge me to a rematch."

The blonde looked at him in surprise. "Y-You're waiting for a rematch?"

"Sure. I mean, after the fight we had last time, come on?" the boy stared out over the ocean, a lighthearted grin etched across his face. "There's no way we can let a draw like _that_ go on unsettled. There needs to be a proper resolution between us: a decisive victory!" He glanced over his shoulder and grinned at the bewildered looking ninja. "You feel the same way too, don't you? You want to know who out of the two of us, is the better man, right?"

Considering the boy's words carefully, Naruto averted his gaze slightly and meditated on the question at hand. Rubbing his neck, the young shinobi approached the railing to the space next to Nai and gripped the metal bar with both hands, leaning against it as the kick boxer eagerly awaited his response.

After a minute or so of awkward silence, the jinchuriki breathed out and looked over at the boy. At first it seemed as though he was going to completely shoot down the brawler's proposition. However, when it seemed like Nai was going to have his words dashed and stomped into the ground, a grin suddenly appeared on Naruto's face when his true feelings on the matter were finally able to rise from his stupor.

It wasn't that difficult of a question to answer. The jinchuriki knew exactly what he wanted.

"Of course I want to find out who the best of us is!" the boy exclaimed, smiling in the characteristic Naruto Uzumaki fashion. "We never finished our fight. It's been bugging me endlessly!"

"You as well, huh?" Nai chuckled.

"My goal is to become the strongest ninja in my village, and maybe even the world," Naruto declared, slamming his fist into his chest, "Even though that dream may be a long way off for now, I still have other challenges I want to face. I've been working extra hard for the day that I can fight _you_ for a second time and settle our match!"

Nai could feel his spirit lift at hearing that, his back straightening to meet his rival eye to eye. Of course, while one boy was slightly taller than the other, both of them felt that they held equal footing with each other, and embraced that shared thought in the highest regard. The kick boxer extended his fist out to the ninja, "Then we share a common goal. You and your team are in this town till the end of the ceremony, yes?"

"Sure. We leave the day after when our contract expires. That's what Asuma-sensei said to us anyway. We might even stay longer."

"Well that suits me just fine," Nai exclaimed, laying his knuckles against the boy's shoulder. "We can have our rematch immediately after the signing ceremony is concluded, in the palace's courtyard… with the princess's permission, of course. I want our battle to be as open to the public as possible, so that everyone will be able to see who the strongest out of the two of us is."

"Oh, so you're not afraid of losing in front of a lot of people?" Naruto smirked back, earning an equally cocky glare in return for his own.

"In this fight, there's only one winner. Whether I win or lose it doesn't matter. The fact is, the moment our fists crossed in that street outside of that ramen shop, I knew the moment I took that first hit from you that _you_ would be the one to give me my greatest challenge yet!" Nai said, holding up his other hand and clenching his fists till his knuckles grounded. "I didn't think much of it then, but after assessing the damage I took from you, I knew that our next bout would be one that shook the very foundations of this world. Just thinking about it even now excites me beyond belief."

"_Wow… he's been looking forward to a rematch that much? No wonder he was fighting so hard in that ring with those soldiers,"_ Naruto thought with a smile, watching the glow of vigor rising from the other teenager's shoulders. _"He's been preparing for another battle with me even before I decided I wanted to fight him again. He must love fighting just as much as I do."_

"No one has ever damaged me as badly as you did back then," Nai stated, rubbing his abdominals at the memory before stepping toward him, causing the blonde to back up. "It's a recollection I just can't get out of my head. You're not just good at fighting… you're strong."

"Thanks," Naruto said, grinding his fist into his open palm. "Hey, don't forget that you got _me_ badly too. After that kick I couldn't even walk straight, let alone walk under my own power. It was unreal."

"How do you think I feel?" Nai exclaimed, dropping into a stance and stepping away. He threw a combination of punches followed by a kick, his fists cutting through the air and making heavy swinging noises that echoed throughout the area. It was seeing and hearing his practice hits that had Naruto's grin widen in anticipation. "I couldn't catch you, and while your previous attacks were sharp, light, yet stung like hell, that last one caught me by surprise." Finishing with a jab, he glared back at the boy with a smirk. "Which is why, I created a finishing move _just_ for you!"

Naruto tilted his head, "A finishing move just for me?"

"Oh yeah," Nai's excitement grew with the moment. "You think I showed you all of my cards in our first fight? No way… I've got a trump card that I specifically crafted just for this occasion… a counter that will shatter your bones." He lowered his arm and pocketed his hands. "I can't wait to try it out."

Both overcome and even more keyed up then before, the jinchuriki smirked back and held out his left fist. "I haven't shown you anything yet either. That first fight we had; that was just a warm up for the main event. I've got a whole lot more moves that I'm sure will surprise you."

"Then we are in agreement," Nai grinned, turning heel so that he faced the boy side on. "I'll ask Princess Kasumi about the set up. I'm sure the folks can use with some post ceremonial entertainment, which is why we're going to give it to them. We'll make it an official event with an audience… one that the entire world will be watching." He turned and began walking off, waving absently over his shoulder. "Don't keep me waiting."

"Don't keep _me_ waiting," Naruto shouted back, pointing at him. "I'll be there rain or shine, so come at me with everything you have. I don't need to tell _you_ what will happen if you don't."

Nai laughed, turning back momentarily to meet the other boy's declarations. "You're right. You don't need to tell me. I'll see you there, Naruto."

The kick boxer then broke into a run, parting from the water front and deciding to go on a hard sprint around the village to settle his nerves. He wanted to be able to get some sleep tonight after all, so it was all for his benefit.

Naruto grinned at him as he departed, trying to keep his own feet planted as he watched his future opponent make his way back to the palace. Shaking his head, the jinchuriki took one final glance at the ocean, soaking in the last rays of sun and as much of the sea air for that day as he could, before he too decided to make his own way back to the castle.

"_I'll win this time. For sure,"_ were his last thoughts expressed on that walkway, before he too vacated the boulevard entirely.

* * *

><p><strong>The day of the ceremony…<strong>

It was almost like the _Port of Dusk_ was hosting the Olympics that morning, or more appropriately the Chunin exams for that year. People would have easily mistaken the idea that any one of the above was currently in session the moment they stepped into town when in truth, the event taking place in the village was actually even bigger than either one, and was something that the citizens have been preparing for the past month.

Kasumi and Naruto had tested out a couple of the venues for themselves, when in actuality the scope of the day was far greater than the trials that they'd experimented with.

The number of stalls and businesses that opened up that morning dwarfed the total number of establishments that had opened days prior. The streets were packed with villagers, soldiers, and visitors from lands near and far. Word of a great festival taking place had spread to the neighboring countries thanks to the announcements made by Princess Kasumi and people of all races, sexes, and allegiances in their thousands came flocking down to the _Land of Dusk_ to share in the excitement. For first timers to the village in this period, it was almost overwhelming. The sight of the foreigners alone had the people of the elemental nations tripping in their presence when they saw some of them marching by.

Rides, stalls, restaurants, bars, performances, and freelance entertainers, it was all here. Even the Britannians were playing their part with their own booths. It was a great time to be in the _Land of Dusk_ right now.

"What a racket," Shikamaru murmured, massaging his scalp as he gazed around at the hundreds of people moving around the street right outside of the palace gates. "I'm telling you, it's going to be troublesome getting out of here tomorrow. It'll be like dealing with a flock of sheep and trying to find the one that ate your favorite flowers in your garden before it hid amongst its friends. I mean, how annoying is that?"

"I don't know. Seems like a simple job to me," Naruto replied casually, picking at his ear.

"Yeah, since you know how to create an army of clones to do the job for you. What about the rest of us normal people? A task as trivial as finding a needle in a haystack is nothing short of a hassle."

"You can still get the job done if you work hard enough," the jinchuriki stated, turning to see his friend give a wide yawn. "Besides, we're talking about _leaving_ the village, not getting work done in it. I'm sure that the people staying here for the night won't be leaving all at once at sunrise. There'd be traffic from here all the way back to _Konohagakure_ if everyone did. I'm sure that a lot of them will be sticking around for at least a few days more."

"A lot of people don't do things in turn though. When one person goes to work at the same time every morning, odds are thousands of others have the exact same idea in mind because hundreds of other businesses have the same opening times."

"I'd take the side streets. That way you can avoid all the crowds leaving down the main road. Isn't that how moving from one end of the village to the other works in special cases, because it's more convenient?"

"But then wouldn't the side roads all converge on the main road in the end? That's kind of annoying as well, isn't it?"

"Maybe. But we're ninja, remember. We can afford to go off road when the time comes."

"Not everyone likes to get their sandals muddy. I'd prefer sticking to the road that's straight, narrow, and doesn't have crap like pebbles and splinters that can slide between your toes, thank you very much."

"Are you guys at it again?" Asuma groaned, looking down at the pair beside him discussing everyday issues as opposed to something constructive. "I know you guys have different ways of looking at things, but save it for when you're on your own, please. You're running circles around me and Hinata again."

Both boys looked up apologetically at their teacher huffing patiently on a cigarette. "Sorry, it's just that Choji and I always talk about stuff like this. The fact that Naruto is good for having arguments with as well means that I can enjoy the same existential discussions," Shikamaru replied with a smirk. The jinchuriki in question bore a hole into the side of his friend's head with his eyes.

"Get better at taijutsu and maybe we can make our arguments more aggressive," Naruto said, waving a fist at the Nara.

"Pass. I'll just end up losing against a chakra freak like you. That or I could just use my _Shadow Possession Jutsu _to keep you pinned and wait it out till you run out of stamina, which would probably take an entire day…"

"Time you would never be able to last," the blonde grinned victoriously.

"Oh well, there's always the option of knocking you out in the process," Shikamaru suggested, closing his eyes. "I'll think of something."

"While we're on the topic, I have to say… you guys have definitely gotten much stronger from before," Naruto exclaimed, leaning over so that he could look over at Hinata standing on the other side of Asuma. The entire team had taken up positions at the front gates along with the palace guards. Apparently, they were there to keep an eye on things and to make sure order was kept out on the streets. There were a lot of politicians and civilians about after all; they had to keep their wits about them. "Damn it if Shikamaru's Shadow Possession whats'it hasn't gotten better than before, your chakra levels have also gone up. Yours too, Hinata-chan. Both of you have gotten stronger."

Hinata blushed and fiddled nervously, while Asuma chuckled and ruffled the Uzumaki's hair. "You all worked hard. I'm really proud of you munchkins for making it through the week." He earned a grin from the blonde and a smile from the Hyuuga, whereas Shikamaru just shrugged his shoulders and went about looking around.

"Whatever. It's less weight off of my shoulders." Sure, he could admit he was feeling better than ever, mostly for a fact that after the tree climbing and chakra exercises Asuma had put the three of them through, he'd clearly gotten much fitter than before. Though he could definitely feel the difference, he chose instead to follow the same path that he always had, and that was doing as little work and strenuous activity as possible in his allowable off time. "Congratulations everyone."

"That had better not be sarcasm I hear, Shikamaru," Naruto said, nudging him in the shoulder.

"It's not."

"Well then… fantastic. Thank you," the jinchuriki nodded, folding his arms.

"You're welcome," Shikamaru smiled, before his eyes fell back onto the crowd.

Since it was business hours now, it was back to the old muse. The four of them could see the day ahead of them going off without a hitch. The crowds were lively, there were guards all around, and everyone was in high spirits; it was all great! What could possibly happen now that could break this enjoyable atmosphere?

Unfortunately though, Shikamaru was unable to fully integrate himself back into the next pause in his team's exchange when he was unexpectedly nudged aside from behind by a soldier from Britannia marching through him. He was about to make some half assed remark in return for the lack of warning, but paused when he noticed the soldier carrying a large crate off of the palace grounds along with a second helper.

The two grunts appeared to be struggling with the cargo being moved out of the vicinity when they turned left and disappeared into the crowd, complaining about the load's weight all the way out.

Shikamaru blinked, "Now where do you suppose they're going with that?"

"Taking it back to the ships I guess," Naruto inputted, figuring that by the end of the proceedings today this trade thing would be underway as soon as the bell was rung. Not literally of course, but it was how the boy figured stuff like this went. It only made sense to him that somebody had a delivery to make. "It must be another present from Kasumi-chan to the other representative guys. A bigger statue maybe?" Even his more perceptive friend who constantly won at shogi thought that was a high possibility.

"B-But the harbor is in the other direction," Hinata pointed, looking a little bit puzzled. "W-Why are they heading to the other side of the village?"

At that announcement, Asuma also turned and looked more intently in the direction the crate was being dragged. He noted the parting crowd as the general area of the route the box was being taken, and it made the man wonder even more as to what kind of things the soldiers were bringing in and taking out with them from this village exactly. They may be distinguished guests, but a lot of their inner workings in this place were still highly suspect.

His clone onboard the _HMS Hood_ uncovered a lot of other interesting things aside from the technology, the design and the living quarters, like the huge ammunition chambers for the massive guns, the artillery wagons rolled onto it, and the rifle storage.

How was that, in anyway, a peaceful cargo to be transporting?

If Asuma didn't know any better, the clues he was able to dig up from each of the ships by discreetly dropping a clone into their lower decks to explore, told him that these visitors of theirs were more or less set and ready for war.

"Do they have a hotel that way, or something?" Naruto asked, turning to Shikamaru. He saw the boy shake his head.

"All of the naval personnel and soldiers not from this village are staying at the harbor near the vessels. That's what Kasumi and that Britannian guy said. Remember? They're using the warehouses as accommodations."

"Then why the hell are they taking that thing in the other direction?" All three Genin looked up at Asuma, where they saw their instructor now fully in tuned with the sudden issue at hand.

While they were able to deal with the number of foreign soldiers walking around, since they had pretty much gotten used to them being here, the fact was there were still a lot of them. It was only logical that the visiting Britannians would set up bases and tents all along the warehouse districts close to the shoreline as dictated by Kasumi, not just for security purposes but also to house the large number of forces they had dragged along with them on this expedition and to watch over their ships.

But something struck Asuma and the others rather strangely. Accounting the number of ships in the harbor with the number of outposts they visited when escorting Kasumi around the area, there appeared to be less Britannians per vessel then the number of vessels at present, not including the few ships they could still see out on the ocean. The crew and passengers wouldn't remain on the ship twenty-four hours a day; it would only be detrimental to their health and conditions as soldiers. They had to spend most of their time off of the boats then on them, it was a fact.

Would it make more sense for the soldiers and staff to rally at their bases set up on land along the coast after every patrol and shift? If that were the case, and if the soldiers around the town and resting up at the bases established were only half of what Shikamaru and the others perceived them to be, then where were the rest of them?

"The number of ships present is equivalent to a squadron for our country. One flag ship, a support vessel, four smaller vessels, with an additional three and seven transport ships," Asuma began thoughtfully, taking stock of all of the Britannian warships they'd seen. "That's sixteen ships in total. Altogether, judging the estimated complement of personnel per vessel, the number of naval personnel equals 4,300 men."

"That's a pretty big number," Shikamaru thought, nodding as he followed Asuma's math along step by step. "All of the naval and marine staff we saw was posted near the wharfs alongside the soldiers."

"If you were to add an additional company of ground troops to each vessel, the number of soldiers present is around 2,000 or more. That brings the full total of Britannian personnel to 6,300 strong," Asuma concluded.

Naruto gawked, "That's like an entire army for a small country."

"Yeah. The _Land of Dusk_ has a military number boasting around 7,000 spread across the entire nation from border to border, including archers and horseback, the bulk of which is stationed here in the village. Both sides are equal in terms of personnel and positioning. However, the immediate question we have to answer right now is why would Britannia send so many soldiers along with their representatives if their main intention is to simply set up channels on the ocean?" Asuma thought, looking down at Shikamaru and Naruto thoughtfully. "It makes no sense. Britannia's excuses for being out here in force seems a little bit paper thin to me."

Shikamaru glanced up at his teacher. "But not _all_ of the soldiers estimated are accounted for. At best, Britannia would have an even half spread out across the village while the other half would be resting at the harbor…"

"I also noted that the soldiers on duty are patrolling key areas, including popular districts and crossroads, as if their troops were taking up advantageous attack positions all across the map," Asuma followed up.

"General shogi tactics for sure. But we were only able to count roughly a thousand soldiers in port and within the village, that's completely inconsistent with the numbers you came up with," Shikamaru exclaimed, scratching his head and looking around at the troops they could see communing with the palace guards. "So if only half of them are stationed inside of the village… then…"

"Where is the other half?" Asuma ended, taking his chin in his hands.

It was perplexing, especially for Naruto and Hinata trying to follow the conversation. However, once it was established that not all of the Britannian forces were present inside of the village, the team began investing time in figuring out where the other unaccounted could be. Hotels? Stay in homes? Training barracks? A second outpost? Asuma figured it was more along the lines of the latter, since he'd had strong suspicions that the Britannians were up to something in the shadows. The way their troops were moving about the village gave him reason to be on edge and to consider every possibility of deception.

He cursed himself for not investing more effort into looking into this matter more carefully the moment he set foot into town. Sure he checked the boats, but something told him his search had not been completely thorough. This was where he knew he'd tripped up.

He thanked the troops moving the crate through the crowd for reminding him of his position.

Screw protocol. If something around here involving strangers was tickling his funny bone, then he had to get serious about an actual investigation.

If there was any better time to do it, it had to be now before any relations could be solidified.

Checking his watch, Asuma took note of the time of the final signing. He looked behind him towards the courtyard, where he could see officials, soldiers, staff, and guards and civilians forming outside of the palace at the base of the staircase, all of whom were gathering in anticipation of the main event. A podium had also been propped up at the top where the entrance to the castle stood proudly alongside a row of seats placed especially for the delegates participating in the trade agreement.

Camera crews from both the elemental nations and the westerners had also just arrived, and were being set up left and right for the opening shots.

Asuma nodded at the checks and glanced back down at his team, "Follow those guys carrying the crate. These people are up to something." It was in the air. He could smell it.

"But what, sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Something we should have tried figuring out the day we set foot in this country," the man replied, running a hand through his hair. "Damn it. I hate cutting it close. If the Britannian's are doing something then today's the perfect time for them to finish whatever it is they're planning."

"Why?" the jinchuriki inquired.

"Because of the tourists," Shikamaru groaned, slapping his forehead when he was able to piece together the track Asuma was laying out for them. "The spike in the populace. It doesn't just make it difficult for the local guard to keep track of all of the commotion, but it also makes the perfect cover up for any underhanded trade. People have been doing shit like that for years."

"Seriously?" Naruto asked, becoming even more disillusioned by the second.

"Lazy bones is right on that one," Asuma informed, straightening himself up and adjusting his position. "We'll act now. Tail any runners from Britannia moving away from the ports and out of the village. Find out where those two guys with the package are going."

"What about Lady Kasumi?" Hinata asked suddenly, bringing light back around to the mission that the team was supposedly hired by the village leader herself to complete.

"Yeah? Aren't we supposed to be with her for the paperwork and stuff?" Naruto said in continuation, gesturing towards the massive castle. "She'll be upset if we're not up there with her. She needs us."

"The signing will take place at mid-day. That gives you three a two hour window to rush in and out of the village without encountering any problems," the Jonin explained, looking between the kids with an intense glare. "Don't worry; I'll come up with something to excuse you guys if you are late. Just be quick. Dodge roadblocks, avoid contact with any of the home or foreign soldiers, and move as swiftly as you can."

"**Yes, sensei!"** the trio replied. Asuma wished them the best with a gesture, before seeing his little teammates zip away. He breathed out a sigh and turned back towards the courtyard, where he could see the Guard of Four wandering about up at the top of the stairs and surveying the castle grounds carefully.

They and everybody else were dressed for the occasion. Guess that sort of pushed Asuma out of that circle a little ways. He pulled at the collar of his vest and groaned.

"I probably should have done up my hair. Man. At least Kurenai says she likes the ragged look." He could feel proud of himself for that quality. Lighting up a cigarette, he took a good, long drag on it before slowly making his way in. _"Don't drag your feet you guys. I'll try and look further into that document while you're gone… and find out if there are any hostile intents inside of it the 'visitors' are avoiding haphazardly…"_

He'll try his best. After all, he was the son of a Hokage. It was a fact he mused over day in and day out.

As he made his way in, Nai, Vincent, Muldoon and Periklis standing at the top of the stairs spotted the ninja making his way through the crowd towards them. While initially suspicious to see that he was all on his own and that his team was nowhere in sight, they remained where they were regardless. They needed to keep up appearances after all.

While a couple of them kept a hard glare locked onto the bearded man, who proceeded to mingle with the people inconspicuously, the others occupied themselves with something else.

Meanwhile, in amongst the crowd of decorated generals, stylishly dressed noblemen and assorted common folk, there also stood a couple of other unique looking individuals, who were making no efforts whatsoever in concealing themselves from the rest of the world. No one, not even an elite Jonin like the ever watchful Asuma would have been able to pick this particular pair out of the sea of citizens already packing the courtyard, and there was a good reason as to why.

Over by the rows of tables where an all you can eat banquette had been set up for the guests, and was currently being run by an entire army of cooks, maids and butlers, the pair of unusual looking out-of-towners stood in plain sight. Dressed in matching light brown tunics, black shorts with purple ropes wrapped around their waists, a boy with dark grey hair, eyeliner and lipstick, and a girl wearing a bandage cap with dark pink hair that could easily be mistaken for red, stood by the food and helped themselves to the delicacies.

They practically buried themselves in amongst the patrons swarming the feast, masking their presence from any wandering eyes.

A plate in hand with chicken piled up on top, Sakon spent the time he had available gorging himself on the assorted collection of crispy legs he had managed to pick up, all the while glaring around at the strangers walking about in converse. He had no problems with hanging out here with the commoners, in spite of the fact that he and his teammate were currently on a mission. The place was so crammed full and alit with rabble it wouldn't have made a difference whether he was trying to hide, express proper etiquette or not.

And hey! It was a free meal! There was no way he was passing up on this bonus.

Wiping away the grease from his mouth, Sakon licked at his lips before glancing around to find his partner for the mission Tayuya standing behind him and scooping spoonfuls of fried rice into a bowl of her own.

"Geez. Take your time, why don't yah?" Sakon scoffed, finding her labored pace pitiful. The kunoichi glared back at him.

"Fuck you, slime ball. At least I remember _my_ table manners, unlike some people," Tayuya spat, turning to continue dropping vegetables and what not in with her food. Once her dish was filled, she picked up a pair of chopsticks and began dining away at her own leisure, at the same time standing by the rest of the assorted goodies laid out for the taking.

Sakon grunted and reached a chicken leg over his shoulder, dangling it in front of a peculiar brush of hair sticking out from his back. "_Here_, don't go crying to me later on that I don't feed you or anything like that." A third hand crept out from his back a second later and took the chicken leg, allowing the brother to go back to his own lunch. Another chicken wing in hand, he took a massive bite out of the meat and chewed away. "Well… if nothing else this is some party. I've got to give them points for that."

Tayuya shrugged, smiling when she shoveled some more rice into her waiting mouth, "I ain't complaining. What other leaders from different countries do in their off time doesn't concern any of us. This is purely business, mere commerce and boring speeches."

"That's your opinion. Regardless of the type of affair, Orochimaru-sama _ordered_ us to sit in on this. He's worried that these visitors from across the seas might try to interfere with his plans for this continent, and wants us to report back to him any developments concerning their intents." He downed two more legs, before ducking his head suddenly when he sensed a pair of Britannian soldiers marching passed them.

Both he and his teammate eyed them carefully, making sure that they weren't singled out or approached by any of the guards. Once the coast was clear, they went back to their meals, finding safety in a large crowd gathering up behind them.

"They're powerful these westerners…" Sakon murmured, picking up a kebab and swallowing the whole thing with the exception of the stick, "Their weapons, their technology, their vessels… all of them."

"No wonder master's all moody. He despises any force that he considers a threat to his ambitions," Tayuya chuckled, collecting up some noodles and mixing it in with her beef pieces, "Still… no skin off my teeth."

"_You_ have nothing to worry about because _you're_ not interested in world domination."

"Fuck dominion over the world. There are more important things to worry about right now, like our job security," Tayuya shook her head and glanced back at her companion. "I don't know about you, but I'd rather not get into another uncomfortable conversation with master or Kimimaro because we got sloppy. Once this little press conference or whatever is over, we _leave_. Got it? No tricks or trinkets, just the report."

"Sure, whatever you say… shit," Sakon chuckled, grabbing up a crab and taking a chomp out of it, shell and all. "Damn, this is a tough sucker." Feeling the hard crust of the ocean dweller crumble little by little under each bite, the boy smirked at his partner, who rolled her eyes at his stupidity. "You're wound up tighter than usual. Something you want to talk about?"

"No," Tayuya grumbled, closing her eyes. "It's just that I'm a little bit anxious. There are guards everywhere and we're way too exposed in this crowd. I don't like it."

"Come on, it's not like anyone's going to recognize a couple of enemy shinobi dressed up as partygoers hanging around a village filled with a thousand other partygoers," Sakon replied, digging through a pile of hot buns and shoving two into his mouth at once. He swallowed them after a few chews, "Keep your hair on. It's not like anybody we've met before is going to recognize us."

He felt a tap on his shoulder, an action that got both him and Tayuya to turn around to see who it was that was suddenly asking for their attention. They blinked in surprise when they saw a striking young girl with long green hair, golden eyes and wearing a flowery, ceremonial kimono staring back at them with an emotionless gaze. The fact that she failed to announce her presence vocally or even blink when they turned to face her struck the two shinobi as something uncomfortable.

Silence fell amongst them, the Oto shinobi abruptly freezing up when their brains processed the likelihood that this girl had probably heard every word they'd spoken. However, instead of reacting violently or attempting to make any kind of excuses, since they figured she was just there for the sake of being there, the two Sound Four members kept their mouths shut.

Both sides of the board just stared at one another, with neither one of the interlopers daring to say a thing until the ice was broken between them in some way. They prayed for rain.

Thankfully, it would be the girl with green hair that snapped them out of their alarmed reverie, and what a way she did it!

C.C held up a large plate in front of her and pointed through the pair, "Excuse me, could I have some of that pizza behind you?"

"Huh?" Sakon jumped back into reality, turning and looking down at the table. His eyes darted around for a bit, moments before spotting the article the girl was directing his attention towards. A circular, large oven-baked piece with dozens of toppings and spices diced, sliced and grounded onto it. Without inquiring twice since he was sure they were already in hot water, the Oto shinobi grabbed the entire dish and held it out to her. "Umm… here?"

"Thank you," C.C exclaimed, looking between the tense trespassers as she took the delectable treat from the boy. She watched them sweat, watched as Sakon gulped and Tayuya as she gave her a look that was close to that of weariness and apprehension. A few short seconds later however, when it looked as though she was about to blow the whistle on them, the girl nodded to the pair with a smile remaining absent from her face, "Good day."

And just like that, C.C turned heel and parted from the table, blending back into the wall of people moving through the courtyard and vanishing without a trace. Once she was gone from sight and the pressure in the air finally lifted, both Sakon and Tayuya allowed themselves to buckle wherever they were standing, giving into the flood of relief that came to them.

The pink haired girl supported herself on the table on her hands, whereas her companion leaned back on the edge with his head in the air.

They seriously didn't need this. There were way too many soldiers around here. Though Sakon acted the part, Tayuya was more right in keeping her actions, gestures and words to a minimum. Perhaps this wasn't such a good idea after all…

The kunoichi glared ahead of her with sweat dripping down her face. "This is bullshit. I hate this! Unless something dramatic happens in the next hour, like an assassination attempt or something, I'm out of here!"

OOO

**Outside of the village…**

Naruto, Shikamaru and Hinata hopped from tree to tree, following what could only be described as a path forged by nature. There were all sorts of wildlife out here, so it wouldn't surprise them if they happened upon any animals or deer wandering these woods or along the route they were pursuing.

But of course they weren't here sightseeing; they were out trying to catch some sneaky rats that had been stealing food from the cupboard.

The Britannians that had pushed passed them off of the palace grounds while carrying a box that was about the same size as a large closet were presently weaving through the flat, wooded areas outside of the _Port of Dusk_. This was way out of reach of Princess Kasumi's optical abilities. Naruto gambled that not even she could see out this far, which made the situation seem all the more suspicious.

Through the crowds, it had been quite tricky getting into the outskirts, but after cutting down time by taking to the alleys and side streets, they were able to maneuver their way at a much faster pace across the districts and out into the valleys. Now in a region with pretty much zero population, the two soldiers thought that they were in the clear. However, having followed this route many times before over the past couple of weeks with no unfriendly encounters made thus far, it was easy to understand why they weren't able to pick up on the presence of the three shinobi following them in the canopy above.

Hiding behind logs, thick brush and hurdling branches from one host to another, Naruto and his friends kept to the shadows while also keeping a close eye on the crate. Their rustling could easily be mistaken for birds by ordinary people, and whenever the soldiers looked up towards the bright blue sky or toward the rays of light peaking through the leaves, they couldn't see the three at all. Even though they stopped every once in a while to check for followers or for anything out of the ordinary, Team 10's movements went on undetected.

"They're moving quite a ways from town now. Where could they be going?" Naruto murmured, his frown deepening.

"The tree line on the horizon is blocking out the track and the village," Shikamaru observed, earning a nod of affirmation from Hinata crouching in the branches further down, her Byakugan activated. The Nara turned to the kunoichi curiously. "It's completely defilade over here. Nothing, not even the outermost lookouts can see anything all the way out here because there's so much foliage."

"There aren't any buildings or ports in this area, not any that I could see on the maps that we had back in the castle. S-So what do you suppose is out here?" Hinata asked, watching as the two men sat the box down and rested for a bit. While they fumbled with their canteens, the trio engaged silently. "A cave? A hiding place?"

"Maybe they're spies?" Naruto suggested, leaning back into the shadows and pulling on his shirt collar. The humidity out here was starting to get to him, not to mention the flies and mosquitoes he was running into through this level were becoming a real irate. "Or better yet, thieves."

"If they are, then they're the worst ones I'd ever seen," Shikamaru commented. He'd seen old folks who were craftier then these guys. It made the boy wonder why none of the palace guards stopped them when they left the castle. That crate was something really odd to be lagging around and something that wouldn't go unnoticed.

When the soldiers straightened their backs and finally got the strength back into their legs, they took the crate up on both ends and marched on. Team 10 continued following them, making sure to keep their distance. Eventually, the forest came to an end and the path opened up into a wide clearing at the bottom of the hill just over the rise. When the three teenagers came to perch at the very edge and looked out across the valley, they got the shock of a lifetime.

Several things went through Shikamaru's mind the instant his eyes landed on the center.

One; that Asuma's math was terrible. Two; that they were right in believing that Britannia's forces had been divided and that not all of them had taken up residence in the port on their arrival.

And three; that the soldiers that went on unaccounted for were all the way out here.

The three young members of Team 10 gawked in awe when they made out rows upon rows of tents, large vehicles, horses and artillery wagons belonging to Britannia stretching from one end of the valley to the other, in their thousands. Sure, the idea that half of the thought out number of soldiers to have traveled here on the ships was a little bit off, give or take an extra several hundred, but there was no way Shikamaru or Asuma could have anticipated that the westerners would have brought along their own support vehicles and big guns meant for the infantry.

This base camp wasn't some meager supply depot or just a temporary residence for the additional number of troops. No way. This was a base for soldiers preparing for war.

"Wow. Look at all of those cannons," Naruto whispered.

Hinata gulped, shivering nervously when she eyed out the monstrous machines made of steel trundling around on the grassland. "T-There are so many."

"Now I get it," Shikamaru said while narrowing his gaze. "The Britannian soldiers aren't just here for security or to set up trade, they're invading. That fleet and these soldiers are some form of expeditionary force that the westerners forwarded to check out our lands, and have sent along two whole regiments just in case the people here acted hostile towards them. Now that they know we only want to make peace with them, they're taking advantage of our hospitality to secretly land troops here and set up shop for whatever plans they have for our countries."

"But what?" the jinchuriki asked, looking nervously over at his clearly stressed out companion. "You don't need to beat around the bush. There's enough firepower down there to wage a full on war with this nation. Hell, if they're lucky, they might even be able to dig their way into the _Land of Fire_ and reach Konohagakure."

"They're after something. I know it," Shikamaru looked over at his friends to see both Hinata and Naruto looking up at him. "Think about it, the diplomats, the commanders, the weapons, and that Guard of Four. The signing of the treaty is basically a permission slip to allow Britannians safe access to this land without any resistance from the locals. Their intention is to stretch the agreement as much as possible to allow them to dispatch troops to these lands to… I don't know, occupy us, colonize us… all for something."

Naruto frowned, looking down at Hinata to see the kunoichi looking just as nervous as they were. It was bad no matter which way they sliced it.

Sure, Britannia was over in the village on good terms for now, while all the way out here they were deploying soldiers and setting up shop for something big. All the preparations for the signing of the treaty were both a front and a bridge for the visitors.

Since none of the shinobi nations or this one knew that these guys were all the way out here, they could pretty much guess as to the kind of chaos that would befall these lands should these soldiers break out of the lowlands.

"We have to find out why they're really here," Naruto said, crouching low on the branch and readying for a dash. "I'm sure there's a tent down there with maps. If they're planning on moving soon, I bet they have a place already picked out."

"Yeah. Good thinking," Shikamaru stated. "We need information and evidence regarding their true intentions."

"S-So we'll take what we can… and run back to stop the ceremony?" Hinata asked.

The two boys nodded.

"Exactly," Shikamaru said, flipping through hand seals before bursting into a cloud of smoke. "And if we can, get some kind of leverage over these guys should the situation call for it." When the fumes lifted, the boy revealed himself to have transformed into an officer of Britannia, lieutenant in rank, with hat and sidearm.

After watching the Nara dust himself down in his taller, older form, mustache and all, Naruto and Hinata followed his lead and performed their own transformations. Flipping through the same hand seals, both boy and girl transformed themselves into two fellow infantrymen, both of whom were carrying rifles and adorned in full pack. Sure it was heavy, bulky, and a little bit rigid, but it'd have to do. After all, nobody down there was expecting them to just drop by and have a look around.

Once their disguises were set and they had become accustomed to their new heights and appearances, the trio synchronized watches before jumping down to the forest floor. They exited the protection and cover provided to them by the woods moments later, and in typical triangular formation with an additional uniform marching rhythm, made their way down to 'base camp.'

Marching as casually as they could into the site and upon finding themselves surrounded by large tents, parked trucks and temporary supply dumps, the three Genin were able to fully realize just how serious the situation actually was. Unlike back in town, all of the soldiers marching around were high strung, incredibly busy, and moving material back and forth in haste. All the signs were here that they were definitely preparing for battle… or for war…

The pair stopped at a road cutting through the encampment when they saw a large machine made of metal with caterpillar tracks and cannons on the sides roll passed. It shocked them at how large and intimidating the thing was, and once it was gone, the three of them swore that they could still feel their bones shaking from the noise it made.

"What… was that?" Naruto choked in his deepened voice, looking over at Shikamaru. The officer with the mustache looked back at him, sweating profusely.

"Only one word comes to mind…" the Nara replied, looking back around stiffly, "a tank."

Damn straight it was. The Mark V wasn't some ordinary war machine; it was a beast conceived for the sole purpose of providing extra firepower on the field. It definitely shook the Genin up something fierce. Eventually though, once it was gone and away, the three were able to move on.

Searching the place thoroughly was taking them a bit of time, since all of the tents pretty much looked the same with only signs over doorframes being the only indicators as to the purposes of each station. There were latrines, mess halls, enlisted men's quarters, supply houses and officer's quarters. While the dorms occupied by the officers did strike them as appealing targets for information scrounging, what they were really looking for was either the central intelligence hub or the commander's bunker. Either one of those two would suit them just fine.

After wandering around for several minutes, having a close encounter with an officer directing traffic and helping a soldier moving ammunition over to a distributer, they eventually hit the center of the camp. Sitting in the very heart of the formation, away from the tanks but a perfect rallying point for all of the captains, there was the map room. It was a large tent with map tables in the middle, and desks all around with documents strewn over the walls and boards.

Perfect.

The disguised Shikamaru and his companions wasted no time in making themselves at home here. They shut the tent's flaps behind them and spread themselves out. Hell, they even took off their hats, or more precisely, their disguises.

Dispelling his transformation, Naruto began digging through the paperwork over at the end desk. "Come on… give me something sweet."

"I don't know whether this is commander material or not, but it's definitely insightful," Shikamaru stated, also transforming back to normal so that he had access to his pockets. Pulling up some documents in the filing cabinet, he waved it over his head and looked over at Hinata scanning the mission boards with small maps of the area tacked onto them. "I've got scout reports. They've obviously been checking out the surrounding landscape and the neighboring villages."

"T-That's not all," Hinata informed in panic, still transformed into an infantryman. Looking back around and pointing at the pictures behind her, she drew their attention to another discovery she made. "These circles, they've marked the areas and streets their soldiers in the port are patrolling. T-There are a lot of them."

Shikamaru nodded, able to see what she was looking at from his position on the other side of the room. "They've positioned their men to take the crossroads at key intersections should the need for action suddenly arise. If they do that, and lock down the areas they've quietly placed themselves in, they can effectively cut off any retreat and surround the central palace while effectively securing defensive positions. It's brilliant." He shook his head, finding the whole thing absurd, especially since they were in the heart of enemy territory. How else were they going to describe this situation? It wasn't like they were invited. The Nara muttered his displeasure under his breath, "Brilliant… and troublesome."

It was just like a game of shogi, only the pieces were alive and packed tons of firepower. Hopefully Asuma would be able to do something that wouldn't end in a bloody shootout.

While burying himself to his wrists in paperwork at the desk, Naruto suddenly came across something interesting. In the top drawer, as well as splayed out across the workspace, the jinchuriki found some interesting pictures. They weren't photographs or anything like that, they were sketches. The quality of them made the copies almost portrait worthy, and they were all of the same person. The boy picked them up and looked at them.

Judging from the profile of the man drawn, the long, black hair, sharp eyes, pointed chin, as well as the clothing that he could see, the person on these pictures was elemental nations in origin. His garb and straw hat covering most of his face also pointed out one other thing…

"A samurai?"

"What was that, Naruto?" Shikamaru asked, both he and Hinata looking in his direction. "Did you find something?"

"Yeah." The blonde turned around and held up the papers he was shifting through. "Who the hell is this guy? They've got pictures of him everywhere over here."

Scrutinizing the image from across the way, the Nara immediately dropped what he was looking through and marched on over, with Naruto moving to meet him in the middle. "Let me take a look at those." He confiscated the images and moved all three of them over to the central map. Slapping the profiles down, Shikamaru began looking over the pictures and the documents attached to them.

The boy's eyes darted from left to right, with Naruto and Hinata also following him in his investigation. It was all a jumble of formal and neatly organized material: history, personal details, and oddly enough, incident reports. All of this stuff traced back to the western countries, particularly Britannia itself. Furthermore, there were also pictures of buildings, including a large, stone palace with a black iron gate and the Britannian flag on top. The pictures of this palace showed massive holes blown into the sides of it with smoke pouring out of the windows; a clear sign of a battle.

"This looks like Britannia's capital building," Shikamaru said, pointing at the photograph with the ruined bastion. He then traced over several other constructs of great significance, all of which have been drawn into the report corresponding with the man's profile, which the Nara arrived at last. He furrowed his brow and looked up at Naruto, his finger placed on top of the figure's forehead. "There's no name, but these documents say that this person was directly involved with the incidents listed in these reports."

"W-What are they saying?" Hinata asked.

Shikamaru scrutinized the page. "Well… it says here, that two years ago… a man wearing a straw hat, dark robes, and carrying a curved sword, breached the gates at the front of this… _Buckingham Palace_, cut his way through the military, slaughtered all of the guards, and attempted to assassinate the royal family while they were in conference."

"What happened?" Naruto questioned, finding the news rather nerve rattling.

His friend shrugged, looking a little more troubled than before, "It says he failed. But based on what's been written here and the amount, it appears that the officials put in charge of this want to keep a lot of the more striking details of that day from the general public, even the military. Heh." The Nara chuckled at that, scratching his head. "No matter how you look at it, it's all messed up."

"That's strange. They never told us or even mentioned anything about this person… Nai and the others anyway," Naruto said, folding his arms and looking over at Hinata to see her also staring at the table seriously. Since she was still transformed it was understandable why her guise appeared more assertive than usual. "Nai is obsessed with fighting me, Vincent was more preoccupied with chatting with you, and the others were only concerned with how well the signing ceremony will go or how big their muscles are. I don't think they know anything about this."

"Maybe that Periklis guy does," Shikamaru replied, scratching his head. "I mean, we didn't see him around that often since he was running around doing errands for his superiors. He's at the ceremony right now attending as a body guard, but my guess is that his main focus is whatever these pictures mean." He slapped the documents, scrunching them up as well before focusing his attention on the maps on the wall. "They're looking for this guy, whoever he is?"

"Is he a Feudal Lord or a person of great importance? His face doesn't look familiar," Hinata asked, making her own sense of the paperwork.

"I don't know. But whoever he is, this dingus has Britannia running around all across the globe searching for him," Shikamaru said, poking at the pictures one after the other, from the place called Buckingham Palace, to Elysee Palace, to the White House. "This guy is the key to this whole mess. Because of him, the westerners have twisted the agreement to lean in their favor and taken advantage of Princess Kasumi's trust. We have to do something to stop them before they start moving their soldiers further into the country. It will cause big problems for all of us… especially if they start messing around with Kumo or Iwa… they might unintentionally start a war…"

"That's something we don't need," Naruto frowned, placing his hands on his hips. "But what do we do?"

Thinking on it a minute, the trio then suddenly felt the ground shake and looked towards one of the side's of the tent to see the silhouette of one of the tanks pass them by. It carted to a stop, with the soldiers around it suddenly beginning to rush around to fix whatever problem had arisen with the colossal vehicle.

Hidden inside, away from the hustle and bustle, an idea suddenly popped up in Shikamaru's head.

A mischievous grin forming, he turned to his friends. The boy saw a similar expression come across Naruto's face and, surprisingly enough, saw a small smile upturn on the transformed Hinata's lips. Obviously, all three of them had come up with the same, wicked idea.

"Does anyone feel up for a little fireworks display?" Shikamaru asked, earning simultaneous nods from the both of them. He smirked and glanced towards the jinchuriki, while at the same time Hinata transformed back into her normal form, her fingers laced together. "Naruto…?"

The boy snickered and rubbed his hands together eagerly, "I'll whip up my extra _special_, Sasuke's-a-fairy-princess, new year's arrangement."

Everyone's smiles widened exponentially. From the lighting of the room, all three of them almost looked like little gremlins, with little gremlin grins in play. Though it was just the lighting, that didn't mean their intentions didn't shout 'foul play.'

"Grab what you can, guys! It's time for the real festivities to begin…"

XXX

**Minutes before the signing…**

Everyone was assembled. The crowds were formed into orderly lines at the base of the steps with an isle cutting right through them, leading up to the procession taking place at the top. All of the representatives, generals and officials from both sides of the deal were sitting at the entrance to the palace, all of whom were positioned behind Princess Kasumi's chair and Winston Churchill's. They stood before the plinth, the very thing where the treaty was laid upon and being read out by the officer of Britannia, Vincent, and the servant of Castle Dusk, Okita.

Everyone listened intently and stood silently under the shadows of the speakers. Even Kasumi and those behind her were paying attention. The normally rambunctious Guard of Four, including Periklis, Nai and William, were all filed up directly behind Winston Churchill in full uniform. The only one out of them not in uniform was the kick boxer, who was too hyped up for this afternoon's competition to stand still. He tapped his foot, stretched and picked at his ear, earning an annoyed scowl from his superior.

"Stop moving, you fool," Periklis hissed.

"I can't," Nai whined in a whisper.

"Do you want me to tie you down? Seriously?"

"I'd rather you didn't, Peter-kun," the boy replied with a pout.

"Then stop moving!" the officer shouted/whispered, breaking his composure rather animatedly.

While they bickered, Asuma chuckled and rubbed the back of his head, able to catch all of the words floating his way. _"They really are like my troublesome team… in a nutshell."_ If he didn't know any better, the Guard of Four was like a perfect reflection of a regular Genin team from _Konohagakure_. While Periklis stood as the Jonin, the other three stood out almost like the subordinates. It was kind of funny thinking about it, since the younger ones acted so much like regular, stubborn teenagers with their own personalities and traits.

Speaking of which, the Jonin looked around worryingly. The speakers were coming to the closing statements of the documents, meaning the time of the signing was almost upon them.

Naruto and the others weren't back yet, a fact that had both him and the princess of the land incredibly concerned.

Kasumi looked down in disappointment before turning to glance up at the Jonin, "I… was really hoping that Naruto-kun and the others would be here to support me today. Are they really not feeling well?"

Asuma smiled back at her nervously and scratched his cheek, "Uhh… well, you see, the rascals aren't really that accustomed to standing up in front of large crowds. Even if they weren't bedridden, since this event is also being broadcasted across the world, they wouldn't feel too comfortable about appearing in front of the cameras."

A weak response, but the man was hoping she'd buy it. Thankfully, his straight forward answer to her question riding solely on inadequacy and illness came through, and he was rewarded the gold medal in the form of the village leader's acceptance of his reasoning.

"Oh… I see," the princess sighed and looked ahead of her again, where they saw both Vincent and Okita lay the paper back down onto the altar. They pulled out the pens being used in the signing and laid them on either side of the document. "If they really can't, then I guess I can understand. Still…" She ran a hand through her hair, conveying her distress physically, "It would have been nice if they were here with me… Naruto-kun especially…"

She said that last bit in a whisper.

"Lady Kasumi…"

The girl nearly jumped when she heard a voice beside her and looked across to see Mr. Churchill on his feet and adjusting his suit. Straightening up his tie, he sent a cheerful smile in the young village leader's direction, which she responded to with a perplexed blink. Looking around, she saw that everybody was looking at her with expressions of anticipation and eagerness.

"It's time…"

"Oh!" the girl stood up suddenly, dusting down her dress and straightening up like a stick, "R-Right. Sorry."

Both of them approached the plinth, with Asuma watching on closely as they traded spots with Vincent and Okita, both of whom stepped aside and took up posts directly behind their charge of charge. They watched as they bowed to each other before the cameras, the operators doing their best to get the ideal close up shots. Breaths were held and silence fell when both Kasumi and Churchill picked up the pens provided and popped off the lids.

"With this signing of the _Two Suns _agreement, our two great nations move ever closer to an open and free world of peace, where there will no longer be any need for borders or walls," Churchill spoke up, earning a round of applause from the audience standing before him. He didn't call for a hush or silenced the people with a gesture. He instead did his best to make the signing as pleasing as possible to those watching on. "Let this be the bridge that connects the lands and hearts of our people on a single plain. We will no longer have to refer to the other person from across the seas as a stranger, but a friend whom we can trust."

Kasumi smiled, finding his sincere words most comforting. She too posed for the camera along with the Britannian representative, using up whatever time there was left in the old world to compose, before transitioning into the new one. The young leader watched as the head of the visitors signed the sheet first, giving the old _John Hancock_ before making space for hers.

"Ms Kasumi, if you would…" he extended a hand to the paper. "I trust there are no objections?"

Hesitating, the girl looked around at the crowd of expectant faces as well as with the people behind her. She could see the Guard of Four smiling at her, Nai looking bored, and Asuma also staring at her intently. Though she found his focus quite perplexing, she quickly shook it off as just a trick of the atmosphere and the heat from the sun. Swallowing, the village leader focused her attention back on the paper and held her breath.

"_Well… here goes nothing…"_ Kasumi thought, her pen making contact with the paper…

This was it…

_**CLANG!**_

The princess shrieked suddenly when what she first thought was a small bird, unexpectedly darted across her hand and knocked the pen she was holding spinning from her grip. Kasumi backed off when her fingers shook violently from the impact of whatever it was that hit her, and clutched her wrist in surprise. The sound of a sharp thud a moment later told her that it was actually a kunai that had grazed her, and looked behind to see it lodged in one of the castle's immense columns.

Okita jumped to her aid, pulling her aside with his sword up front. Even Winston Churchill was caught off guard as he was pulled behind Vincent. Both bodyguards stood before the representatives as a collective echoing of gasps filled the entire courtyard from the crowd and the officials waiting behind the leaders.

Asuma however, was surprisingly calm.

"W-What is the meaning of this?" Churchill choked out, glancing down towards the bottom of the stairs.

When Kasumi and the others followed suit, they saw to their surprise Naruto, Shikamaru and Hinata formed up, surrounded by both Britannian soldiers and royal guards bearing their weapons down at them. However, in spite of having guns and crossbows held at them at point blank range, the thrower, who revealed himself to be the jinchuriki, remained at the front of the group with a hard glare locked onto all of the delegates in sight and a brave grin on his face.

It would come as a great surprise to the rest of the world when the cameras all eventually fell upon him and his crew, with the trio making sure to smile for the folks back home, that it was _them_ who had unexpectedly cut in on the event.

C.C, who was quietly eating pizza up in the stands at the back of the courtyard, could see everything that was going on down below. She swallowed the food in her mouth and sucked on each of her fingers casually, tilting her head at the turn of events suddenly taking place. "Hmm… it looks like things have gotten a little more… interesting…"

"_How will you proceed from here, Naruto?"_

Naruto grinned and lowered his hand, placing both on his hips when his eyes landed on the speakers and diplomats up above.

Boy did he love to make an entrance.

"Yeah, I have a _few_ objections!"

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> lol. I love and hate cliffhangers.

So now, the reasons for Britannia really being here has been made clear. Let's see where things go from this point.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter…


	21. Land of Dusk Arc: War of Two Worlds

**NARUTO**

**The Art of Appropriation**

_The War of Two Worlds_

"Naruto-kun?!" Kasumi exclaimed, looking down in surprise at the trio grinning up at her from the bottom of the stairs surrounded by weary looking guards, all of whom were bearing their weapons down at them in force. "You three? W-What's going on here?"

"Princess Kasumi, this is highly unorthodox," Mr. Churchill stated loudly, stepping out from behind Vincent who had placed himself between his country's representative and the three kids down below. Okita had done the same, only he stood at the guard of his village leader, hand on his sword. "Why are these children interfering with the ceremony? This offense just cannot stand!"

"Sir, please stay behind me," Vincent exclaimed, glancing over his shoulder at the delegate.

"Explain yourselves, immediately!" Churchill said broadly, pointing down at the smirking youngsters.

By this point in time, most of the people in the audience were now looking around them in confusion, bewilderment and distress, murmuring starting up and transforming the stunned silence into a low drone. Though those up front were able to get a full picture of what exactly was going on, those in the back were slightly more or less in the dark, while the cameras all around captured everything. Tayuya and Sakon especially, concealing themselves within the mass of bodies, found interest in the sudden turn of events yet kept their queries to themselves. They used the situation to their advantage to try and figure out what was going on, and perhaps uncover any dirt behind this unexpected yet grand folly.

It was universal.

The most pressing matter that was brought to their attention was that the signing ceremony had come to an abrupt halt, but why and for whatever reason it had they did not know. However, the two infiltrators, as well as those standing in attendance with a great deal of self awareness, wisely kept their mouths shut and ears trained onto the stage. If all suspicions were correct, they were going to find out what the problem was soon enough.

Shoving the rifle barrel pointed at his face out of the way, Naruto stepped forward and pointed up at the delegates up on the podium, "You and I Mr. Churchill have a really big problem!"

"Excuse me?" the official replied.

"After what we've seen, I think it is YOU who is the one that has some explaining to do, not us," the blonde continued, placing his hands on his hips. "Now start talking?"

"About what?" Kasumi asked, looking around at the perfectly composed delegate with a questionable expression drawn across her face. Churchill had his hands behind his back and was staring back down at the children with an unflinching gaze. "What are they saying, Mr. Churchill?"

"That's what I'd like to know too, your ladyship," the man replied, glancing over at her briefly. "As passionate as they are, all there shouting is making no sense to me whatsoever."

"No sense, huh?" Shikamaru suddenly spoke up, also pushing himself to the front of the pack and letting both of his teammates fall back into the limelight. "Then let's start off by clearing the air a bit? For instance, Mr. Churchill, would you care to explain to us why you have an additional two battalions of Britannian soldiers and weapons stationed outside of this village?"

That seemed to strike a rather tightly wound up chord with the Britannian emissary, as well as all of the other generals sitting behind him. The sounds of chairs grinding sharply and backs straightening were so pronounced it echoed above the mutterings of the crowd inside of the courtyard. Heck, even the soldiers belonging to the westerners bearing knowledge of this stiffened.

Looking over at the Guard of Four, Asuma noticed that Periklis had developed a few beads of sweat and an even more serious expression from before, whereas Nai, William, and even Vincent were looking around at each other in misperception. This confirmed both the Jonin and Shikamaru's uncertainties that only those that could have been trusted with the true goals of the forces sent here had been given the full story. Not even the cavalry officer guarding the Britannian representative knew which came as quite a surprise to the shinobi.

"Two battalions?" Kasumi parroted, keeping her stare locked on the now withdrawn Britannian envoy.

"What two battalions, sir?" Vincent asked, also glaring over his shoulder. "Are they talking about the outpost? I thought only two squads were stationed out there."

"Something FOUL and UNDERHANDED is afoot here!" William suddenly shouted, scaring the shit out of everyone standing around him while he himself straightened up and folded his arms. "My goodness, my manly senses are telling me that dark forces are at work here! Is it… is it this stench in the air, the instability in the ground, or the atmosphere from up above?! OH, my gorgeous muscles are twitching with unease; it's an otherworldly phenomenon taking place, I KNOW IT…"

"No… I'm… pretty sure that's just _you_, William," Nai murmured, leaning away from the young man who had tears pouring out of his eyes like miniature waterfalls.

"If you don't believe us," Shikamaru exclaimed, interrupting the show above them while turning over to Naruto and Hinata to see the two of them smiling back at him. "Guys…"

Grinning widely, Naruto ducked under the guards holding their weapons out at him and ran towards the nearest news crew. Grabbing a mike off of the reporter standing up front, he then ran back to the stairs, got to about half way so that he could see the entire crowd and jabbed his fist out towards them, "Ladies and gentleman; if you would all kindly look to your right!" He directed their attention over the castle wall with a pointing gesture, "The fireworks will begin in three… two…"

"One!" Hinata finished, slapping her hands together into a hand seal and making the soldiers surrounding her and Shikamaru jump with a start.

All of a sudden, there were several bright flashes of light that lit up the entire sky and blinded everyone in sight, as if paparazzi camera flashes were off right in front of their faces. The next thing the people inside of the castle grounds became aware of was the sight of several, red, yellow and pink plumes of smoke shooting up into the air followed by a dazzling array of colorful explosions. Even though it wasn't even close to night, in fact it was the middle of the day with the sun at its highest point; the crowds could see the bursts and sparkles of fireworks over the horizon as clear as they could under a midnight sky. Hell, the rockets going off were so sharp and so well crafted that the timing behind each jet and blast was like a performance in itself.

The crowds 'oohd' and 'ahhhd' all at once at the spectacle. There exclamations grew in enthusiasm and intensity, especially when the display became even more stunning. Team 10, the Guard of Four, and even the delegates in the stands gawked at the explosions and jets of smoke filling the sky.

Clapping his hands together, Naruto struck a rock star's pose and screamed into the mike, "AND NOW, FOR THE GRAND FINALE!" He formed one last hand seal, followed shortly by the greatest explosion anyone has ever seen, which shot up from over the hillside with an almighty _**BOOM**_ that chucked a great, purple mushroom cloud into the heavens. Like a nuke, the fumes choked the air and reached high into the stratosphere, accompanied by even more bursts of fireworks and sparklers.

It was simply awe-inspiring.

Clearly entertained by the sight, the crowds applauded, whistled and cheered, completely overcome by the sheer magnitude of the demonstration.

When the explosions slowly began to die down and the fireworks started to reach their closing stages, the front gates to the castle grounds unexpectedly burst open and, sprinting into everyone's midst, appeared the charred and scolded Corporal Stanton, the soldier that had picked a fight with Team 10 the week prior.

Judging from his current condition, he'd obviously been caught up in the heart of the cataclysm that had just started to recede.

Panting heavily, the distraught looking soldier waved up to the generals at the top of the stairs from the crowd below, and all eyes in the area immediately trained on him.

"Sirs! Sirs! The tanks and supply tents of 3rd and 4th Battalion have all been destroyed, and the entire valley has been covered in sparkle dust, and pink and red paint!" he cried out, visibly shaken up from the repeated explosions and flashes of light that had engulfed him and his crew.

A very uncomfortable, awkward, and surprised silence followed after that exclamation. Jaws dropped, whole groups blinked in unison, and Periklis who had previously been standing up on the podium behind Winston Churchill groaned and slapped himself in the face. He ran his hand down to his chin in an irritated manner.

"Idiot…"

Naruto laughed out loud and leapt down to his friends, where both the soldiers and guards surrounding them had stood down, effective since the first firework went off. Tossing the mike to Shikamaru on the pass, the Nara held the piece up to his lips and grinned up to the astonished audience of officials. "Princess Kasumi, if you send a scout party over that rise to investigate the lowlands, you'll find a destroyed campsite once occupied by an expeditionary force that was set to march across the _Land of Dusk_ into the _Land of Fire_ the next morning!" He then held the mike down to Hinata, who took it with great care and brought it up to her own lips.

"W-We also took paperwork and documents from the barracks listing a number of Britannia's targets inside of this continent, all sheets sighted personally by Sir Winston Churchill and approved by his staff."

"If the idiot blurting out the full damage from the disaster zone over there isn't proof enough, then we've got tons more," Naruto grinned, pointing at the charred corporal still standing at the gates, before pointing up at the podium. He lowered his hand and folded his arms, "You wanted an explanation? There you go!"

Asuma grinned, nodding proudly towards his students. Though he too had been stunned by the display of firepower, it did do one measure of good in this case and that was in capturing everybody's attention. He couldn't have asked for anything more. _"Nice work guys. I knew I could count on you…"_

"Mr. Churchill," Kasumi rounded on the man in question while stepping forward sharply. Though held back by her personal guard and also finding her path blocked off by Vincent, the princess still managed to fix the suit with her best, most unpleasant glare.

Now that this new information discovered by the punctuate Team 10 had been brought to light, all focus she had once put forth into the ceremony had now been forgotten. With the news of a present danger clearly standing in her presence, she decided to direct all of her suspicions and aggression toward the Britannian, and held her ground firmly against him. "It's time you told me everything. No more gifts and no more discussions, I want answers…NOW."

Churchill remained silent, with the officer standing at his defense lowering his weapon slightly and looking over his shoulder at the man with a great amount of inquisitiveness. Everyone in the vicinity could feel the cameras rotate toward the head honcho, turning the eyes of the crowd into the eyes of the world, as the entire incident was being recorded and broadcasted to every television in every household. Team 10 remained where they were, surrounded by soldiers with ears waiting open for orders, and Asuma held his position behind both the village leader and Okita.

Things had been going so smoothly for both sides up until this point. Now that it has been revealed that Britannia had other less agreeable intentions hidden underneath the words printed in the trade accord, the scales were suddenly being thrown out of balance. It wouldn't be long now. Since every person aligned to the princess of this country were slowly but surely becoming aware of the growing state of affairs, the visiting westerners would soon be finding themselves surrounded and pressured for more than just answers, should things escalate beyond that.

This was how things were done in the elemental nations. If there was deception afoot, then it was up to the leaders and the people with the ability to get things done to sort out the issue as quickly and as decisively as possible.

Even more problems could arise if something like this was held out for too long. If Britannia knew something that they didn't that concerned everyone involved, then the _Land of Dusk_ as well as the shinobi at hand needed to get into the loop.

"Your insistence and information gathering abilities are commendable," Churchill admitted finally, his eyes closed. Breathing in deeply to compose himself, he straightened up and turned to face Princess Kasumi eye to eye. He was a man of principle after all, and come hell or high water he was going to proceed along the path that his personal beliefs dictated, "Very well then."

Kasumi's frown deepened, "Two battalions… that's equivalent to over a thousand soldiers, maybe even three. Inexcusable! That is not the number you listed when we agreed to distribute the security forces throughout the village for the ceremony."

"No… it is not."

"You said you only brought a thousand with you as protection for your fleet should they unexpectedly land in hostile territory," the princess fumed. "What's more, you sent soldiers outside of the village in force without my consent, and from what Shikamaru-kun just told me, you've also given them marching orders."

"I will not deny it, yes," Churchill murmured uneasily. "They were being arranged for a special mission."

"And what mission would that be, exactly?" Kasumi asked, storming forward even further. She bumped into Okita's extended arm, the man keeping her at bay and suppressing any of his leader's urges to do bodily harm. "When you announced your intentions to do business with us a month ago, we accepted your appeal out of good will and offered you our harbor to do as you wished. We extended to you a hand of friendship, and in spite of that, you snuck a knife under my gesture and positioned forces outside of the village beyond my knowledge with the express purpose to invade. Tell me, what do you want?"

"…"

"What is it?" Kasumi snapped when all she got back was silence. "Resources? Land? Peace? War? What are you after?"

"It is not _what_ we're after that is the real reason for us being here," Churchill quickly interjected. His gaze narrowed even further. "Yes, while it is one of our intentions to establish trade routes with our allies and neighbors, our main goal here is to find and apprehend a certain individual; a person listed prominently in our books as the most wanted man in Europa and is currently top priority on our watch lists, a criminal… a _monster_."

Kasumi blinked, now looking completely taken aback at the man's answer. Heck, even Naruto and his friends were dropped into a stupor. Any and all murmuring was immediately silenced at the response given by the Britannian representative, something that had Asuma listening in with greater interest.

The Jonin raised an eyebrow in the speaker's direction, "A criminal?"

"It seems a little bit excessive, don't you think?" Shikamaru asked, drawing Churchill's attention down to him when he spoke up. The Nara folded his arms and nodded to the soldiers with guns standing to their right, "Bringing over three thousand troops across the ocean just to find one guy? Isn't that overkill?"

"Not for this man, my boy," the representative replied with a frown. "Believe me; all of our actions to this point have been executed with the best of intentions, for our world and for this one."

"Who is this man then?" Kasumi asked, falling back into topic with a hardened glare. "Why commit such a large force to bring down a single individual from across the seas? In fact… why go to all the trouble at all?"

The official ran a hand through his hair and turned to face the young princess fully. He did so with great earnestness, "This insolent vagabond contaminated our soil by setting foot inside of our King's palace; his majesty's place of residence and our nation's crown. He broke down the front gates, decimated the defenses posted there, and nearly took the life of our country's monarch and his family. Had our top agent Mata Hari; codenamed _Agent Deep_, not been attending a meeting with the king at the time, he and everybody inside of the palace would have been killed."

"A-A single man did that?" Kasumi murmured, finding the story quite outrageous.

This wasn't some feudal Lord they were talking about; it was a country's sovereign, emperor, king, and the highest ruler, whatever you liked to call them. Surely a person of that stature would have been extremely well guarded. The fact that Churchill was speaking about a single individual and said that this person broke into the royal palace of all places, the castle belonging to the monarch of their empire, told the princess that whoever this person was, was definitely dangerous. Though she was surprised at the boldness of the criminal, she kept her gaze narrowed and ears open.

Surely there was more to the story.

"Does this man hail from your country?"

"No," Churchill replied firmly, "Not from ours. He gave no name and held no title. His weapons, though primitive, were incredibly refined as was his proficiency with them, and he dressed in the manner of the warriors of these lands you people refer to as 'samurai'."

"Samurai?" Okita blinked, responding to that piece of news in surprise. He rarely spoke out of term even in serious situations but, hearing that it was someone of his classification responsible for the above offenses, well… he just had to have a voice in the matter, "One of my own?"

"Because he wore the clothing and looked like he originated from this continent, in response to his disgraceful conduct and actions against our country's leaders, we immediately began a worldwide search for him," Churchill continued, looking down towards Team 10 standing at the foot of the stairs. "We have pictures. They are few and not very good ones, since the perpetrator kept most of his face hidden from view under a straw hat, but we were able to track him based on his outfit's description alone. If you looked into those reports carefully, you three should know that he not only attempted to assassinate _our_ monarch, but many others across the world?"

"Seriously?" Naruto whistled, placing his hands on his hips. "That's one busy body."

"It's no laughing matter," Churchill said to the boy, his brow furrowing even more so. "Though he failed in successfully assassinating any leaders or heads of state, our sources tell us he's amassed a large amount of resources and a number of powerful allies. Last reports came from the Americas, where a man fitting his description could be seen wandering the coastal cities. It is most likely that he traversed the great pond from the states, and returned to his land of origin _here_…"

"And you followed?" Kasumi queried, seeing the man nod back to her.

The princess folded her arms and thought long and hard on the subject, wondering where this whole thing could possibly lead them next.

A criminal of high prominence across the oceans and had originated from this continent, had returned to his place of birth. They had no name and no identifying marks. Aside from the samurai aspect, they could not substantiate his level of threat or confirm his actual identity, which was a real problem. However, that wasn't the main problem at this point. The most glaring issue as of right now that stood out above Britannia's excuses was that the representatives had twisted if not violated their agreements entirely, and dropped battle ready forces in walking distance from her village.

This was something Kasumi could not overlook and rounded back on Churchill with a deep scowl. "You intend to catch this man then?"

"Catch him and make him answer for his crimes," Churchill stated, "By God, even if I have to do it myself, I will see to it that he will stand before the highest courts and face punishment."

"Nevertheless, when you came here asking to deal peacefully with us, you also sent forces here with the intent to do ill will. You're only lucky that you were found out, and I'm _glad_ you were," the princess said, pointing across at the envoy with renewed fury. "Do you know what you could have done, what kind of damage you could have wound up causing by the end of the week? You would have crossed boarders without considering the consequences of your actions, and instigated war between the clans if not entire countries. The delicate balance of peace between the _Five Great Shinobi Nations_ of this land is already hanging by a thread, and you wanted to send foreign troops into those countries to start raiding homes? That is both reckless and irresponsible!"

"A necessary sacrifice," the leader replied, also stepping forward impatiently. "The man we are after is dangerous and powerful, more powerful than you can believe, and I highly doubt that even _your_ people will be able to handle him on your own should an issue arise. In order to capture this criminal, we need the full cooperation of all military and governing bodies, and not just from our own allies. Empires from our world have joined forces to track this individual down, and it is most prudent that the nations here do the same."

"I'm telling you, it's not that simple…"

"Tell me, Lady Kasumi," Churchill began again, sticking his chest out, "If a complete stranger broke into your home and attempted to end your life and the lives of your loved ones, would you do anything to see that the architect responsible for the infraction was caught and thrown behind bars?"

"Of course I would," Kasumi replied, looking offended at that question. "I wouldn't feel safe until he was brought down…"

"Then we are in agreement here." The envoy sniffed and held a hand out towards her. "This man attempted to take the lives of country leaders back in our world. What makes you think he won't do the same here? This fugitive must be hunted down and brought to justice." His hand clenched tightly into a fist, a sign that told everyone in registry distance that what he said, he intended to carry out no matter the cost.

"You can't just come here, even under the writings of a paper signed and approved by only one nation, and try to hunt down a single individual in OUR lands!" Kasumi shouted, slapping a hand over her chest and gritting her teeth angrily. Brazenness aside, this man was trying to jump over boundaries while trying to avoid provocation, when in fact his plans promised to cause more problems than procuring any solutions. It wouldn't be the first time national leaders tried this, but it was something the princess wanted to put a stop too right now before it got out of hand. "Your rule, guiding principles and system of government doesn't work here. This continent is run by independent states with their own leaders and councils, all with different ideologies and internal disputes. If there is indeed a dangerous criminal residing on this plain amongst our people, then you have my word as a leader and a princess that we will capture him ourselves."

"This is not something for you to get your hands dirty with…"

"Don't underestimate me!" Kasumi shouted, throwing her hand out dismissively. "If there is a problem on _this_ soil, in our territory, on our turf, it becomes _OUR_ affair and no one else's!"

"And how will I know you will keep your word and bring this man in yourselves?" Churchill inquired, tilting his head towards her. "How do we know you are not in league with this criminal and are harboring the fugitive… protecting him? He is one of your own, after all."

"I can't guarantee full cooperation from my neighbors, but between the two of us, a man and woman chosen to represent their communities on the world stage, I promise you that we will find him…" Kasumi stated with what were apparently her final words on the matter. Adjusting her kimono, she straightened up and backed away, before pointing towards the gates. "Our business here is concluded. Leave this land and take your soldiers with you!"

"Not an option," Churchill replied, stepping back as well and bringing his hands around swiftly. "We are here under orders from both the prime minister and the crown, with the full interest of our allies riding on this mission! Our task is to capture this man, with or without the assistance of the locals. I will complete this job given to me and take aggressive action if necessary… FOR KING AND COUNTRY! TO ARMS MEN!" He threw his right arm into the air, the signal that all soldiers in the area responded to on sight.

Guns cocking and chambers loading, the troops patrolling the crowds immediately took up battle positions and hopped up onto the nearest advantageous posts. Their training directing their crosshairs, they rounded their weapons on the palace security under Lady Kasumi. The men surrounding Naruto also leapt back and trained their rifles on the people they identified as enemies, the audience quickly erupting into panic.

The entrance was instantaneously taken by the Britannians.

The moment she saw Churchill's response to her authority, Kasumi too raised her hand, "I don't think so! GUARDS!"

Her own cards reacted just as Churchill's came into play. Crossbows loading and arrows training, the impressive armor and firepower under the _Land of Dusk_ banner assembled on the surrounding walls and seized the other side of the courtyard. Within seconds, both Britannian soldiers armed with their rifles faced off against an equal number of heavily armed troops under the princess' command armed with automatic bows that fired explosive arrows. A line was drawn right down the center of the quad in the form of an aisle, with a baffled Team 10 standing right in the heart of it, formed into a circle and backs turned to each other. Civilians and officials cowered under the sheer display of force that presented itself as the power of both Churchill and Kasumi.

Britannia on the left and Dusk on the right, the whole ceremony transforming from a purely diplomatic gathering to a battle zone in just a few seconds. Like one trench line facing the other, the masses faced off, without a single shot or round being let loose yet.

Now that the tensions had been wound, it would only take one word from either side's commander for the entire village to be thrown into absolute chaos.

However, amidst the stand-off, with the crowds pulled back against the high walls and hiding behind any barriers that had been within running distance, the only people maintaining their cool about them were Asuma, Tayuya and Sakon hanging out on the sidelines, C.C up in the stands, and Periklis. Those who were looking around in confusion were the young members of Team 10, Nai and William.

While Churchill and Kasumi were glaring across at each other with the backings of the soldiers loyal to them at their sides, the incredible intensity of the moment was unexpectedly and seemingly inadvertently interrupted when Asuma, clearing his throat, stepped into view and stood between the two angry dogs.

"Hold on a second you kids," the man spoke up, brushing Vincent and Okita away from each other with a few gentle nudges and, upon assuming the role of the mature one meant to settle this conflict, breathed out a sigh and faced the audience before him.

"So let me see if I've got this straight," the peacekeeper began, looking towards Churchill and pointing to him, "While one of _your_ goals here is to set up a secure trade route between the two nations, you're also using the ceremony as a cover up to move troops in and utilize the agreement to stretch your military muscle; all in order to hunt down and capture a man responsible for the attempted assassinations of a dozen or more nation leaders including your own, yes?"

Churchill, maintaining a serious expression, nodded in acknowledgement.

"And _you_, Lady Kasumi," Asuma restarted again, turning to the young princess standing on his right, "Your only intention here was to form a bridge of peace between your country and the Britannians, as an example to the rest of the shinobi world to inspire others to do the same, to form bonds and what not. However, you were also lead into believing that both sides' intentions were true, and had no idea the Britannians were assembling forces here to chase down a world wanted criminal, and you will run them out to prevent them from doing so?"

"It's all for the benefit of our world," Kasumi stated, furrowing her brow. "I will not be the one to go down in history as the person who opened the gates of our continent to these ruffians and be an accessory to war."

"Well then, it's clear now what needs to be done. To be quite honest with everyone here, I'm actually more on _your_ side than that of the Britannians, since I sincerely believe that any visitors to a home that is not their own must treat that domain with the utmost respect and consideration," Asuma exclaimed, walking down the steps a bit till he stood about halfway, between the delegates up at the top near the plinth and his team encircled down at the bottom. The man smiled and turned back to gaze up at Churchill and Vincent, "Isn't that right guys?"

Reminded of his own words, Vincent looked both ashamed and guilty of his actions, whereas Mr. Churchill appeared bowled over. Naruto, Shikamaru and Hinata listened in carefully, while also keeping an eye on the wall of rifles and arrows on either side of them. They hadn't forgotten that every single soldier and guard in the vicinity was still pointing their deadliest of weapons at one another. Nobody liked sharp objects directed at them, especially if they were made to kill.

"The ceremony here was meant to finalize the completion of a bridge to peace. That is a brilliant idea," Asuma held his hands out. "It was meant to bring people together, not blow them apart. As mature and responsible leaders, I'm sure there is some way that we can settle this diplomatically without the need for violence. This disagreement doesn't need to be resolved through war, just with words."

Kasumi and Churchill considered the man's statements carefully. They looked at each other as if sharing a telepathic conversation and quietly worked out what course of action needed to be taken. The leaders read each other's expressions while also processing everything that had taken place from the day they met at the harbor to the present. Nai and William stood back uneasily, looking down to see Churchill's hand clench and unclench repeatedly, his body clearly responding to the debate taking place in his head.

Naruto also noticed from his position that Kasumi was shaking, conflicted by everything that has happened thus far. Worried for her, the boy jogged up the stairs between the soldiers and guards glaring at each other and stood beside the princess.

The girl jumped when she was unexpectedly jolted out of her reverie by his hand grabbing hers. She looked up at the blonde and saw him smile at her.

In that brief instance of exchange, Kasumi's expression visibly transformed from worried to surprised, his gaze radiating like that of the sun, assuring her that everything was going to be alright. This seemingly brought her back around from her stunned state, allowing her to divide her decisions made through friendly gestures from the aggressive responses. Able to identify the contrast clearly thanks to her train of thought leveling out and her mood calming down, she smiled, tightened her grip around Naruto's hand and turned to face the Britannian representative.

"Asuma is right," Kasumi said with a voice that was noticeably calmer. "We're better than this. As representatives of our countries, we are meant to act as voices for our people and were chosen to make decisions for them on their behalf."

Churchill smiled back, raising a hand. The officers and soldiers on his side noticed his gesture and wordlessly lowered their weapons. It was at this action the princess commanded her troops to do the same, and once all armed forces had stood down and were at ease, the two leaders approached each other. They ordered their personal guards aside so that they could meet with each other face to face, using the plinth as the center point for a renewed period of discussion.

Hand placed on top of the paper meant to be signed by both parties the Britannian official smiled pleasantly, "My actions were… unbecoming for a person of my position. No point needs to be made through unnecessary means. I'm sure that we can come to some sort of an arrangement without the need for bloodshed."

"I agree," the princess replied, folding her arms. "But _what_ arrangement can be made, that is the question? I still wish to set up trade with your nation, yet _you_ still wish to capture this criminal. Unfortunately for both of us, I have very little pull with the other communities outside of the Land of Dusk and the Land of Fire, so negotiations with our larger neighbors to allow your forces in will take some time…"

"I can commit some of my soldiers here if you wish, with me as chief overseer…"

"The nations of this land abide by strict codes of conduct. The only armed forces able to cross borders without initiating war are shinobi and those with special clearance, because they have the backing of multiple nation leaders, have the ability to or are under contract. If an army from another country were to suddenly cross into another person's country, that is immediately regarded as a threat and war would surely break out."

"That may be the case, but I cannot leave this land unless I have a guarantee that this man will be caught."

"Then you can count on our efforts to bring him in," Kasumi stated, pointing at her chest. "I will send a dispatch to the other nations to be on the lookout for this criminal of yours, and if he is as theatrical and as much of a threat as you say he is, we will have him within the month…"

"Though I have your word that you and your people will be on the lookout for this individual, I have my doubts on whether you have the ability to effectively handle him," Churchill stated, gesturing towards the Guard of Four standing beside him. "The armies of Britannia and her neighbors possess the finest soldiers in the world and the most formidable of weapons, yet this one man was able to shrug them off without even breaking a sweat. How will your warriors be able to contest with a fiend like that?"

Kasumi remained quiet, facing down the representative with a hard stare. Of course, the question of how was indeed a reasonable one; Churchill was suggesting that the elemental nations' soldiers, warriors and shinobi, wouldn't be able to handle this one person because theirs couldn't. Though his identity remained a mystery, surely an individual like the one the delegate was describing wasn't invincible. The audience, officials and soldiers on the sidelines waited patiently and on edge, wondering what decision this discussion would eventually lead the two emissaries to.

The one thing that shone above this was the terms of power. Churchill was challenging the quality of his warriors against hers, something that stuck out in the minds of Team 10 and the Guard of Four standing close by. It was then, after a minute of tense silence and contemplation, a thought suddenly snapped inside of Nai's head.

He looked over to Kasumi, where he could see Naruto also scratching his head.

Sensing opportunity, the boy from Siam smirked, stepped forward and approached the village leader. The young princess acknowledged his presence when he stopped before her, hands on his hips.

"If I may Lady Kasumi," the boy turned back to his boss with a nod, "Mr. Churchill, sir." Receiving their attention, Nai smiled back at the princess, "I think I have a solution to your problem."

"And… what would that be, Nai-kun?" Kasumi asked.

The pugilist grinned from ear to ear and held up his fist, "You believe your warriors are strong enough to deal with this criminal, yes, but Mr. Churchill seems to think otherwise and wishes to deal with this matter personally, with his own forces?" He then looked across at Naruto, the blonde blinking in surprise when he saw Nai's eyes fix onto him before the kick boxer turned back to smirk at the Britannian representative. "I think the best way to decide whether this country's warriors are more than capable of dealing with this foe is to decide through contest!"

"Contest?" Kasumi murmured, the attentiveness of Team 10 in regards to the conversation immediately skyrocketing at what the boy was proposing.

Nai turned back to the princess with a twinkle in his eyes, "You said that Naruto and I could have our match immediately after the ceremony was concluded as part of the performance program, correct? Well, why not have it right now!" He slammed his fist against his chest with a loud thud, showing all that he was not only putting his soul on the line but also his heart. "Pit the strongest fighters representing Britannia now against the strongest fighters in _this_ land! If we beat _your_ warriors, you let us stay! But if your warriors beat ours, then we'll leave without a fuss."

Periklis smiled. His sword and belts clicked as the head member of the Guard of Four moved into the spotlight to personally address the issue. The audience down below noticed the impressive looking individual take to the stand while C.C, still hanging out on top of her roost, was quietly helping herself to all of the pizza she could find. She watched her companion as he made his approach, wondering all the while where he wanted to go with this.

The representative from the Hellenic Republic stood beside Churchill, showing that he had an equal stake in this as the rest of them, "That's actually a really splendid idea."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying; a contest to decide who the strongest under heaven is?!" William suddenly exclaimed, also marching forward. His footsteps shook the very foundations of the castle with thundering quakes, announcing his presence clearly to the world as the cameras circled in on him. The American struck a pose. "A MARVELOUS IDEA! The strength of one's people can be accessed through an epic clash of might against might, will against will, and mind against mind! Oh, how I relish an opportunity to test my mettle against one who embraces the same concept of manhood as I do! OOOOOHHH-YEAAAAAHHH!" He was about to remove his top to start showcasing his biceps, but thankfully Vincent grabbed him by the collar to stop the exuberant one from taking it too far.

"Calm down, William. Not yet," the spearman hissed before looking around at Churchill standing firmly behind him. The boy's glare became that much more serious, "Though I admit to being disillusioned by this turn of events and share my disagreements with Lady Kasumi about your attempts to alter the trade agreement to satisfy our country's ends, I actually feel that a competition to settle this dispute would be the wisest course of action to take, sir." Vincent gave one of his dashing trademark grins at the end of his speech. "It could be fun."

"If there are any doubts, then a contest of skill and strength will refresh the air," Periklis exclaimed, looking over at the princess to see her looking around at the Guard of Four members in surprise. "Why don't we test these people, and see how strong they _really_ are. If they can beat our most skilled contenders then I'm sure we can count on their support in this matter."

Churchill blinked, looking up at the swordsman when he turned to smile back at the envoy, "Are you willing to challenge these folk to contest, Periklis?"

The man chuckled and removed the kepi from his head, before brushing his hair back with his hand, "I may not look it sir, but I've been dying to face a strong opponent for a while now. This might be the perfect opportunity for me to showcase my abilities and see how polished they actually are." Periklis lowered his head and slipped his hat back on. "I believe it's only fair. These people trusted us to stay the course, so what's wrong with putting trust in them ourselves and seeing what they have to offer?"

Things quieted down when the Guard of Four and their charge of charge faced the villager leader with looks of anticipation. Shaking a bit from having so many eyes locked onto her, Kasumi looked around at Naruto to see what the boy had to think. The blonde smiled and shrugged, before turning his attention down to Team 10 scattered on the staircase below. Though Shikamaru and Hinata were looking unsure for the moment, Asuma seemed relatively composed. Heck, he had a cigarette in his mouth and everything; it was almost like the matter wasn't concerning him one bit.

"It's up to you, Lady Kasumi," Asuma spoke up, blowing out a plume of smoke. "What do you say?"

Meeting the encouraging gazes from Shikamaru, Hinata and their teacher, Kasumi felt her spirit lift. Her attention was taken back to Naruto when he nudged her in the arm, "If you think it's the right thing to do, then do it. Hell, I think it's a way better option than… you know…" He was of course referring to the risk of war between the shinobi nations and the Britannians. This was something they wanted to avoid, and something Naruto and the others were all for.

Returning the jinchuriki's smile with her own, Kasumi turned back to Churchill to relay her decision, "Well, I think it's a great idea. If you want to see what we've got," she raised a fist of her own to Nai's challenge, "then I think I'll adhere to that proposition; if the strongest warriors from your world can defeat the strongest warriors from ours, then your troops have my permission to stay in this country. But if you lose, and _my_ champions manage to beat yours, then you will order your forces back to your homeland and let us hunt down your criminal in your stead."

Churchill rubbed his chin thoughtfully, taking her proposition under advisement, so to speak. Now that he was calm and able to think straight thanks to Asuma's intervention, he weighed up his options and checked out the cards in his hands carefully. It didn't take him long to come to a resolution, which he then announced with a beaming expression drawn across his face.

"Very well then, since everyone is all for it," Churchill stepped forward and extended a hand towards the young princess. "We have an accord." The village leader shook his extended gesture, consenting to a settlement that, though it wasn't the one that he and Kasumi were hoping to approve, took them one step closer to the finalizing of _a_ treaty. As to what kind of treaty, that would come later, depending on how the next chain of events went.

Stepping away from one another, the two leaders then attended to their next tasks. They reassured their staff and council that a new course of action has been decided, and after directing all of them back to their seats, instructed their bodyguards to rearrange the troops and move the audience to the rear end of the courtyard. The stands that had been setup closest to the walls originally for performances were now going to be used as seating arrangements for a makeshift stadium.

Soon enough, the courtyard was clear of all civilians and public officials, with dimensions large enough to make even the biggest of Chunin Arena grounds look insignificant. Everyone had been moved to the back, and the highest ranking of diplomats remained at the top of the stairs. It was then, after seeing the area clear of all patrons not taking part in the actual competition, Churchill turned his attention to the Guard of Four, all of them having been assembled behind him.

Receiving their gestures and smirks of approval, the representative then turned his attention back to Kasumi, who was still overseeing the herding of the crowd.

"I have my contenders, Lady Kasumi," Churchill stated, the Guard of Four moving so that they stood in front of him. "If four of the strongest warriors that you have with you right now can defeat these ones, then consider my armies gone from this continent."

Smiling, the princess then turned to Team 10, the four of them having moved up the stairs and taken up posts behind her alongside Okita. Shikamaru, Hinata and Asuma withdrew a little when they noticed the young leader's eyes fall on them, whereas Naruto grinned back at her as if her direction of attention in the face of the already decided just blew right over him. It was pretty obvious what she was planning, and the youngsters saw it before they even needed to hear it for themselves.

"Guys…?" Kasumi said hopefully.

"N-Now hold on," Shikamaru choked, pointing at the four formidable looking warriors on Britannia's side of the plinth, "You don't expect us to…"

"F-Fight them?" Hinata gulped, her shoulders starting to tremble beyond her control. "How? Naruto-kun, Shikamaru-kun and myself, w-we're only Genin…"

The raven haired teen walked up to them and looked at each of the squad members pleadingly, "P-Please hear me out. The only challengers I could possibly have to fight these guys are either Okita-kun or you four… and… well… if I was to choose my commander over you guys, it would be a four against one advantage in their favor…"

"B-But," Hinata spluttered.

"Nai-kun and his comrades are strong… _really_ strong. None of the Britannian regulars or my own are a match for them, and I should know. Okita would never be able to defeat all four of them by himself, even if he was to take them on one at a time. So please, I'm begging you. Fight as my champions and stop the elemental nations from falling into another era of conflict. This world has already seen three great wars and enough lives lost, we don't need another…"

"Fighting to decide the strongest warriors on a world scale is not part of my job description, your ladyship," Asuma informed in shock, trying to light another cigarette to calm his nerves. Failing in this endeavor, he threw it away and went back to conversing with the young princess, now starting to look more disheartened by the second at the lack of confidence she could hear coming from the team. "I don't think we're the ones meant to fight for your country…"

"Then _don't_ fight for my country. Fight for yourselves! You four are strong shinobi, aren't you?" the girl continued, looking from one worried face to the next. "If I don't come up with fighters soon, then we're going to lose!"

Naruto, seeing her plight, decided to disperse with the tree graph known as the leadership structure of his team and answered her call. Still grinning from ear to ear, the boy stepped forward with his hands casually placed behind his head and a spring in his step. Unlike everybody else, he just couldn't see any problems with the plan whatsoever. In fact, the word _problem_ didn't exist in his dictionary. He made this perfectly clear when he strolled into the princess' terrified gaze and announced his team's intentions on behalf of the group.

"Don't worry about it. We'll fight!"

The squad leader and members looked toward the boy flabbergasted, the spiky haired blonde spinning on his feet and flashing them a look of complete poise.

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head on anything, Naruto?" Shikamaru asked, looking more and more distressed at their prospects with every tick of the clock that came and went. "Because I swear you did recently. Dude…"

"Come on, Shikamaru-kun. Don't tell me you're wussing out on me."

"We _can't_ fight these guys!" Shikamaru whispered, using his eyes and nods to gesture Naruto's gaze toward the four Britannians in question. "I mean, look at them! Periklis is intimidating as hell, William is crazy strong, and I'm pretty sure Vincent's got some incredible skills too, and Nai…" All of their eyes shifted between their compatriot and the kick boxer, who was at that very moment, flexing his arms and looking raring to go. In fact, all four of them were readying themselves for a bout, especially William and Nai. "You don't need _me_ to remind you of what he's capable of."

"Oh, I know what _he's_ capable of," Naruto grinned, turning back to the fighters representing their nation. He and Nai's eyes met, both of them exchanging smirks and stances. In that instant of exchange, the jinchuriki removed his hands from his head and brought them down to his sides. His fists clenched tightly, "And I know what _I'm_ capable of. Trust me… this will be a piece of cake."

Asuma, Shikamaru and Hinata looked up towards the tough looking bunch, and contemplated on past events. Ever since they'd met them, the Guard of Four had established themselves as responsible and powerful individuals. In their own ways, they held an air and influence about them that told stories about their strengths. The Jonin had felt intense vibes coming off of the swordsman when they met at the conference that had made the man feel uneasy, Vincent made Hinata incredibly nervous for a whole bunch of reasons, and that William fellow had muscles on him that made him look as though he could withstand cannon fire. This didn't bode well at all for those who were _not_ Naruto.

While it had never occurred to any of the other members of the team outside of their jinchuriki companion that they would end up fighting these guys, now that they had pretty much been 'volunteered' to fight for the _Land of Dusk_, it seemed like there was no backing out of it now. They had no choice either way.

If they chose to fight and _lost_, they would not only embarrass themselves but also unlock the gates of their country and the rest of the shinobi world to Britannia. The same could be said if Kasumi decided to commit her men to the fight. Though it meant that Team 10 wouldn't fight now, the chances for failure were significantly higher. If her men were to lose, which they probably would, Britannia would have free reign over the entire continent and send their troops in without restraint, and likely spark a war which _they'd_ get wrapped up in sooner or later. Then they would be in real deep shit.

Hell, the odds for victory in their favor were the same if they tried to fight, but Naruto wasn't at all worried. He had chosen his opponent, and Nai was prepping for an epic showdown.

Not Shikamaru or Hinata though. They swallowed nervously and looked up at their teacher for instruction and council in this daunting time.

Asuma sighed and ran a hand over his face, before looking down at his still grinning eccentric apprentice. The boy was still looking towards his opponent with eagerness and anticipation. Though the challenge was made only between the two of them, looking at it now, it seemed as though Naruto had unintentionally tangled the rest of his friends in with his agreement. Why did things turn out this way?

It was like when the team went after Tora and left it in Shikamaru's care the first time. Apparently, the cat disliked other shinobi outside of Naruto too and the moment the guy slipped up, he ran off. The team spent the next hour trying to catch it, this time bringing a cage along with them to help with securing the little bastard. Naruto made the same mistake on the second mission involving the animal, proving once and for all that it is share and share around on their team.

"_Great… and now Naruto's streak of getting into a boat load of trouble with the rest of the world has rubbed off on us too!"_ the Jonin groaned, shaking his head. _"Can things get any worse around here?"_

Unbeknownst to him, yes… things were about to get a whole lot worse…

OOO

Tayuya and Sakon stood at the base of the stands at the far end of the courtyard behind the very front row of people unable to find a seat. Though the atmosphere had changed in addition to the entirety of the crowd's focus, the quality of their cover and guise didn't change one bit. They used this new set up well to stay out of sight while hanging in plain view, so that they got a good view of the quad now decided to act as the stage for the competition to come.

As much as they were interested to see a fight, the two of them were a little thrown to find that it was a bunch of Konoha shinobi, mainly a cluster of nose-wiping Genin, who would be the other side's opponents. Surely a group of kids weren't passing off as champions representing the entire continent? Really? If that were the case, then the efforts villages went into producing the 'best of the best' in their forces was really falling short this passed decade. The only powerful shinobi hanging around nowadays were from the previous generation.

"Well… I can see this whole thing going down the toilet right off the bat," Tayuya commented, watching as the young Team 10 marched down the stairs alongside the Guard of Four fighting for Britannia. When the two groups reached the bottom, they exchanged a last second glance at one another before splitting up and heading off to different sides of the quad. While Konoha went to the audience's left, which was Kasumi's side on her right, the four warriors representing Britannia went to the audience's right on Churchill's side. This pretty much drew the line of no-man's-land between two opposing trenches.

The soldiers made sure to veer clear of the two squads.

"We're doomed," Tayuya groaned, sizing up the three kids from Konohagakure. "Look at them; they're all wimps. How do they expect to last even a few seconds against these westerners?"

"Perhaps they have some interesting tricks up their sleeves. That or… maybe they were enlisted against their own will?" Sakon suggested with a shrug, arms folded. What kind of idiot volunteered them for this job? "Still, at least we'll be able to see a good show before the shit hits the fan. That's really the only plus we can gain from all of this bull."

"Though I hate to say this, I think you're right on that one," the red head murmured, tilting her head as she looked across at Team 10. "Fuck… what is this world coming to?"

While the two Oto shinobi recognized the hulking Jonin with the beard as one Asuma Sarutobi, son of the Third Hokage and former member of the twelve guardian ninja, they weren't too confident in the idea that he would be able to fight all of the rounds soon to come. Since it was an equal setup of four on four, this competition pretty much meant that both teams would be participating in a manner so that there was one opponent for each of them.

How the contestants were going to be decided was a good question, but the most pressing matter at the moment was in fact the appearances of each participant, and how strong each of them looked in contrast to either side.

While Britannia boasted an impressive four champions; including a fierce looking swordsman, an officer with a staff, a hulking brawler and what looked to be a well-rounded fighter, the three kids on Konoha's side didn't look at all impressive. That was the first impression Tayuya and Sakon got from them the moment they were able to single out a skinny, slouching, unmotivated looking brat with brown hair, a timid little mouse with blue hair shuffling about on the spot nervously, and a blonde haired boy who, in spite of appearing to be the most energetic of the three, was wearing an outfit that was absolutely horrendous.

How did that orange travesty pass off as appropriate shinobi guise?

Seeing the above mentioned blonde drop to the ground and start stretching, Tayuya groaned to herself and rubbed the bridge of her nose tiredly, "This is so not going to end well. Those trash bags are going to die…"

OOO

Naruto stood up, slamming his fist into his open palm and grinning widely. "Alright, let's get this show on the road!"

Looking around him, the jinchuriki calculated the amount of space on the arena that he had available, which was roughly around a kilometer squared, since this was a huge courtyard meant to accommodate an entire regiment of troops for ceremonies.

Basically there were three walls around four stories high surrounding them, with the castle serving as another barrier for the ring. From where Team 10 stood, the palace and its stairs sat to their far left and the stands of crowds to their far right where the gates to the grounds stood open. There were a lot of people in attendance, and if you were to include the cameras, that was a total of a worldwide audience right there.

While the quad was basically a stretch of stone floor comprised of slabs with no canvas whatsoever, there were a few things lying around that could possibly serve as either a hindrance or an advantage to either side. Down the length of footpath that led from the gate to the palace stairs across the courtyard, there were statues lined up on either side. These would probably be destroyed by the end of the day. Furthermore, there were also trees growing right next to the walls and running alongside them, behind both Team 10 and the Guard of Four.

Nevertheless, with the people moved out of harm's way and their higher class audience sitting safely atop of the stairs, this was the perfect setup.

All they had to do was redirect their fire away from the audience in the stands and gates, now all being held back by soldiers lined up in front with temporary barriers erected for their protection, and they were all good.

Naruto stepped forward, shaking his arms out, "Looks like I'm up first."

"Four matches; consisting of one-on-one bouts, huh?" Asuma rubbed the back of his head. Just like his two other apprentices, he was unable to shake the uncertainty from his expression. "It looks like we're going to have to pick our opponents."

"We need to have at least three wins out of four over Britannia to win this entire thing," Shikamaru noted, scrunching his face thoughtfully. "Ugh… how troublesome."

"Now don't go saying stuff like that, kid. We _all_ need to work together, pitch in and come out on top. No child left behind under my watch," Asuma said, patting his students on the shoulders and getting them to look up at him. "You've all worked really hard over these past several weeks, so let's show these guys what all of that blood, sweat and tears were for, alright."

Shikamaru seemed hesitant, Hinata nodded her head affirmatively, whereas Naruto grinned and threw the man a thumbs-up.

"No problem," Naruto exclaimed, turning back around and heading across to the center of the quad where the pathway stood. He stretched his neck from side to side, stopping about mid-way on their half of the clearing. "Don't get too comfortable guys. I'll finish this up quickly so that you can have your turns!"

"Take your time, Naruto. We're all good here!" Shikamaru called, stretching his own arms back and resting them behind his head. "Try not to break a leg this time."

"Gee, thanks," the jinchuriki shouted over his shoulder, his eyes glued on the four ahead of him.

Nai, seeing the blonde step out first, allowed a grin to spread across his face and held up his right fist. With his free hand, he tightened the rope wrapped around both the arm and wrist, making sure that all preflight checks were done before beginning to walk forward to meet his opponent.

"I've got first dibs," the kick boxer said, looking over his shoulder to see his friends also smiling at him.

William grinned and struck a tearful pose, diamonds sparkling around his head, "GOOD LUCK, NAI! Remember, muscle… EQUALS POWER!"

"Sure… I'll… I'll remember that, William," Nai chuckled, looking over at Vincent who had his lance leaning against his shoulder and an arm draped over it. "Well… anything _you_ want to say?"

"No," the Britannian officer replied. He smiled at the kick boxer without a hint of objection evident in his facial or bodily expressions. It was safe to say he was comfortable with the arrangement at this point, and was willing enough to wait on for a bit and let the others have their fun. Of course, only time will tell. "Just try not to get yourself killed. Remember what that kid did to you last time."

"Oh, don't worry," Nai said while turning back around, seeing his opponent waiting patiently for him. His gaze narrowed and his face darkened considerably at the memory, "I've got a plan for dealing with _that_ when it comes. I'll just break him down before he has a chance to use it."

He then moved off, leaving his comrades on the sidelines to watch how the engagement opened up. Periklis, Vincent and William kept their eyes on the kid's shoulders as he swaggered along, his bare feet padding along the cold ground before he arrived in the center of their half of the quad, and both opponents stared each other down across the path.

Kasumi and Churchill leaned back into their seats as they saw the first two fighters enter their line of sight of the arena, with the former smiling excitedly at the prospects of finally seeing her brave shinobi in combat. After seeing him training up close, it was understandable why she was so psyched about this. In fact, the faceoff between the two rivals from different nations was having everyone on the edges of their seats, soldiers and audience, if their chattering and murmuring was of any indication.

Though they were young, these teams were chosen for a reason.

That reason was that they had to be strong in order for this to be an accurate comparison of strengths between the warriors of the elemental nations and the ones representing Britannia.

The cameras zoomed in to capture the action.

Okita, stepping up to the podium, raised his hand and projected his voice out across the clearing, making sure everyone at the very back was able to hear his exclamations, _**"Ladies and gentlemen,"**_ his voice echoed loudly, drawing all eyes up to him for the moment, _**"The match between the representatives of Britannia and the representatives of the Land of Dusk is about to begin. The fights will progress in a series of one-on-one matches. The winners will be decided by either fighter conceding defeat, losing consciousness, or dying…"**_

"Dying?" Shikamaru shook his head, clearing his ear out. "Wait, I don't think I heard that right. Was that dying… or lying?"

"I'd… very much like it to be the second one," Hinata murmured uneasily.

"Why don't we just have a game of rock-paper-scissors to decide who the better fighters are?" the Nara asked, shrugging his shoulders suggestively. "It seems less troublesome."

"A game like that doesn't have much of an impact on those watching," Asuma replied, folding his arms. "Besides, little games like those are mostly left up to chance."

"_**The side that secures the most points wins the contest. Should a tie breaker be necessary, a secondary bout will be held between two additional contestants to determine the overall victor,"**_ Okita concluded, bringing his hand up and holding it above him and the challengers. _**"And now, without further ado, the match shall begin! Fighters… you may proceed!"**_ At that announcement, a great cheer came up from the crowd, signaling the beginning of the first fight.

Naruto smiled, placing his right fist into his left palm and bowing toward his opponent. After which, he extended his right palm and slid his right foot out and across, following a circular motion as he assumed a Southpaw _Spring Chant_ stance. "Naruto Uzumaki: Wing Chun."

Nai grinned, thrusting his left fist out declaratively, "Nai Khanontom: Muay Thai."

"Ready when you are," the blonde followed up, stepping forward into an orthodox stance. Since he was right hand dominant in this respect, the previous stance didn't feel as natural as this one. However, he was able to compromise whenever the situation called for it.

The jinchuriki was raring to go, but he was in the right state of mind to allow his opponent to set the pace for the match so that he could begin a string of counters. After all, his style revolved prominently around the idea of using his opponent's strength against him. He could afford the wait.

It was precisely the reason why he didn't even bat a single eyelash when Nai, instead of charging into a head long clash with him the moment the bell was rung, started off by dropping to his knees and bowing repeatedly. He then began a rather unusual routine across the floor space, performing a variety of body, hand movements, and knee thrusts in a manner that closely resembled a dance of some form. The audience and Team 10 stared in bewilderment for the next couple of minutes as the boy strode circles, completely engrossed in his activity.

Shikamaru blinked, "What in the world?"

"W-What's he doing?" Hinata asked curiously, seeing the boy pace around again and rotate his legs in the form of knees, which he moved outwards. He balanced himself on his toes, completely entrancing those watching his remarkable display.

Scratching his chin, Asuma drank in the youngster's movements and timing, getting a visual feel for this style of his, while also trying to figure out what the purpose of this dance was. It didn't look like some otherworldly or metaphysical technique, nor was it something genjutsu related. No, this was something else entirely. Though it held some sort of importance with the kick boxer, it presented a great intrigue for the rest.

Eventually figuring out what it could be, the Jonin smiled and waved a finger at the striding teenager, "I believe that this is some kind of warm up… a ritual…"

"Oh, really?" Hinata exclaimed. Watching on a little bit longer, seeing him perform a few 'flapping' motions as well as more knee checks, the girl then smiled and cupped her hands together in awe. "Wow… it's really nice." As much as it was a baffling sight to see before the start of a battle, she was greatly appreciative of it.

Nai paced around several more times, as if traversing to multiple corners on a ring. After another minute or so of bowing and slow shadow sparring, his bizarre ritual soon came to an end, and he finished the Wai Khru steps in a kneeling position, his back turned to his opponent.

Naruto continued staring at him, his eyes narrowed as he observed his opponent bowing towards his side. He didn't want to rush the guy. After all, he wanted this fight to start out clean and balanced. If they wanted to decide who the strongest out of the two of them was, they needed to begin fresh and well prepared.

Silence fell. The absence of voices gave Nai all the calm he needed to compose himself in the allotted time he had. Eyes shut and head bowed, he then opened them up and glared ahead of him, his expression changed from previously being utterly collected and composed, to completely focused and serious. All those looking at him swore that the moment his body started to straighten up into a standing position, that an aura of pure intensity started to rise off of him like flames.

Naruto noticed it too.

However, no time was given thereafter to determine the cause of the choking feeling suddenly filling the air. Before the jinchuriki had a chance to figure out what this odd sensation was, the opponent once standing a distance from him with his back turned suddenly vanished. There was a springing motion in his body before he disappeared from sight, dust kicking up when the kick boxer, using agility and leg strength neither of the ninja could have anticipated, leapt skyward.

Eyes widening, Naruto looked up in shock when he noticed a shadow growing darker around him. His eyes instantly reengaged his target, which he could see plummeting towards him knee first with a smirk across his face.

"_Shit, he can jump!"_ the jinchuriki thought before leaping away, just in time too when the muay thai fighter slammed into the ground he had been standing on with catastrophic effects.

Like a landmine going off, the tiled floor that had once remained seemingly untouched and perfectly flat, exploded into a cloud of rubble, debris and dust. The plume rocketed several meters into the air, choking the atmosphere and clouding the battlefield. Naruto, who had been the intended target of this drop knee technique, had managed to jump out of range of the shockwave. He flipped across the floor before sticking the landing.

Skidding to a stop, the blonde looked up in astonishment._ "Damn that was quick. I didn't even see that coming!"_

He had barely avoided being pancaked. Even though he knew his opponent would be the first one to strike, all account on giving him the opportunity to do so, Naruto just didn't expect the guy to come at him so swiftly. The speed and strength the boy just showcased to the world was way above the level he first gave in their street bout. It was unprecedented.

Naruto furrowed his brow, dropping back into a defensive stance when he saw the cloud of dust lift, and his opponent come strolling out of the massive crater. Looking completely unscathed, Nai looked up to face his target, at the same time unbuttoning his yellow martial arts top. He yanked it off with a simple tug, throwing it out to the side and letting it catch on the wind.

Disrobed, Naruto and everyone watching from the sidelines could see just how tanked Nai actually was.

In spite of possessing a slender build than most, the muscles packed up on top of each other made the kick boxer look like a veteran brawler. His abs, chest, shoulders, biceps, calves… every bump and curve on him was literally shining in the sun. These were muscles developed and grown from years of backbreaking labor and tender care. The boy was the perfect example of physical fitness and strength at its peak.

Cracking his neck, Nai smirked and dropped into an orthodox stance. "That was just a sample. Now it's time for the entrée!" With a shout, he lunged forward at dashing speed. His sprint between the crater and Naruto was covered in barely over a second, the blurring motion of his form shocking his opponent.

Naruto backed off sharply, weaving left and right when his opponent's fists cut through the air at him. He was forced to hasten his retreat when Nai added swift kicks toward his legs in with his combinations, forcing him to use his footwork a little more.

Every attack dodged was accompanied by a loud 'whooshing' sound, like someone was swinging a jackhammer around. This was something that warned the jinchuriki to stay well away from, the boy going all out to dodge and avoid the other teenager's attacks. Naruto shimmied left and right, his own hands weaving through the air and repeatedly knocking the fists coming his way in another direction. He parried the upper body strikes and slid back when Nai swung at him with a couple of kicks.

Frowning, the kick boxer lunged in suddenly with an elbow, attempting to slam Naruto in the chest. But the blonde was able to cover his center at the last second with a right parry, a left cross snapping out at the kick boxer in return. Nai ducked his head under the fist at the last second, before twisting in with a left hook. The jinchuriki weaved his head back in avoidance, before suddenly dodging to his left when the boy's right cross shot out like a bullet.

Naruto staggered away from the dodge with wide eyes, his opponent rotating to face him again while hooking out with another left.

Leaping back and taking guard, the blonde faced down his opponent with a look of shock drawn across his face as the boy switched into orthodox attack mode. _"Damn, his attacks are sharper than I remember. Not just that…"_ He glanced down at his right cheek, where he saw a bruise mark had been cut underneath his eye. There appeared to be smoke rising off of it, something that had him shaking uneasily. _"But his straights… they're heavy as hell."_ This observation certainly told Naruto one thing about his opponent and that was that Nai had spent all of his time training to increase both his offensive capabilities and hitting power.

That was a worrying realization.

Brushing away the graze, Naruto took another defensive stance, his opponent dashing at him once more._ "Here we go!"_ The blonde shimmied back, dodging left from a right straight and crossing upwards with a quick back fist, his opponent blocking with his shoulder before coming back around with a left hook. The jinchuriki caught it against his arm at the elbow, so the power behind it was cushioned.

Still feeling pressure from the momentum, Naruto cut out with a quick jab and straight, but his opponent blocked both before hooking across with a right, forcing the boy to duck. The jinchuriki swiftly leapt back when a knee thrust up towards his chin, urging the Genin to put some distance between them. The power behind each of those attacks was enough to make the ninja reconsider a fight at extreme close range.

"_I'll be beaten black and blue if I stay too close to him!"_

However, he had to try, even if it meant taking one or two hits.

Noticing his opponent stepping in deep, Naruto crossed both hands up to block. Nai, in response to the defense, gritted his teeth and jabbed out with a full body hit, the power behind it evident in the motion in his legs. The jinchuriki expected to take another heavy hit, his body bracing for impact, but when the pugilist's fist impacted with his guard, what he got instead was something equivalent to a kick from a mule.

The sound of a gunshot exploding into the air had Naruto recoil back in shock when his guard was cracked open. A shockwave echoed throughout the arena and stunned the crowds.

Shikamaru saw how far his friend actually slid back from taking the hit and leaned forward in bewilderment, "What the heck?"

"N-Naruto!" Hinata cried out.

Naruto gritted his teeth and bit against the attack, forcing himself to a stop and digging in once more. He reacted just in time to see another left rocketing out at him from his opponent. Not wanting to take it, he brought his arms over his face a second time to take the hit, this time with a turtle guard. However, just like before, the attack exploded against him with a clap of thunder and a force of a wild animal's kick pushing it on. The jinchuriki was blasted back through the air and his defense was split open like a can, a look of clear astonishment coming upon him when he fully realized the power behind the two-hit combo.

The blonde landed several feet away from where he was previously standing and, after regaining his footing, looked up to see his opponent with his fist still extended. Naruto's eyes wavered with disbelief and his arms trembled in response to the damage he got just from blocking the awesome attacks.

Nai brought his left back in, assuming another offensive stance against his target. The intensity in his glare increased even more from before, his eyes flashing and darkening over as a result.

Feeling killing intent rising off of his attacker, Naruto backed away, bringing his trembling hands up into another firm fighting stance. Though he was able to get it together in the end, he could still see smoke rising off of the impacted areas in his limbs. The fists had buried into him like a hammer on a nail through wood. There was no way he could have taken those shots without a guard and survived.

He would have been knocked out cold… or had his neck broken and killed.

"_Geez, the pressure behind his glare is incredible, and his jabs… it feels like he's ramming an anvil into me…"_ They weren't just jabs; they were God damn piston engines. How the hell could someone possess that much power in their attacks? It just wasn't possible. Looking the boy over again, and judging by the way he held his left fist further out in front then his right with his elbows tucked in, he was also able to defend effectively while attacking, something Naruto took special note of as he attempted to search for a good place to counter.

However, after recalling the way he fought and the way he was able to chase him down while also continuously unleash hit after hit showed the jinchuriki that there were very few windows of opportunity open to him. Even his offensive stance had a guard to it. His fists, elbows and knees were a damn good barrier.

"_There aren't many holes. I'll just have to wait till he's in the middle of attacking, and then strike where he can't see!"_ Naruto thought, putting faith in the counterattacking capabilities of his _Spring Chant_ style.

His opponent may have power, speed, sharpness, and was radiating with such overwhelming intensity and killing intent that he could shake down his opponent just by looking at them, but the jinchuriki knew above all this that he could be beaten. He wasn't invincible.

"_Come on!"_

As if responding to the boy's thoughts, Nai charged forward, leading with his left. Naruto backed off bit by bit, weaving from side to side and parrying the punches that flew his way. He backed off so far and so quickly across the clearing that he was almost in jumping distance of the staircase of the castle. His eyes darted back and took note of his surroundings, a second before he unexpectedly weaved right, parried and crossed with his right at his opponent's face.

Nai shoulder blocked, before coming back around with a wide sweeping right hook. Naruto ducked under and struck with a body shot to the boy's left side. However, with his own quick in-fighting movement, though he was able to land a hit, the jinchuriki didn't have enough power to penetrate the kick boxer's thick body. As a result, Naruto's hit landed and the force bounced off with little to no effect.

So, instead of hitting once, Naruto instead returned with several more body hooks and chain punches. They bombarded the boy's open side with several dozen hits before Nai was able to come back around with a left roundhouse to counter against the onslaught a second later. The jinchuriki leaned back sharply and dodged, feeling the wind grow hot from the leg cutting across at the speed it traveled.

"_Damn it! I need to move faster!"_

It was easier said than done. Naruto leapt back again, this time adding more speed and following a zigzag pattern as his opponent pursued, jabbing out with swift left and rights. When Nai got in close with a step-in jab, the blonde leapt back even faster, before suddenly changing directions and moving right. With his opponent thrown off balance from a left, the jinchuriki then struck out with a straight shot, only for his opponent to head slip back when he retracted from his own lunge.

"_Alright… NOW!"_ Naruto slid to a stop, taking ground and stepping into a Southpaw dominant stance. Nai was upon him in seconds, jabbing out with his left. The jinchuriki slid right with a left strike to the boy's body and a grab to his opponent's arm. His free arm came up to lock it, but the kick boxer brought his arm in quickly to avoid the lock and hooked upwards with his right. Naruto weaved the other way, but was then met with an elbow and a full knee.

It was a check movement. Naruto crossed his arms and his knee up at the last moment when he was suddenly shoved back with full force. Staggering, the blonde brought up both his arms to cover his face when Nai dove in at and began cutting into his guard with repeated straight punches. After taking several hits with his shoulder and bodyweight helping to defend against the power of his foe's attacks, Naruto then began ducking and weaving around them again, parrying and redirecting each of his hits as they came, while trying to snap his own hits in.

Blocking conventionally without redirecting the force of the attacks was damaging. He could feel his arms go numb just from stopping a single hit!

He needed to weave and dodge. That way he could avoid damage.

"_There may not be many openings, but defending forever won't get me anywhere!"_ Naruto thought furiously, his eyes darting about this way and that as he swerved around a wide straight from his opponent, who brought it back in swiftly and struck out with his left. The jinchuriki watched carefully, allowing his evasions and blocking to carry him for this part. _"He's attacking with mostly his upper body, just like before, and he's using a very monotonous pattern. I can use this to my advantage!"_

He crossed his right arm in front with his left, parrying a left jab when his opponent swung in wide. The blow was powerful, it shook Naruto up despite his defense, but the jinchuriki wasn't deterred. He gritted his teeth against it as Nai withdrew his fist for another straight.

"_I can reach him from here!"_ Naruto shouted in his head, his left fist clenching suddenly.

With the power in his body, he uncorked a sharp jab of his own, which shot out for his opponent as Nai dove in with a full right straight.

Naruto's attack slammed his opponent square in the face, catching his nose, eye and cheek, utilizing the full power in the blonde's body. At first it looked as though Nai would stagger. However, much to the jinchuriki's shock, the boy plowed forward without even flinching, even with the shinobi's fist in his face. The blonde pulled back in astonishment, his opponent's right cutting out as if his counter didn't even happen.

"_FUCK! HE'S NOT STOPPING!"_

Naruto threw his arms out in front, blocking the right straight that drove into him like a kick. The blonde held his ground as more straights exploded against him, his opponent repeatedly going at his guard and shaking him up physically. Feeling it weaken, Nai then corked back his dominant arm and lunged in with an overhead, his fist exploding against his opponent's guard, smashing it open, and sending the jinchuriki flying back across the arena, right to the center of the quad.

Staggering under the blows with his arms shaking from the damage, Naruto glanced back up. Blood trickled down his nose and from his lips from where he took the remaining power of the attack, but despite the damage he was able to lock back onto his target, where he could see him dashing at him again.

"_Damn, he's got a strong body. He can take my hits like they're nothing and just keep moving forward,"_ the blonde thought furiously, his teeth gritting. _"In order for my counters to work on him, I need to either add more power to them or give him back ten shots for every two he gives me!"_ He took the defensive, his feet digging in as Nai dove with a right shooting out at his target. _"I can do this!"_

Naruto backed off, parrying each of the boy's coming blows and countering his assault by locking in his combination. In between chain punches, which the jinchuriki was able to dish out in between his ducking and weaving, the boy locked up each individual attack Nai attempted. The boy leapt from left to right while moving back continuously, ducking and dodging whenever his opponent lunged in at him with more attacks, while also switching directions sharply to stay out of reach of his powerful hits.

It was a persistent in-fighter pursuing a shinobi using long-range evasive maneuvers he'd honed from weeks of training under the guide of his teachers. Finally, Naruto's hard work was paying off.

Nai frowned, becoming a little tired of trying to hit the orange boy darting in and out of him. Though he was closing in, the boy kept on backing away to stay out of reach. Honestly, it was starting to get to him.

"_Alright. I've had enough of this running around. Time to switch it up a gear,"_ Nai thought, his toes suddenly planting themselves after landing directly in front of his opponent. His body began twisting in and his feet pivoted along with it, an action Naruto was able to spot after leaning away from the boy's jab, _"Take this!"_

Naruto gasped, his instincts telling him to bring both his arms and his knee right up on his left side, which was exactly what he did. A split second later, there was a crack of lightning, followed instantly by a clap of thunder when the blonde was hit full on by what he first thought was a charging bull. However, what was now threatening to bend his body at the center wasn't a wild creature ramming into him, but the roundhouse kick thrown by his powerful opponent.

The force behind the attack sent the Genin flying off to his right, with dust blasting into the air from his cannonball of a body sailing across the ground at the speed of sound. His eyes glazed over as a result of the impact, the power behind it being so great it cut him right down to the bone. He was shaking so much because of the hit he felt like every solid in his body was turning into gravel in that instance of flight.

Asuma gasped, eyes widening when he saw the distance Naruto was covering from the launch. At first it was five meters, but then the number doubled, tripled, before he had soon covered half the courtyard.

"Shit!"

"_It's his specialty… muay thai roundhouse kick… FUCK! WHY THE FUCK DOES IT HURT SO MUCH!" _Naruto would have screamed this out, but he was so physically traumatized by the attack that he lost his voice.

Feet slamming into the ground, he skidded to a stop, biting down hard and attempting to regain his consciousness. His perception and awareness of reality had apparently been unable to follow him at the speed he was traveling, but once he was able to slow himself to a stop, his awareness eventually bounced back in. He blinked away the darkness and returned to the realm of the living, after blacking out for about a second.

Dust kicking up behind him, Naruto threw both his arms to his sides and clenched his fists tightly. Though his knees were shaking, he was still up and still breathing, so there was no way he was going down after just taking one hit. The wall of fumes blasting away, the boy dove forward and charged back toward the kick boxer, who had dropped into his usual stance after executing his kick.

Nai, seeing Naruto finally go on the offensive, grinned widely and switched from attack to defense. "Yeah! Bring it!"

The brawler backed down, avoiding the spinning kicks launched by the jinchuriki the moment he was in range. The pugilist's arms switched from low to high, blocking the combination of hooks and uppercuts that came at him after the jump kicks, and parried his straights. Pressing in deeply, the blonde plowed into the kick boxer with his shoulder, accompanied by a body shot and an arm shove, which buried itself under Nai's jaw.

Gritting his teeth against the full body lock, the kick boxer attempted to push his opponent off, but Naruto wasn't going to let him. He held his position, pushing up with his legs and using the strength he'd built from his exercises to take the head.

"Yes! G-Go Naruto!" Hinata exclaimed, seeing the boy lock horns with his opponent in a grappling match. It appeared like he was finally gaining the upper hand, but from the distance they stood from the engagement, Shikamaru and Asuma could see that that was not the case.

"No," Shikamaru murmured, folding his arms uncomfortably as he analyzed the scene more carefully, "He's not winning; he's just attacking his opponent out of desperation."

"W-What?" the Hyuuga gasped, turning to her teammate in shock. "How could that be?"

"That roundhouse kick packed more of a wallop then it looked," Asuma said while looking on even more anxiously. "It's insane. Nai has so much more hitting power then I do, yet he's able to execute attacks of that level so easily. After taking and blocking a hit of that magnitude, Naruto's now just trying to stay conscious, so he's burying into his opponent with everything he has to keep himself on his feet."

"Oh-no!" Hinata murmured, looking back across to see her crush still holding that distressed position against his target. He pressed in deeper, his body shaking violently. _"Please… Naruto… hang in there!"_

"Hang on… just hang on!" the boy in question growled out angrily, using his leg power to push back against his opponent from below. Though he had effectively stopped Nai from moving so that he could catch his breath, the kick boxer was still fighting hard against him to throw him off. The jinchuriki started sweating tremendously as he struggled to keep what he figured was equivalent to that of a raging elephant from trampling over him.

Nai, finding the clinch a boring and frustrating situation to be stuck in, took Naruto by the shoulders and attempted to knee him into submission. Unfortunately, the uplifted position he'd found his body in thanks to the jinchuriki's advantageous lock from a lowered state, prevented him from using the full power of his body, so the best he could do was pepper the smaller boy with half-assed checks and punches.

"D-Damn you…" Nai growled, attempting to push him away but was still being held back by the elbow shoved into his neck. "Get away…" However, just as he was finally getting leverage on both the ground and through the boy's arms, Naruto suddenly ducked low and twisted in, slamming a body blow right underneath his breastbone. The kick boxer, not expecting a hit so suddenly, bent over in shock, the wind literally getting knocked out of him.

Caught off guard, Nai growled and struck out with his own combination of hooks and uppercuts. However, the blonde managed to weave around them, ducking a grazing left hook while uncorking a series of chain punches to his body. Both opponents began trading combo shots at extreme close range at incredibly high speed, Nai keeping his attacks compact while Naruto unleashed his shots with sharpness and proficiency. Though this limited their power, the damage would stack up if any of their swift hits landed.

Locking up a jab, Naruto countered with his own, his attack cracking across Nai's face before he fired off a left roundhouse kick to his opponent's body. The blonde took it in the side but managed to stand through it, firing his own left roundhouse before Nai shoved him away. The jinchuriki struck out with a series of straights and chain punches, all the while intravenously blocking and dodging roundhouse kicks and side-kicks being launched by Nai. He bit his teeth through them, managed to land a descent left jab across Nai again, before the boy snap kicked him in his forward leg.

Staggering back from the heel shot to his calve, Nai then shot a powerful right side-kick right at his stomach. Before his attack could land though, the jinchuriki managed to fire off a right counter cross that managed to nail the kick boxer right in the chin. The two blows staggered, and both managed to send the boys blasting back across the quad in different directions.

It appeared that Naruto had finally managed to capture his opponent's rhythm, and was now exchanging blows with him equally in return for the damage he received in the opening minutes.

"_Alright then, time to take it up a notch!"_ Naruto grinned, digging his feet back into the ground as he slowed his flight path.

"_Finally… this is the moment I've been waiting for!"_ Nai also smirked, bringing his fists around as he too began to stop himself, his toes skidding across the concrete. _"THIS IS INCREDIBLE! I'm so fired up! Naruto Uzumaki, you are the one! You are the opponent I have been looking forward to fighting all this time! Let's go!"_

Both fighters sliding to a stop, they then sprang back at each other while yelling out with great effort, their punches leading them in their dashes. They once again engaged in the center, Nai opening up with hooks and knees to his opponent's body who managed to lock up his hits with his arms and elbows, while retaliating with chain punches and sharp shots to Nai's head.

They circled, the kick boxer managing to blow his opponent back with a chopping right knee from up high he managed to swing over.

The audience was captivated… all of them.

Team 10, seeing Naruto finally start trading simultaneous hits with his opponent and getting in his own, started to brighten up considerably. Hinata was the first to notice the change, and an admirable smile rose on her face. Asuma and Shikamaru followed, the Jonin stepping forward with a raised fist as he watched his student hammer blows into his opponent's body five at a time. It was just as the jinchuriki vowed to do, for every one shot his opponent threw, he would return with five more, and even ten.

The boys on the team cheered when they saw Naruto managed to nail a kick right into his opponent's gut and stagger him, before he followed up with a few more lock-ups, immediately leading up to a chain punch combo that he peppered across his opponent's face. Even though Nai was able to stand through it, he was still getting hits in.

"Yes! That's it!" Asuma exclaimed, grinning widely. _"How could I have doubts about my student? Of course he can do it! Come on kid, sock it to him!"_

"Whoa. It's about time," Shikamaru said, leaning forward and watching closely as Naruto took the lead in the punching race. Though he had no power, he was clearly getting more in now. Something was bound to give way by the end of this. "Come on you crazy fool, smack him a good one from me."

"N-Naruto-kun… you're amazing," Hinata whispered, watching him weave around a one-two and send a cross into his opponent's face when he lunged too far.

Things were going great, that was until the two fighters in the middle unexpectedly split apart when something fast moving and long went flying right between them. Shockingly enough, the thing flew straight towards Team 10, the trio shouting out in surprise and diving out of the way. Well, Hinata cried out and barreled out of the way, whereas Asuma yanked Shikamaru out of the danger zone so that they wouldn't get impaled by the thing that suddenly struck the tree directly behind them, and shook violently as it was buried into place.

Naruto and Nai, put off from their engagement, both stopped immediately after seeing the thing fly past, and looked around each other in bewilderment.

"W-What the hell was that?" the jinchuriki choked.

"A bird? No… wait a second…" Nai blinked, before the two of them jumped when a shadow suddenly sprinted past them from the Guard of Four's side of the quad.

Asuma and Shikamaru, after getting their footing back, looked over at the tree to see what exactly it was that had caused them all to duck and cover all of a sudden. When they spotted the thing impaled in the log, it took them only a few seconds to identify the form of the projectile.

"Is that…"

"A lance?" Asuma finished.

All of a sudden, the end of the five meter long javelin was suddenly grabbed by a firm hand. In a flash, it was yanked clear of the tree and the one responsible for throwing it spun around and lunged after Hinata, who had managed to secure a good defensive stance upon reacting to the new threat. The girl ducked and retreated quickly, avoiding the swipes from the long weapon being swung and stabbed at her.

The spear tip flashed through the air repeatedly as the girl back flipped away, avoiding it when it attempted to strike her down from above. It ended up hitting the concrete, cracking the floor with its impact.

Bringing it back up, the wielder spun the lance around his neck and arm, before catching it and holding it out. When they came to stand to full attention, Hinata and Asuma recognized the attacker to be none other than Vincent, who had unexpectedly decided to get himself involved.

With a smile, the boy reached up and removed his officer's cap, holding it across as he gazed at the blue haired girl crouching on the ground several feet away from him.

The crowds were stunned.

"You must forgive me for startling you, Ms Hinata. I'm sorry, but I just cannot stand by and watch any longer as Naruto and Nai get all the attention."

Hinata blinked, her surprised expression suddenly turning into a frown as she brought her hands around. Her palms opening up, she glared hard up at the boy who had once been so passionate about pursuing her. But now, after it had been decided that the two groups would be in contest with one another, she was chosen by _him_ to be his opponent.

It looked as though a gun was being jumped and an all out battle was about to start.

Vincent beamed, "You look after your teammate with admiration and affection, an expression that has been built up from years of being in his presence. I don't know how I will ever compete with that… with someone like _him_."

"…"

"Still, I guess the best I can do to contend with such a strong boy is to show _you_ what I can do through action." He spun his lance around before pointing the tip towards her, tossing his hat away and taking the staff into a two-handed grip. His smile disappeared, quickly being replaced by a frown. "I've put my heart and soul into the very practice I have pursued, just as I will put my heart and soul into winning you over, Ms Hinata."

Hinata nodded, rising up and assuming her _Gentle Fist_ stance, while Asuma and Shikamaru watched them carefully from the sidelines.

"Th-Then… do your best," the Hyuuga encouraged. As much as she respected the young man's persistence, her heart was set on Naruto. She will have to make this clear to him through her own action, as she allowed the jinchuriki's smile to spur her on. _"To make Naruto-kun happy… I will do my best in every battle that I fight… and never give up."_

Vincent thrashed the spear tip from side to side, the shaftflashing through the air before stabbing out at Hinata. The girl's eyes followed it, her irises darting around before suddenly locking onto it and narrowing.

Byakugan activating, the girl ducked at the last second and leapt back to avoid. She began dancing around and out into the open, the audience gasping audibly as Vincent began his pursuit of her. His weapon spun expertly around him, very much like a hurricane, as he began lashing out at the kunoichi with attack patterns that were unseen in the shinobi world.

The way the westerns used a lance was so much different from the way shinobi used their staffs. Vincent appeared to use it in a fashion similar to both the martial artists from this land and the practitioners from his nation.

As direct and indirect as it was, Hinata wasn't going to let that get to her. Leaping back through the air to avoid a wide slice, she tossed a barrage of shuriken at the man to drive him off. Spotting the rain of deadly weapons, the cavalry officer stepped back and spun the lance around him repeatedly like a propeller blade, using the pole to smack the projectiles out of the air one after another, and knocking them flying away.

Once the sky was clear, he dashed after her. The kunoichi landed safely away, taking a defensive stance. With the pace secured, she lunged back at him, an exchange of long reaching attacks meeting a refined evasive and defensive opposition who continued moving around him. Hinata kept the battle at long-range, using this for now to help her figure out a way to defeat this man.

Shikamaru gritted his teeth and marched forward, "Why the hell is he interfering? Come on. That's not how it works, is it?" The boy asked, looking over at Asuma behind him.

The man shrugged, looking up to see not only Hinata sparring it out with Vincent on their space in the quad, but also Naruto and Nai who had also restarted their fight. The competitors were moving swiftly across the open floor, giving a grand show to the audience and wowing the cameramen as they worked double hard to capture all of the action. This was almost too good of an opportunity to pass up. It was like the Chunin Exams had come early for them…

And speaking of competitors…

Shikamaru gasped and dived away spontaneously when both he and Asuma unexpectedly saw William come charging across the clearing. Completely disregarding Nai and Naruto's fight taking place in the middle, the hulking American decided to go after the person he had chosen as _his_ quarry, and attempted to shoulder-plow the Nara into the wall before he could react.

Missing him by inches, the charger instead slammed headlong into the tree, snapping it at the base and causing it to come crashing down onto the grassy bed it was sitting in. Staggering away after bringing down the poor thing, William spun around and focused his best glare on Shikamaru, who was crouching on the ground and gripping his shoulder. Apparently he had landed the wrong way in his haste to get out of reach of his attacker.

After exchanging a hostile stare with one that was completely caught off guard, the hulking teen then grinned across at the sloth, before reaching up with his hand and literally ripping his tunic off, belts and all. The top part of his uniform was thrown onto the wind, where it would land a safe distance away and revealed his throbbing, sparkling muscles in all their magnificence. He pumped his chest out and flexed his biceps, giving out a primal roar that had Asuma lean away at the unexpected display.

"MEEEEEEEEEN!" William bellowed, suddenly bringing himself down into an orthodox, boxing like stance with his hands extended and unclenched. Beginning to pace from side to side with a heavy foot, he kept his gaze locked onto Shikamaru as he back-wheeled away from him. "Sorry, but I cannot hold myself back any longer. I must have you!"

"Uh… excuse me?" the Nara choked, shaking his head in shock. Did he hear the guy right, or were his ears acting up again?

"I am just so tense. Oh, my insides are jostling, my passions are burning… ah, and my inner beast!" The man breathed in deeply, before throwing his arms out and roaring out again at the top of his lungs. The audience was pretty much stunted by his performance, as were the delegates up on top of the stairs who were now all staring in shock at the boy that had so suddenly joined in on the festivities. "WHOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH HHHH! What a magnificent turn of events! The manly battles taking place before me has not only awoken the beasts inside of my companions… BUT HAVE ALSO AWOKEN THE BEAST INSIDE ME!"

Okay, scary. Sure Shikamaru had heard of crazy, but this guy was just bat-shit crazy. The boy chuckled nervously as he watched the wrestler pump his fists, and slam them into each other with an almighty thud. His footsteps pounded into the ground, upsetting the very foundations they stood on and making the Nara feel all the more concerned about his personal wellbeing.

"Come, fellow man of combat," William breathed, his pectorals twitching one after the other with loud crunching noises being heard. "Let us wrestle like real men, until either one of us is left standing or the sun has finally set over its horizon." Diamonds began twinkling around his grinning visage, a sight that had Shikamaru blink.

Gulping, the boy raised a hand and looked over to where Hinata was having her battle. "Can I trade out with someone… please…?"

"MEEEEEEEEEENNNN!"

"Damn it!" Shikamaru cursed, barrel rolling when the wrestler suddenly charged at him again and began lashing out with wide, punishing hooks.

It was almost like the Nara had seen and heard something like this before. The power, the directness, the intensity… this man was a hard brawler very much like Nai. He was infinitely scarier too. Not only did the guy have physical strength and guts to match with the muay thai fighter, he was also bigger, had more character, and was more willing to fight with anything that had a soul. He was passionate after all, which made him even more troublesome.

The only thing Shikamaru could be grateful for in this instance is that the guy's technique wasn't as refined and that he was too heavy footed when using combinations.

This allowed the smaller, lighter, and more agile Nara to keep ahead of him as he came in swinging. He ducked and jumped back when his fists and elbows lashed out, as well as his hands when they made a grab for him. He kept this up for several minutes, before the boy was eventually driven into the plinth of one of the statues lining the central path. Shikamaru felt his back hit the wall and looked over his shoulder in shock, a split second before he glanced up to see William's almighty fist come plummeting down at him.

Gasping, the Nara leapt away, while the teenager's fist plowed right through the stone monument and shattered the inanimate guardian into millions of pieces. Stunned, Shikamaru managed to barrel away from the top half of the statue scattering itself across the court, and crouched a safe distance from his opponent. William brought his fist back around, rising up to full height as he followed his swift foe with his gaze.

"My, my, you must be pretty good to dodge my megaton punches. Not bad… not bad at all!"

Praise was coming at him from his opponent? Outstanding…

He'd better appreciate it now than never because Shikamaru was pretty sure he wouldn't be receiving the same courtesy from future enemies. Just because the guy was friendly in spite of battle and still acted sportsmanly, that didn't mean he could slack off now. He had a serious issue to contend with.

"_Though I'm sure guys like Naruto and Sasuke would be able to avoid attacks like that no problem, they're still really unorthodox, which is a big problem,"_ Shikamaru huffed, sweat breaking out on his face. _"The guy uses low staggering movements and not only neglects basic punching techniques; he also just comes at you swinging. There is absolutely no grace, rhythm or form to his fighting style at all, but each and every punch he throws sound's heavy. If I take one of those directly, I'm finished."_

…

…

"_But… I can deal with this. He's not unbeatable. Every single technique has a weakness… I just need to find his…"_

Yes. His power was exactly like Nai's. Guess all of that muscle wasn't just for show. Shikamaru could see this guy hurling buildings in the future.

He sure as hell was close enough to that stage right now.

The Genin was unable to complete his evaluation of his opponent when he saw as William, using raw strength he had no idea an ordinary human being could possess, grabbed the bottom half of the statue he had destroyed and ripped it out of the ground. With a roar of sheer effort, the wrestler held the massive slab of concrete and earth above his head, before tossing the thing at him like it was a baseball.

The massive chunk of fixture spun through the air toward the crouching boy, who leapt out of the way to avoid it as it came spiraling at him in a curved motion. It cracked the ground when it hit, before bouncing to a stop just outside of the barrier the soldiers had set up for the civilians in the stands.

The crowds gaped, as did Asuma and Naruto who had managed to catch the boy's stunts from their positions.

It wasn't the only thing the wrestler would show the world today, because the next item he picked up was one of the one-ton, stone slabs making up the palace's courtyard surface. Slamming his fingers into a groove, the man single-handedly ripped the slab of concrete out of the ground and sent it hurling at Shikamaru in one, fluent motion. The boy swore to himself as he dodged that as well, but only barely.

The guy wasn't reckless; not at all. He was shockingly accurate.

"Ah, hell," the Nara groaned, seeing his opponent come charging at him once he had landed, elbow first. _"Why does the world hate me so much?"_

Seeing Shikamaru suddenly get shoulder-butted and sent flying across the quad, along the way bouncing along the concrete right through Naruto and Nai circling each other in the middle, Asuma decided that now was the best time for him to intervene.

Concerned for the safety of his shogi partner and less taijutsu coordinated student, the Jonin dashed out to catch his apprentice and stop his opponent. The kid was obviously not meant to fight this guy; he just couldn't see William being beaten in the conventional sense. Hell, even Naruto would have trouble against him.

Unfortunately, Asuma wasn't really in the right state of mind to make any kind of proper judgment or accurately focus on his surroundings. He was so set on going out to save his students that he was unable to notice Periklis come plummeting down from the sky above before landing directly in front of him, just when he was only halfway from Shikamaru's opponent.

Skidding to an abrupt stop, the Jonin leapt back instinctively when he saw the swordsman straighten up before him.

Adjusting the glove on his right hand, the Hellenic officer reached over and drew the saber from its sheath. His magnificently crafted blade flashing under the sun, the man stepped forward into a comfortable, jousting stance, and smiled across at the team leader.

"Your opponent is me, Mr. Asuma, sir," Periklis exclaimed with a gentleman's air about his voice. He flicked the sword out, before holding it out in front of him, his feet widening. "En guard."

A nervous bead of sweat ran down Asuma's face.

Oh yeah, the sheer intent and pressure that Naruto could feel from Nai, the raw intensity and power Shikamaru felt from William, and the heart and focus Hinata could feel from Vincent… Asuma felt all of that and more coming off of this one man.

If he thought all of his past enemies were scary, as well as all those guys he knew from his village, the Jonin was in fact getting the worst aura of his professional career coming from this Periklis fellow. The sheer killing intent he could smell, feel and everything else wafting off of this person had Asuma slide back edgily, his hand hovering over his side holster and twitching for a weapon of his own.

Gulping, the bearded Jonin smirked back at the fencer and took a stance of his own, "Alright then… bring it on…"

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Note:<strong>_ And the fight begins!

I can't excuse Churchill's actions. We can all assume that in his wilder years or the younger years of an ordinary person, he made some pretty poor judgment calls. Making decisions out of desperation as well as loyalty can really have some unpleasant outcomes, and it was something Kasumi wanted to avoid being on the receiving end of. So, what better way to resolve a dispute and come to an agreement then to have a competition? Instead of thousands of people getting hurt, you can have Team 10 and the other guys.

Wonderful.

I made Churchill arrive at that decision based on one bad even in history he was a part of, and that was the Gallipoli farce back in WWI. I might get burned for it, but hey, this was the main antagonistic element of the arc, and one that's going to be resolved in the next chapter.

Naruto against Nai: rival against rival. Hinata against Vincent: a girl wishing to prove herself squaring off against a powerful man in the same league as Neji also wishing to prove his worth. Shikamaru against William: brain against brawn. And Asuma against Periklis, two powerful men of their generations ready to lock blades.

Things are starting to heat up.

P.S: Nai isn't using any special techniques to block Naruto's punches; the guy is built like a tank. He is that strong. Naruto needs to come up with a way to overcome his raw power and technique, because the guy is good.


	22. Land of Dusk Arc: The Tiger's Fury

**NARUTO**

**The Art of Appropriation**

_The Tiger's Fury_

Naruto yelled out with great effort as he leapt through the air and spun at his opponent, foot first. His kick slammed into Nai's guard with a loud bang, the teenager barely even budging an inch from where he was standing yet grunting from the force exerted.

Throwing his arms out, the kick boxer attempted to drive the boy away from him until he felt the blonde hike up onto his shoulder and kick off of his back, sending him reeling forward.

Regaining his balance, Nai spun around and glared skywards, where he saw that the Genin had taken to the air. It was a domain that suited the shinobi's attack strategies really well.

Spinning several times to gain momentum, Naruto ended his quick rotations with a throw, chucking a barrage of five shuriken towards his target down below. The stars cut through the air in three different directions, before converging on the one target.

Nai backed up a step, bringing his right arm across and batting the flying projectiles away in a single swipe. It was like he was batting away a swarm of pesky flies or a ball, because when the flying blades were struck down by his arm, they all sparked loudly before scattering across the playing field with an audible clang. Unfazed by the display of weapons, the kick boxer took up an orthodox offensive stance and dashed forward to where he could see Naruto making landfall.

Crouching to absorb the impact of the fall, the jinchuriki formed a cross-finger hand seal in front of him, _**"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"**_ White clouds exploded all around him, seconds before half a dozen clones came sprinting out of the fumes, causing the wall of smoke to suddenly part. They charged at the kick boxer threatening to run down the original, heads held forward and arms pulled back in rushing mode. "Take him down!"

"_**Right!"**_ the doppelgangers all shouted, leaping through the air and diving headlong toward the enemy. Their plan was simple; surround him and tag him from all sides. Nai was a very direct fighter, so a six-pronged attack seemed like an effective strategy. There was no way a guy as big as him and used such heavy attacks could take on six swift targets at once, right? At his speed, the shadow copies were certain that they could deal with him.

Well, that was the exact mindset the squad of confident duplicates went into battle with… until they crashed head first into the freight train that was their opponent. With barely any effort outputted on his part, Nai cut through the swath of clones with a combination of punches, hooks and elbows, plowing through them one after the other. The cloners cried out in agony as they were sent spiraling in all different directions, crashing to the ground hard before dispelling instantaneously. The last clone in particular, who was planning on shutting Nai's movements down by cutting him off up ahead, was given special treatment by a flying knee to the chest.

The kick boxer was engulfed in a blast of cloud; the remnants of the poor clone that was too stunned from watching his support get cut down before he himself was slain.

When Naruto saw Nai come bursting out of the remains of his forces still charging at him at full speed, the blonde took drastic measures. Crouching low, he dove to his left, flipping through hand seals as quickly as he could while dodging the sweeping cross his opponent threw the moment he was in reach.

"_**Iwa Bunshin no Jutsu!"**_ Naruto rolled across the ground, at the exact moment pillars of stone jutted out of the ground on four sides surrounding Nai, boxing him in and at first appearing to be the opening formation of an inanimate wall. However, the clumps of earth quickly took shape before transforming into full-blown copies of the original Naruto, colors and all.

The jinchuriki grinned when he assumed a kneeling position a safe distance away, _"Let's see if you can handle a higher value clone."_

The stone copies took stances and lunged in. Nai, identifying the quartet as an immediate threat, took up a defensive stance of his own before spinning on the spot. With the full power of his body he aimed a roundhouse kick right at the side of the copy behind him, the clone's top half exploding into a shower of debris and dust, leaving only the legs standing in place. The rest of the three would meet a similar end, with Nai ducking a jab aimed for the back of his head and ramming an elbow into the clone's gut, before spinning around and kicking at its legs with another roundhouse. The legs exploded into gravel, the clone collapsing into a crumpled heap on the ground a moment later.

When the other two clones dove at Nai with kunai, the kick boxer spun on the spot once again, ramming a knee right up into one's chin and backhanding the other in a split, double hit. Their heads were blasted off from the shoulders, leaving the pugilist untouched and surrounded by piles of earth and rubble.

Just as the dust clouds were starting to settle and Nai was in the process of resetting his position, the real Naruto came dashing through the screen of fumes, spinning at Nai with a kunai in hand. The brawler backed off in surprise, dodging the swipes before hooking down at his opponent with a powerful left. The blonde ducked around and came up on the outside, sending a right straight across his cheek and cocking Nai's head violently, with blood flying from his lips. However, the kick boxer was pretty much unfazed by the damage, and backed away again to avoid the stabbing motion of his foe's kunai.

Naruto shimmied back, bouncing on his toes with his blade moving with the motions of his hands. After pacing from side to side around his target for a few seconds, analyzing his next route of attack, he then leapt back into the fray. He once again lashed at his opponent with a series of arcing swings with impressive swiftness and grace. Nai retreated vigilantly from each attempted slash, before spinning on the spot and returning his attacker's approach with a side kick. He slammed the boy clean in the abdominals, striking at the gap in his attack pattern and sending him flying several feet across the field, the counter also forcing the Genin to drop his knife.

The jinchuriki, winded from the blow, circled quickly to his left, while Nai pursued him relentlessly. The kick boxer lashed out ferociously with swift kicks, forcing the blonde to back off some more, before the spiky haired fighter was able to dive into the pause his pursuer so kindly provided for him in a misstep.

Naruto ducked under a left jab, sending a body shot at Nai's side. The kick boxer withdrew immediately when he felt two more hits aimed at his abs, and blocked the chain punches that came around. He swung out with an elbow, cutting the crisp air with a deadly blow that left it smoking. Naruto blocked and stepped in with a left upper, hitting his opponent below the chin while he was pulling away, and causing him to stagger in surprise.

Dancing around in another half circle, Naruto charged in and spun at Nai with a flying back kick. When his opponent dodged, the blonde followed up with a right swing, knocking him across the face. His attacker's speed picking up, Nai moved back hurriedly, tightening his jaw and parrying the various swings Naruto came at him with. He was determined to break through his guard, no matter what it took. But the muay thai fighter wasn't going to let him.

Reacting quickly, Nai ducked a swinging right back hand from Naruto, before stepping in just as another left hook and right cross combination came in; cutting the air around his cheek. The boxer then did something completely unexpected for his style and, while catching the blonde's wrist from his straight, locked up his arm when it came about and twisted in so that it ended up extended, and Naruto was turned fully side on to him with his shoulder pressed up against Nai's chest. The Siam boy then slid around with several swift back-fist body shots aimed at his core, chest and face in that order, followed by a punishing right body hook to the liver. Naruto coiled over in shock from the blast of the attack burying deep into his side, and while he was hunched over the blonde spewed out a spray of saliva and blood.

When Nai removed his fist Naruto stumbled away, the jinchuriki's world flickering between all black and hazy with the pain in his side threatening to bring him to his knees.

The muay thai practitioner casually strolled after him, hands down and glare locked onto his wounded target. When the brawler came within range of the staggered shinobi and was about to bring his left fist up for an overhand, the jinchuriki unexpectedly spun around and threw an upward left palm strike. He slammed it across Nai's face, sending the boy stumbling over with a surprised and irritated expression on his face.

"_Shit! I nearly blacked out!"_ Naruto thought desperately, keeping himself awake with the adrenaline pumping through his veins as he reengaged his stumbling opponent._ "His in-fighting speed… it's superb. I hate people like that; they're annoying as hell…"_

So far the jinchuriki had been chucking the whole book at this guy. Not just taijutsu and kung fu… EVERYTHING! The opening of the fight had them engaging in close combat, to test each other's speed, strength and timing. That was good and all, and they ended up starting to exchange hits evenly, but when his quick in and outs weren't having much effect, the jinchuriki decided to fight with a little more space, and started throwing shuriken and kunai. Sure his aim was right on the mark, but Nai kept knocking his barrages away or the blades just kept repeatedly bouncing off of him. It was like his skin was made of ivory.

Hell, he even sent clones after the kick boxer to try and slow him down, all of them armed to the teeth. But what could they do when the original fighting at full capacity couldn't? The guy just plowed right through them in their dozens. Even his stone clones were no match for the pugilist and those things were built like walls when active. Nai was unfazed by Naruto's efforts to plant his feet or stop him. He just kept moving forward, taking hit after hit after hit.

However, though he appeared unaffected, it seemed as though from a long off point that the jinchuriki's efforts were starting to bare fruit.

The kick boxer had bruises all over his face and stomach, with blood dripping down from his hairline and the corner of his mouth. The multitude of attacks he was taking to the body were reaching him physically, the only problem was that he was still fighting at the same pace as before.

His stamina and durability were insane.

Naruto on the other hand was getting hit with the worst of it. The few blows that actually landed were extremely damaging, especially the body blows. The pounding he took to the chest and abdomen was asphyxiating his lungs. If he couldn't breathe, then he wouldn't be able to get the oxygen he needed, and that meant his feet would become heavy and he wouldn't be able to move as well. It took up too much energy to maneuver the way he did.

This was why he intended to stay the hell away from the guy's attacks. If he got in too close, he'd be finished.

"_The guy is sturdy. He has a body built like a rock and can take just as much damage as I can… and he can apparently recover just as quickly."_ That last fact perplexed the jinchuriki more than anything else.

While he himself could heal from serious injuries in just a matter of minutes, hours and days, depending on the severity of the wounds thanks to the nine-tailed fur ball inside of him, Nai was also able to heal from an internal injury almost as fast as he could. This wasn't something that a sturdy body could withstand and recover from on its own, oh no.

Sure, it was a contributing factor; this guy still had some sort of trick up his sleeve that was helping him heal quickly.

"_Maybe I'll figure it out…"_ Naruto thought, lowering his stance into an offensive one after regaining his sense of equilibrium from the body hook, _"After I've kicked him around a little more."_

Nai shook his head, smirking at the blonde standing a ways from him before circling. The two set the center between them, and began pacing rings around it.

"Your blows have become sharper. That's troublesome," the kick boxer exclaimed, seeing his opponent striding squarely in his sights, "And being able to physically create copies of your own person? Most interesting. But I hope that's not all you've got to show me, ninja…"

"Don't worry. The show is just entering the final stages of act one," Naruto replied, upping the tempo in his pacing and lowering his stance. His raised palms curled into limp fists, making him look almost feline by contrast as he switched to _Iron Cat Fist_ style. _Wing Chun_ and conventional taijutsu weren't getting him anywhere. He needed to one-up this guy. "I've got a few more moves in my ninja hand book, don't you worry."

Naruto's glare tightened and he suddenly dashed at the boxer.

Nai ducked and dodged when a flash of metal sliced through the air, his opponent coming at him with a blade in hand once again. The kick boxer paced back quickly, shifting from left to right, the personality of his attack pattern switching to out-fighting. He gave his target a merry chase, allowing him to play the role of cat as he lashed out with his claws, or better yet, the kunai.

The boxer slipped and swayed away from the deadly blade, his opponent lunging and spinning through the air with greater ferocity, speed and precision then before.

Forced to circle again, Nai furrowed his brow when he twisted away from another wide swing. Naruto reset himself almost instantaneously and swung back with a backhanded slash.

The pugilist leaned away sharply, following the path of his blade with a weary scowl. _"He's good with wielding short weapons. I won't be able to dodge him forever…"_

…

…

…

"_But…"_

"_Time to slow you down permanently!"_ Naruto thought furiously, suddenly stepping in deep and spinning in with an aggressive motion in his body. His opponent sent a left upper, intent on taking off his head with a single swing, but the blonde slipped around it before driving his blade straight into his stomach, aiming on taking him out at the side and stopping his feet dead.

Or kill him… in a sense.

This would be the end of the stalemate and the beginning of his road to victory…

That most certainly seemed to be the case now that his blade had finally made its mark… and would have secured him the winning seat, if it weren't for one small problem.

Much to the jinchuriki's shock, the moment he attempted to drive his blade into his opponent's abdominals, the kunai quite literally bent at the tip with a loud clang ringing out, his limb shaking at the resonance.

Alarmed when his weapon fractured, Naruto back-flipped away, barely avoiding a sweeping roundhouse kick that shot up out of nowhere.

Leaping across the field, performing various flips in the process, the jinchuriki landed a safe distance away and looked up with wide eyes.

"What the hell?!" Blinking, Naruto saw his opponent return to an orthodox stance and stare across at him, almost like nothing had happened. This baffled the blonde beyond belief, as he looked down at his weapon to see its now blunt edge flashing in the sun. He looked between it and his target several times, before focusing on the spot he had intended to impale but had instead shattered his knife. "Hey! What gives?"

Nai, seeing his opponent's confusion, grinned and slapped his six-packed stomach, rubbing it to sooth the bruise. "Jealous? I've got fabulous abs, baby. Quote, '_the finest foundations can shatter the sharpest of blades', _unquote. It's all a part of my master's training routine, so as a fellow martial artist, I'm sure you already know this."

"Oh, that is _so_ unfair," Naruto whined, briefly looking down at his own well-toned but flat, covered stomach before looking up enviously at the buff teenager now assumed into a defensive stance. _"That's it. When I get home, I'm starting an intense sit-up routine. I want abs like that!"_

Cracking his neck, Nai charged forward again, giving Naruto only a few seconds to come up with an effective counter before he was forced to jump over the swinging boxer. He kicked off of the back of the pugilist's head, leaping skywards and turning around in mid-flight, his eyes locking onto the spine of his opponent.

"_Knives and shuriken bounce off of his body, even when I attack him at extreme close range. So I can rule out shurikenjutsu as a way of damaging him externally. My clones are also useless against the guy even when they coordinate their movements. He just runs through them like they're not even there. Looks like I'm going to have to wear him out with hammer-to-nail combinations and numbers. Time to take it up a gear!"_

Landing several meters away, Naruto formed a cross-fingered hand seal and charged head down towards his opponent. Nai managed to regain his footing and turn to face him, meeting his dash head long and leading with a right hook to take him out. Within seconds, the blonde was upon him.

In the blink of an eye, the kick boxer sent his swinging attack plowing right across Naruto's face, before he unexpectedly burst into a cloud of white smoke. The boxer stumbled forward in surprise, "What?" As soon as his feet hit the ground after several unbalanced steps, hands suddenly jutted out of the ground and grabbed his ankles, anchoring him to the floor.

Looking down in shock, Nai then suddenly became aware of more footsteps fast approaching him from behind and turned, where he was immediately met with a punishing return hook across his face. Within seconds, he was set upon by swaths of clones coming from all directions. Left, right, back and forth, copies came flying at him from bursts of white clouds exploding all around the quad making up their ring, and assaulted his body from waist to head. The kick boxer was battered around like a rag doll, even being slashed at by attackers armed with kunai that either grazed him or shattered wherever they hit, all account of his body's durability. However, though the knives didn't have any effect, he was still getting hammered with single, repetitive, full power attacks from multiple, solid doppelgangers running circles around him.

Getting slammed by a collection of five fists from in front, courtesy of a group of shadow clones, Nai reeled back in astonishment. He almost tipped like a tree in a forest, till a kick slammed into the back of his head and sent him coiling the other way. Gritting his teeth with blood flying out of his mouth, the pugilist growled out in frustration and brought a fist around, before slamming it into the floor beneath him. Using his fall for power, the force of his downward thrust that shattered the concrete surface caused the clone holding him down to dispel. "Enough of this!" Nai shouted, spinning around and sending a left hook across one of the dozen Narutos clobbering him. The blow exploded across the doppelganger's face and sent it spiraling through the air before ultimately dispelling. "I'm not a damn piñata! Knock it off!"

Naruto's clones skidded back, the original hiding amongst them and commanding their movements grinning widely, before wiping his nose with his thumb, "That may be true, but I can still do THIS!" With a single gesture, the copies surrounding Nai all converged on his position, before leaping through the air and diving towards him. They splayed their arms and legs out, blanketing him in shadow before the entire contingent landed on top of him. The shaken brawler barely had any time to recover before he was pinned to the ground under dozens of bodies.

"_**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"**_ Forming the same hand seal, more explosions of white clouds exploded all around the original Naruto hanging back, filling the entire area with a multitude of about fifty to a hundred clones. One after the other, the small army all ran toward the ten copy dog pile and leapt on top of it, forming a mountain of bodies that placed an unbearable weight upon their opponent being crushed underneath.

The original then ran to the edge of the mass once the hill was finally completed, grabbing one of his clones' legs sticking out of the pile and pulling hard. With a loud roar, Naruto then began sprinting away from the pile, pulling the clone copy with him. That clone he pulled had grabbed onto the legs of another, which in turn had latched onto another, and another, with dozens more forming a chain of bodies that fed out from the pile, with the original pulling them along at incredible speed.

Once Naruto had ran a ways from the pile with the chain following in his shadow, he then skidded to a stop, gave a mighty yell and yanked on the feed of doppelgangers, rotating his body around at full speed and dragging the heavy line with him.

The clones that fed into the pile untangled with the chain, the pile disheveling till there was only Nai left in the middle, with a clone latched onto his legs. The kick boxer cried out in surprise when he was suddenly pulled violently into the air and was whipped around at neck breaking speed. The original Naruto, the wielder of this human chain, began spinning the length of bodies around through the sky above like a fishing line ready to be cast, the length of copies undulating fiercely with the end absorbing all of the force.

"_**Ningen no Kusari Jutsu!"**_ (Human Chain Whip Technique)

The clone chain spiraling above the ground like a hurricane, Naruto then concentrated all of his efforts into a full toss, before sending the body chain careening towards the ground, end first. Nai plummeted straight into the concrete, his body slamming head first into the ring and causing a shockwave of dust and rubble to rocket into the sky on his impact. He was buried in a wall of smoke, the clones releasing his feet and dispelling simultaneously.

The original Naruto, relinquishing his hold over his jutsu, breathed out in relief and sunk to his knees, panting from the sheer effort exerted into his newest technique while glaring towards the impact crater, where he assumed his opponent was lying unconscious.

"That should do the trick."

Unfortunately, he couldn't have been more off in his wildest of dreams. The moment the cloud began to settle into the ground, the silhouette of his opponent came marching out of the clearing. Though more banged up than before and bleeding profusely from the head and mouth, Nai maintained a smirking expression when he made his grand reappearance to the stage. The jinchuriki gawked in shock as his opponent cracked his neck from side to side, before spitting out the blood in his mouth.

"Thanks a bunch. That was a great warm up," the kick boxer exclaimed loudly, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand before dropping into a wide stance. His feet braced against the ground as he held his arms at his sides, his fingers twitching. "Now that that's over, let's start the real fight."

"_You've got to be kidding me?"_ Naruto thought, his expression showing his distress at the sudden turn of events. _"How can he still be conscious?"_

Nai smirked, his hands flexing several times before clenching into fists. "Now that I've gotten a taste of your abilities, it's only fitting that I give you the same privilege in return…" His hair then suddenly began to wave about, almost like it was caught in an up draught. In fact, a lot of the debris and dust scattered along the ground started to rise into the air, creating a scene almost reminiscent of zero gravity.

At first Naruto thought he was tripping, figuring it was because he'd taken so many blows to the head, or he was just exhausted from jumping around and dodging all of his opponent's killer swings.

However, after shaking his head and refocusing on his target, the blonde saw through wide eyes as the kick boxer's hands started to glow. As if his limbs were made of steel, they heated up to a bright, almost magma like orange and began to glow in flashes. Seconds later, golden flames suddenly erupted from his hands, engulfing them and rising into the air like a controlled fire burning at the end of a torch.

The same sensation happened to his feet, and within moments all four of his limbs were alight and burning brightly.

Nai brought his arms up into an orthodox stance, showing that he was ready to begin again.

"_**Art of the Tiger's Pulse,"**_ Nai exclaimed, reading out the name of his technique while beginning a slow, swaggering march toward his opponent. "Let's see if you can keep up with me now that I'm getting serious." A frown came upon his face as he stiffened his stance. Like kerosene being poured over a small flame on a fireplace, the wielder poured more power into his feet and hands. The fire around his limbs exploded into an inferno, yet remained burning at those four points. "This time, I won't give you a chance to think or even breathe. Let's begin the second round."

Naruto, seeing the ground scorch to black wherever the boy treaded, swallowed hard and rose to his own feet. _"Son of a bitch. I'm giving him everything I've got, and he's still got this? What the hell!" _This fire, whatever it was, this was _his_ energy, his own chakra. Whatever it was, it wasn't normal by shinobi standards or an ordinary form of energy.

With sweat dripping down his face and joining the blood coming down from his lips, the jinchuriki prepared to face his now completely pumped and fully recharged opponent; one who just refused to go down, and was now ready to deliver the ass-kicking of a life time.

This was not good…

"Shit…"

OOO

Shikamaru ran backwards faster than he had ever run in his life, ducking under hooks that just came flying at him non-stop. His opponent let out a tremendous yell and brought both his hands up, interlocking his fingers above his head.

Spotting the danger, the battered boy leapt to his right and barely avoided the massive hammer blow that came plummeting down on top of him. It struck the ground and split the concrete with an almighty 'bang', causing the rest of the courtyard to tremble violently from the sheer force exerted. Barely saved by his own quickness, the boy tumbled across the courtyard before leaping back to his feet and spinning around.

He looked just in time to see William remove his hands from the ground and shake them off, before turning to him and begin walking in his direction. Though he didn't pursue beyond that easy pace, Shikamaru could still feel the pressure coming off of the guy from his mere presence alone. It was powerful and choking…

For that very reason, he now knew what Naruto himself was up against.

This guy was exactly if not more physically powerful than Nai, and was not afraid to show it.

"_This has got to stop. I can't keep running forever,"_ Shikamaru thought, sweat dripping down his dust smeared face. Even with all of his dodging, he was still getting caught up in the storm that was the chaos this American was bringing with him. The amount of damage he was creating was unreal. _"There has to be a way to stop him. But what… and how?"_

"Come, my agile opponent! Let us continue this dance of destiny till neither one of us is able to stand!" William exclaimed, dropping into a low stance before charging like a bull straight towards the frozen boy. With his hands at his sides and ready to grab hold, this guy was raring to butt heads. "Show me the magnificence that your body possesses!"

"No thanks!" Shikamaru shouted back, swiftly reaching into his pouch behind him. _"His guard is wide open! I can hit him from here!"_ With swift hand action, the Nara tossed a series of kunai at the individual thundering towards him. The blades cut through the air like arrows, flashing as they converged on their mark.

However, much to the boy's astonishment, the barrage bounced off of William's face, chest and shoulders like they were hitting a wall. They scattered, leaving nothing, not even a single scratch upon the man's perfectly sculpted body. He continued to charge on, unaffected by the attack and still grinning like mad.

Failing in the first wave, Shikamaru then chucked another salvo of pointy objects without skipping a beat, this time lacing paper bombs in with his kunai. The paper fluttered violently as they cut towards their target, flames flickering off of their ends.

The moment the knives made contact, the bombs detonated one after the other in a violent display of fireworks that had the crowds gawking in astonishment. Blasts of heat, fire and debris consumed the wrestler in a scolding hurricane of incinerating capable explosions, which caused even Shikamaru to flinch at their proximity to him.

At first things seemed to calm down. But then, even with the fire still burning strong and smoke was pouring out across the arena, the wafting wall in front unexpectedly parted, and the colossal wrestler came charging out, looking completely unfazed. With a roar he brought his right fist over his shoulder and sent it diving straight down at his smaller opponent. Shikamaru gaped in bewilderment, but was quick to respond to the danger. Relying on instincts to drive his movements, the Nara tossed a cluster of smoke bombs at the ground, which went off and blanketed him in a bellowing sheet of purple.

William charged into the smoke screen without a moment's hesitation or a thought of danger, his fist slamming into the concrete in a big miss and causing another depth charge like blast of debris that rocketed into the air.

Dashing out of the purple mist, Shikamaru leapt to safety away from his own shield and away from the shockwave formed by his opponent burying yet another attack into the ground.

Those last couple of times he just recklessly came in to try and strike him down had ended the same way, with another crater forming in the quad and no damage being sustained to the person intended for the hit. However, the Nara had been having a lot of close calls and in spite of his efforts to avoid, was still catching a lot of the splash back the brawler was creating with his attacks.

The brute was powerful. That much was clear.

"Great. What do I do now?"

Explosives didn't work on this guy. Even a multitude of paper bombs didn't even make him flinch or think twice about his actions. If anything, he was more of a threat to an opposing force then an entire army of those tank things the team saw back in the camp. He just wasn't wavering beyond being completely excessive, and was not afraid to go all out. By the way he was roaring out and charging in like an animal, yeah, he was attacking full on.

Panting from continuously dodging, Shikamaru formed his trade mark 'thinking man' hand seal, and quickly tried formulating a plan to overcome the man's colossal strength. It had to have a weakness. It just had to.

"_Think brain, think,"_ the Nara murmured in his head, closing his eyes while the remainder of his smokescreen provided him with what few seconds he had to rest. His opponent was still distracted. He could use this time to come up with a solution, however desperate it may be._ "He's a human being, just like me, Asuma, Hinata and Naruto. He has overwhelming power, skin for armor and has excellent dashing speed. He uses a staggering attack pattern, is slow in throwing punches, and isn't good at slowing down. He doesn't have any long reaching techniques aside from throwing dangerous things, but he compensates for it with a hard head and a really good tempo in his approach. His movements are also quite labored when circling and he can control his attacks quite well, but he's not afraid to get in close."_

Reckless and aggressive. He also had a weird pacing habit, moving his hands out in front of him and at his sides while keeping a lowered stance, very much like a grappler. This was definitely a trait of a wrestler, but none that Shikamaru had ever seen before. Hell, William had enough juice in his system and technique to be able to take on those sumo wrestler guys he'd seen at performances no problem with how physically empowering he was.

But even great, almost unfathomable, superior strength had a weakness. He just needed to find that chink.

"_As long as he's moving, he's dangerous,"_ Shikamaru spun around and dropped to his knee. He formed the rat seal and positioned himself accordingly, readying himself to deliver his next technique. _"I'll work this in steps, and see what happens."_

The smoke parted and William came charging out. Hollering all sorts of nonsense about youth, Shikamaru used his lapse of focus to his advantage. Grinning, the Nara worked his chakra like magic and activated his jutsu, the shadow at his feet shimmering before shooting out like a spear.

"_**Kagemane no Jutsu!"**_

It landed dead on a split second later.

William jerked to a sudden stop, a surprised look coming across his face when his gaze turned southwards. Locking onto his own two feet, he saw that the very shadow being made by his massive form had been caught, and had tied itself directly to what appeared to be an elongated one originating from his kneeling opponent. He followed the problem right back to its source, where he saw Shikamaru smirking at him.

"Got yah. Now you can't move."

Blinking, the wrestler jerked a couple times to test the extent of the paralysis.

Realizing this to be a metaphysical abnormality and not an occurrence within his own body, William grinned back at his foe with diamonds sparkling around his head. The lack of panic in his opponent's eyes had Shikamaru raise an eyebrow curiously.

"My naïve compatriot of combat; do you seriously believe mere bonds will hold me?! FOOLISHNESS! TRUE MEN OF POWER CANNOT BE CONTAINED! THEY ARE UNSTOPPABLE, LIKE THE WAVES ON THE OCEAN, THE WIND IN THE AIR AND THE MARCH OF TIME!" His muscles pulsated loudly, veins appearing along his arms as every fiber of his being tensed with the moment. He stiffened up, his body shaking from the paralysis and reeling on the verge of release. "REAL MANLINESS IS MEASURED IN THE CAPACITY TO DO AMAZING FEATS! I am a man you see, one endowed with magnificent muscles, curvatures and finesse honed from years of practice and work. With these very assets I'd been growing since the day I was born, I SHALL ACCOMPLISH MARVELOUS FEATS OF MANLINESS!"

"W-Wait… what…?" Shikamaru gritted his teeth forcefully when he suddenly found his shadow fighting against him. His chakra began to contort and flair uncontrollably, almost on its own accord.

Biting down hard with his hand seal still locked up in front of him, the Nara attempted to hold down something comparable to the raw power of a wild animal in full rage mode. If anything, his hold over his opponent was loosening, like he was effortlessly fighting back against it.

Shikamaru began to struggle maintaining his jutsu, with his efforts to restrain the monstrous beast lasting for only a few seconds longer before the Nara looked up in astonishment, where he saw his opponent, pumped like iron and muscles bulged up even larger then before, began marching stiffly toward him. He was still trapped by the shadow… but it wasn't bothering him.

William's footsteps shook the ground with every landing and he grunted with every heavy stride he was able to muster. At a labored pace, he approached his opponent, who continued to kneel that set distance away from him and was now staring up at him with a bewildered expression in play.

Within moments, the wrestler was soon standing over the smaller boy.

A sparkly grin appeared on William's face as he engaged his opponent in a staring contest, "These are the marvelous feats of manliness I'm talking about, astonished one. Recoil in disbelief under my beautiful manhood." God, if he had actually performed a pelvic-thrust right then and there, Shikamaru would have just quit out of principle.

The Nara however returned his smile with a glare, beads of sweat running down his face from the extra work he was putting into trying to tie down the guy. His shadow possession jutsu wasn't that easy to overcome, even with his body being the medium. A person needed to exert an insane amount of brute force to break the paralysis. Hell, even multiple opponents trapped by it would find it difficult, near impossible, to try and get out of a single thread of shadow.

Yet this man this… well… whatever he was, William was just strolling with it attached to the soles of his feet when it was supposed to be sticking him to the floor like a magnet on metal, and he was acting as though he wasn't affected by it at all. What exactly was Shikamaru supposed to do now?

"Great… just great…"

OOO

"JUKEN!" Hinata shouted, diving in with an open palm strike aimed for Vincent's chest. The officer however was able to see her wide sweeping movement and leapt back, grabbing his lance in two hands and bringing it down on top of the kunoichi. He slammed her directly on top of her extended shoulder with a loud crack, causing the girl to wince in pain and stagger away from her intended path of attack.

She stumbled quickly, getting out of reach as the spearman brought his staff around and swung out with his weapon, aiming at her head.

Spotting the danger despite the pain, the girl ducked low under the swipe and dashed away, accelerating her recovery. Her footwork back wheeled her across the quad from her opponent as Vincent brought his staff around and began pursuing her. He stabbed out with short thrusts and, thanks to the incredible reach granted to him by his asset, didn't need to lunge in that far or overexert his movements. His own speed was directly on par with the Hyuuga's, so he was able to keep pace with her easily, even while she was reversing hastily.

"_I… I can't get to him like this!"_ Hinata thought desperately, her Byakugan following the spear tip as it lashed through the air just inches from her face. She changed directions sharply, moving to her right as the spearman lunged in aggressively once more. The bladed tip missed her by a hair, but visibly cut the wind thanks to the currents being distorted. His strength with it was incredible, as was his agility. _"His reach is too great! I need to get around him!"_

Ducking another swing and leaping over a low one aimed for her legs, the moment the girl hit the ground she dashed forward. Body low and arms held back, she ran a full circle as rapidly as she could around her opponent, while at the same time the officer rotated to a stop from his last, missed attack. Her eyes darting over the rear of his form, Hinata was able to isolate an opening at his back and went for it. In a blur, she dashed down a straight line directly towards his right side, behind his shoulder.

She brought her left hand around and held it back for a strike.

Spotting her direct attack, Vincent smiled and brought his staff around. Spinning it in his grip, his lance shot out behind him from his waist when he fed it through his hand gracefully, aiming to take her in the shoulder from a blind spot. The Byakugan however allowed the kunoichi to spot the menace and, gasping in shock, Hinata leapt out of the way and forced herself off of the offensive. The spear tip impaled the ground and shattered the stone that was there, sending debris into the wind.

Rolling along the ground from the sudden change in directions, the girl slid to a stop on all fours and looked up with a glare. She panted heavily from having to switch between attacking and evading so abruptly and repeatedly. No matter what she tried, she just couldn't get his back, which she had presumed to be his blind spot.

"Rushing in and out won't accomplish anything, flower," Vincent exclaimed, spinning his lance around his grip and leveling it out across his shoulders. He draped his hands over it, smiling in the girl's direction. "Your speed is incredible, but not enough to get around my lance. My specialty is long range, so no matter what you try you can't circumvent my attack range. I can hit you before you even get in close."

"W-We'll see," Hinata stammered, hopping back up to her feet and assuming a wide stance again, hands extended. She was scraped, bruised and had cuts all over her clothing, but none of these were serious from her point of view. The Hyuuga could fight on. The only problem was that she was having an awful lot of trouble trying to close the distance between the two of them. The officer was incredible. "E-Every swing presents an opening. I will not allow you to hold the advantage forever. I _will_ win th-this fight."

"Then come at me with your spirit as your blade, Ms Hinata," Vincent said, swinging his lance around off of his shoulder and holding it out at full reach from the end, widening his position. "I wish to test my valor against yours and prove my worth. Show me what love is capable of… and whose is truly the most powerful!"

"I… I will!" Shuriken flying into her hand from her grip, she brought it around in an upward swing, the blades cutting through the air in different directions and converging on their target.

As swiftly as she had thrown them, Vincent brought his staff in and swung across, knocking all of the projectiles out of the air in a single swipe. The moment he did so, he saw Hinata leap high into the air and begin falling towards him from an advantageous angle, positioning herself for an attack in mid-fall. Lance spinning, the officer took it into a backhanded grip and held it behind him, widening his stance as he stepped away for space. His eyes targeted and timed her descent frame by frame for a counter.

More shuriken appearing in her hand, Hinata brought it back and threw them, aiming for his body. The moment she let them loose, the officer swung his weapon out and spun it in his grip, knocking the weapons out of flight before catching his spear in a tight grip, just as Hinata dove at him with a drop kick. He thrust out his weapon in kind, the edge of his pole slamming against her foot with a loud bang. The shockwave that rang out at the impact flung dust into the air as his flexible weapon bent from the impact. Vincent was able to use this as extra leverage against her attack, and he held his ground through gritted teeth while Hinata tried to plow through with her own expression of intensity.

Unable to get through, the Hyuuga relented. Vincent threw her off by continuing his swinging motion, the girl flying away from his weapon at incredible speed and abseiling through the air to a safe distance, out of his range. Seeing her begin flipping to slow the speed of her descent, the young man took up his lance into two hands and charged.

Spotting his approach through her flips with her Byakugan, Hinata reacted immediately and snapped her body open, a split second before she was nearest the ground. The moment she did so, she tossed a rain of kunai in his direction, all of them tied with explosive tags. She skidded across the ground as they shot through the air.

Danger approaching, Vincent also slid to a stop and with a single swing, knocked a couple of the kunai off of their intended path and away. In the same swing, he dodged; barely avoiding a kunai that clipped his shoulder and continued flying passed him. He held his evasion stance, the throwing knives flying on for several more seconds before either making landfall of timing out.

One after the other, all five projectiles exploded with incredible force, filling the air several meters behind him in a raging inferno.

The heat of the blasts and explosions caught Vincent's attention, with the spearman looking behind him in alarm. "Grenades? No. Versatile explosives!" That was a hell of a surprise. The young man never even considered that his opponent had such weapons on her person of that caliber.

Realizing he was no longer looking at his opponent, amidst the hot winds still being emitted from the blasts, the teenager looked ahead of him to see Hinata lunging at him with an open palm. Her attack cut through the wind like a knife, and he dodged at the last second so that she overshot him. The pair passing each other's shoulders, Vincent spun around and swung with his staff.

The kunoichi ducked under his wild swing and hooked in with a body shot with her fingers, hitting him in the kidney before leaping away, continuing down the straight line she'd used to attack while he stumbled away. Once safely out of range, which she was able to visualize from their battle thus far, Hinata spun around and slid to a halt, hands held up defensively.

"_I got him,"_ the girl thought, a bead of sweat running down her head. _"But only just. He has a really solid core, so I wasn't able to strike him deeply enough."_

A little bit staggered from the hit, Vincent shook his head and spun his lance around in one hand, before holding it out from a side-on stance. _"Her attacks are light, but she's aiming for vital areas all along my body. Ms Hinata's targeting a system she's used to in conventional opponents, but fortunately for me, I do not use the same pathways __**her**__ everyday targets use."_ The officer smiled and backed away some, straightening up. "You can't hurt me with those attacks. You need more piercing power if you intend to deal me damage."

"I figured a-as much," Hinata frowned, widening her position to begin a dash. _"One hit isn't going to be enough. I'll need to get him repeatedly to hurt him. He's just like Naruto-kun and Shikamaru-kun's opponents… they have very strong bodies."_

These westerners were very well built.

Their various fighting styles called for them to possess a certain high degree of physical strength, brute force and finesse, which meant that they must have worked themselves to the bone for the bodies required to execute the amazing moves that they did. While shinobi practiced a different form of arts that required for them to be more agile, swift, light, and also deliver the necessary amount of power to bring down their opponents, these warriors were a little bit different. Their genetics meant they were not only slightly bigger, heavier and able to take more hits than others; they also developed their strengths to a higher degree through their practices.

Vincent was no exception. He was agile like a shinobi and had the power of a brawler. Damaging him won't be as easy as damaging another enemy of the same weight class. Hinata was able to identify this through her efforts.

She needed to exert more chakra to accomplish this goal.

"_I need to drive in with m-more power!"_ Hinata brought her arms back, ducking low as her legs cranked up into a sprinter's start. _"Like Naruto-kun! B-Be more aggressive. AGGRESSIVE!"_ A cloud of dust exploded behind her when she sprinted off, with the visible intentions of a tackler.

No. That wasn't it. She just needed to deliver the force necessary to pierce the man's style and body's natural defense. If he won't go down with one, then she'll give him ten, no… fifty more hits! As many as it took!

"Not so fast!" Vincent shouted, reaching behind him before throwing his arm around, letting loose three avocado looking balls. The metal spheres bounced along the ground a couple of times directly in front of Hinata as she continued rushing towards her target, seemingly harmless at first glance.

It wouldn't be until the rings and levers on the objects came flying off that the Hyuuga came to recognize the objects dispersed from her target.

The kunoichi recoiled from her run when she saw the fruit things bouncing toward her, and she quickly kicked off of the ground just as the menace realized its full purpose. In a flash, all three of the grenades detonated simultaneously, engulfing her in a fiery blast and sending clouds and debris rocketing in all directions. Vincent actually had to shield himself from the force of the blasts, whereas his target was caught up in the center of it. He smiled; feeling inwardly satisfied that he'd returned her own gesture of explosives with his own.

Though he wanted to catch her in it and knock her out of the fight to secure his win, all it really accomplished was shake up the young Genin and prevent her from continuing her attack, while also warning her of his capabilities.

Hinata came flying out of the cloud of smoke a second after the blasts died down, her body peppered from the shrapnel and a startled look drawn across her face. Hopping away from the bellowing cloud on her side of the affected area, the Hyuuga fell to her knee and gripped the massive gash in her right arm. Her jacket had been shredded, her face was covered in soot and ash, and she was also bleeding from the hairline. If anything else, she was also shell-shocked.

Not literally, but the attack did indeed stun her.

"He uses exploding tags too… wrapped in metal plates?" she panted. It made perfect sense to her. The explosive punch from regular bombs was made double by magnesium shards that had the ability to cut into the most solid of defenses.

What an interesting invention.

"The correct name for those devices is _grenades_," the boy's voice echoed from the other side of the wall of smoke slowly clearing from the atmosphere, alerting the kunoichi to his presence. She brought her arms around with kunai in her hands, her Byakugan locking onto the fumes blocking her view of her opponent. "You may want to stay clear of them. I've got plenty more, Ms Hinata!"

A moment later, the black cloud suddenly parted and Vincent's lance came shooting toward the crouching kunoichi with bullet like speed. Hinata gasped at the sight of the javelin cutting towards her, unable to respond in time when she was unexpectedly impaled in the chest by the sharp end of the weapon and stunned. The Britannian held the handle end tightly while freezing in a running position, showing that he didn't actually throw his lance, but had thrust with it.

His dashing speed was truly terrifying.

Vincent took note of the startled look on the girl's face as his blade buried deeply into her stomach. "I missed the vital spot on purpose. Victory is mine…"

Just as he was ready to knock her out for processing, the girl suddenly exploded into a cloud of white smoke, and revealed herself to be a slab of stone floating in her place. Hinata had managed to execute the _**Kawarimi no Jutsu**_ while she was still inside of the explosion. His spear had gone straight through the false target and as a result, had gotten stuck, which inadvertently ended up weighing down the dangerous end of the overstretched weapon. Vincent gasped in surprise at the increase in mass and he stumbled forward, the concrete hitting the ground with a heavy thud.

"What the?"

Hearing footsteps on his blind spot to his far left, the man was alerted to a new hazard, and turned at the last moment to see a slightly burnt Hinata with a ripped jacket come flying at him. Byakugan flaring, the Hyuuga cried out and struck at his chest with an open palm strike leading the combination that followed. She attacked the man swiftly and without mercy, repeatedly hitting him all over the front of his body with palm and finger strikes, before sending him flying away, still holding his lance and dragging the deadweight along with him.

Vincent shot along the ground on his feet hunched over, his body battered from the combination of blows and kicks aimed at him at close range. Hinata landed on the spot he once stood upon, and glared at him with her palms held out.

"I got you!"

The officer remained frozen, slouched over with his expression hidden from view. When it appeared as though she'd finally managed to silent him once and for all, the girl got yet another surprise when the boy started laughing. Hinata's glare loosened when she saw the teenager rise up into a proper standing position.

Straightening out his back, Vincent breathed in deeply before looking back at the girl with a smile.

"An impressive attack," the boy exclaimed, bringing the lance up and slamming the striking end into the ground, shattering the concrete slab it was still driven into and he had carried with him when he was thrown back. "Damaging too. But as you can see, I'm still on my feet."

He brushed his hair back, stretching up some more till he was standing at full height. He twirled his staff around, bringing it out and holding it in front of him. Hinata backed off a little at the sight of the tip being thrust further forward.

The girl was bruised from being clipped by the lance's pole, faintly burnt from the grenades exploding, scratched up from the shrapnel and scarred from the lance's blade that managed to get her, but she was okay. However, all of her efforts had culminated in her receiving most of the damage in their battle, and upon reviewing her opponent's fighting style, began to feel a little fearful of it. This man was unlike anyone she'd ever fought before.

He wasn't Naruto, Shikamaru, or even Asuma for that matter, but he sure as hell was powerful.

Actually, now that she looked at the officer more closely and saw how he was lowering himself into a wider stance, with his reach, speed and dexterity, he was appearing very much like her older cousin from the branch family she had often seen down in the clan's training fields. Hinata remembered way back in the days when she watched Neji Hyuuga, perhaps one of the most empowering young figures in the village, training vigorously on his own, many times before and after he became a Genin.

While that white-eyed boy presented himself as an unyielding force to be reckoned with amongst his peers, this Britannian, Vincent, at this very moment, was starting to resemble him in many ways.

In fact, it was almost like the two of them were equal.

"_His speed, ferocity and strength… he's exactly like Neji-niisan," _Hinata murmured, sliding back a little more. She knew exactly how strong her cousin was, and all of that and more was being reflected in Vincent's abilities.

"I… I won't give up," the Hyuuga stated, her glare hardening. "You'll see. I'll win… for Naruto-kun."

"Then come," Vincent smirked, spinning the lance around him again, "Show me that you can." A frown appearing on his face, he lowered himself into his usual form and took aim, bringing the sharp end of the lance forward before springing into action. He charged straight toward the kunoichi at full speed, which appeared much faster than before, surprising the girl greatly. _"I'd better keep my distance from those hands of hers. She can cause me some serious damage if she hits me too many times."_

Her strikes to his abdominals and chest had bruised him badly underneath the muscles. He didn't know exactly what it was, but she had affected his breathing and physical balance somewhat. If he finished her now, he wouldn't have to find out more about what this strange fighting style of hers was capable of. After all, there was only so much a person could take.

"_I'll finish her here and now!"_

Hinata gritted her teeth and sprinted forward as well, kicking up dust and aiming to meet the swiftly moving lancer in the middle, _"I will not lose… I cannot! Naruto-kun… Naruto-kun, Shikamaru-kun and Asuma-sensei are counting on me! All of them are counting on me! I will win… for sure!"_

Vincent thrust out with his javelin weapon and Hinata dove in with a palm strike, both colliding in an explosion of chakra and a blast of hot, twisting wind…

OOO

Sparks flew as Asuma pressed up against the unrelenting blade of his uniformed, stubborn opponent. Up to this point, Periklis was proving to be a really troublesome person for him to beat, especially since the Jonin was failing to lay even a single scratch on him.

With a kunai in hand, the bearded man gritted his teeth against the swordsman's own blade, their bodies trembling as they grappled with one another in the middle of the quad. Well away from the other kids fighting their own battles out with one another, the pair kept a good distance from the crowds so that they themselves could go all out and showcase their skills to their utmost.

So far, their fight had been incredibly damaging to their surrounding area, as indicated by all of the gashes, craters and slash marks etched into the concrete slabs. Looking at it from a high point, it was almost like the pair was waging their own miniature war with each other.

But while the combatants were still in perfect fighting form and condition, Asuma had actually received a rather pronounced cut across his cheek during one of their tussles, which was at this point bleeding quite a bit and staining the collar of his vest. In spite of the bruises he'd already sustained though, the man was still going strong and was now more than willing to play rough against this adversary, since close combat was sort of his forte.

When push came to shove, the young Sarutobi definitely had a way of pushing back, and Periklis was definitely giving him inclination to do just that.

His sandals scraping across the ground as he dug in further, Asuma started using both his hands to push the opposing blade back, as did Periklis. The two of them used their back hand to force the other's weapon away from the other, but in terms of physical prowess, they were dead even.

"You're strong… _very_ strong," Asuma growled, pushing with greater effort as more sparks flew from between their sharp blades, "You're… the strongest man I've fought up until now."

"Thank you," Periklis grinned, his own boots grinding into the concrete as he attempted to force the shinobi off of him. "You're the strongest man _I've_ ever fought. But don't go thinking that we're the same. My blade is quicker than yours."

"I beg to differ…"

"Beg as much as you please!" Periklis shouted suddenly, sliding his blade across and slashing outwards, throwing his grappling foe off balance with it.

Asuma staggered backward with a startled expression on his face.

Tracking his opponent's blade, the Jonin leapt into the air to avoid the return slash that came in to slice his chest open. Realizing he'd missed, the fencer glared over his shoulder to see his target abseiling over him, their eyes meeting for a split second before the swordsman span around and repeatedly lashed upwards with his saber. Asuma flipped out of reach, avoiding the flashing blade by the scruff of his neck. He landed a split second later on both feet, spinning around and skidding to a stop.

Asuma's eyes fixed onto his opponent, who was immediately locked back onto him and on the approach. With blinding speed the audience on the sidelines was barely able to track, Periklis reengaged his enemy, lunging at him with his sword. The Jonin returned the attack with a bewildered expression, head-slipping at the last second when the man pretty much gave him a quick trim.

Several hairs on his sideburn were sliced clean off.

The shinobi repeatedly slipped, ducked and backed away as Periklis attacked him relentlessly and without pause. His thrusts came in at the rate of jabs, the blade cutting nice silver curves through the air and forcing Asuma on the defensive. When the shinobi thought he could block, he did, slashing out with the kunai he had in hand, only for it to be parried before the swordsman countered with another slash aimed to carve his head from his neck. Realizing that countering on the retreat wasn't going to do him any good, Asuma opted to create more space between them.

The man tossed his kunai instead, forcing Periklis to slip out of the way to avoid, leaving him only a breadth of space for the shinobi to make his retreat. The Jonin jumped and flipped over his opponent's blade when he came in with a return swing, Asuma taking wing and sprinting away as fast as he could. He looked over his shoulder in his run, his eyes widening when he saw his opponent literally chuck his sword at him. Danger fast approaching, the Jonin dived out of the way, the saber instead impaling one of the only remaining statues in the middle of the quad.

Periklis sprinted after him; grabbing the sword in the pillar and ripping it clean out. He spun around and charged at Asuma the moment his weapon was returned to him, who had just gotten back up and had spun around to meet him. The Jonin drew a couple of shuriken and threw them at the fencer, who dashed right under the stars and slashed upwards with his sword. His speed was incredible, the power in his legs allowing him to move forward those vital inches closer and hit the shinobi square across the mark.

Asuma yelped out in shock when he felt the blade carve across his chest, the shreds of both layers of his top getting sliced clean through. He stumbled away, tripping over his own feet and hitting the ground hard with a new close call to marvel over. The shinobi assessed the damage on his front, and sighed in relief when no vital organs were cut.

"_Fuck, that was clo-OH SHIT!"_ Asuma's eyes widened when he spotted Periklis suddenly towering over him, blade held up above his head and ready to be brought down upon him like the wrath of the almighty.

The flash of silver spelled certain doom.

Acting out of reflex, the Jonin leapt up with a kick, his right foot slamming into the hilt of the sword and sending it flying out of its owner's grip at the exact moment the fencer slashed down with it. The saber spun through the air, a sight that caught the officer's attention when his head was cocked back to avoid the follow-through of the kick.

Brow furrowing, Periklis quickly changed tactics and lunged downwards with his left hand, grabbing Asuma by the face. The Jonin grunted audibly at the pressure suddenly sealing his mouth when he was unexpectedly lifted off the ground. Grabbing the man's vest as well, the swordsman then performed a shoulder toss, and with a mighty roar literally hurled the large shinobi clean across the courtyard. Asuma yelled out in shock as he flipped twice, before crashing to the ground several meters away and ended up sprawled out over the concrete on his back.

Before he could even slide to a stop, Periklis had already begun sprinting after him.

The swordsman caught his falling sword in mid-air, taking it into a single-handed grip and taking aim at his fallen opponent. In the blink of an eye he was upon Asuma once more, landing on his right arm with his knee and slamming his foot onto his left arm, pinning him. The Jonin looked up, stunned!

In a flash, Periklis brought his sword in a downward arc, aiming to slice the man's head off. Asuma saw the blade slashing down at him in slow-motion, his many years of his shinobi life flashing before his very eyes. Gritting his teeth at the sight of his end rapidly approaching, the Jonin then did something he never thought he'd ever do since becoming a Jonin, and threw his left leg up to knock the blade off course.

However, unable to aim properly from his position, the shinobi instead blocked the blade before it could pass through his neck just millimeters from landing, his knee catching the weapon in place of his life. A small flick of blood sprayed into the air from the body part being sacrificed, the thick muscle effectively stopping the weapon and leaving a deep scar. Periklis blinked in shock at his foe's response, a pause that allowed the Jonin to counter.

Asuma kicked up with the leg he used to block, slamming his foot underneath Periklis's chin and sending him recoiling back in surprise with a bloody lip. His limbs relinquished, the shinobi leapt back to his feet and spun around, tossing a cluster of kunai at the same time. The swordsman was fast to block, knocking every individual knife out of the air before back-flipping away several times. He retreated to a safe distance, his vision blurring slightly from taking the whopping blow to the face. The Jonin however made it out with just a scratch.

Blooding staining his pant leg, Asuma tightened his jaw against the pain and reached behind him, drawing his trench knives. The blades flickered under the sunlight as he took them into a frontal stance, the tips pointing downwards.

"_That was close. I nearly had my head removed from my shoulders,"_ Asuma thought, wincing when the scar in his leg complained. _"Thanks lefty. I would have died without you."_

"You're reckless, in spite of being a master of your profession," Periklis commented, blood also running down from his nose. He wiped the obscene streams away on the back of his sleeve. "You also don't fight in a conventional manner. You utilize throwing knives and a variety of other techniques, including explosives."

"And you're doggedly sticking to your own style of combat," the Jonin informed, sliding further out into his orthodox stance. "All of your moves are textbook specific, yet you execute your attacks with blinding speed and pinpoint precision. The only other people I've ever seen fight like that are the Hyuuga, Gai and Kakashi." His frown deepened as his glare hardened. _"His speed is on par with Hatake's too. What an annoying guy."_

"Then, allow me to demonstrate my other abilities to you," Periklis exclaimed, throwing his sword arm out to his side before charging. He moved in the form of a blur, immediately coming within range of his opponent and slashing out.

The streaks of steel arcing through the air were bare blurs as were his movements, as the man struck out at his target with swift, graceful attacks. Asuma dodged and ducked, backing up quickly while bringing his trench knives around. He clashed weapons with him, his duel blade work parrying and trading shots with the sword at the same speed and ferocity as the swordsman's. The exchange eventually boiled down to a deadlock and the pair circled each other continuously, one attacking and one defending, and vice versa. They actually moved so fast that their swinging blades could be seen as streaks of metal carving gorgeous arcs through the air above them, with each employing their own styles to fend off their enemy.

Asuma gritted his teeth and ducked a lunge, diving in with a swing. The fencer backed off swiftly and slashed out with a counter, the Jonin blocking his strike like he would a conventional blow, as if he were in a taijutsu contest. Since his blades were short and guarded his knuckles, it allowed him to use attacks that ordinary kunai would not allow others to execute so easily. As a result, he was able to deliver a greater repertoire of attacks that were more compact, unlike his opponent who had to continuously give or make space for himself.

This trade off was something Periklis wouldn't allow to go on any longer, and lunged in at the next opportunity presented to him. His blade punched through the open guard Asuma had when he tried a double-parry, but the saber slipped through and aimed to impale him. The Jonin swung in with a left hook when his defense failed and aimed for his opponent's neck.

With reflexes no ordinary person could possess, the pair glared each other down as their weapons crossed. While in mid stabbing motion, Periklis calculated the distance of his sword to making its mark with his opponent, as well as Asuma's counter with him. In those milliseconds of a simultaneous exchange, the swordsman became baffled as to why his opponent would strike out when he knew he wouldn't make the hit in time.

His knife compared to his sword, the distance and timing between them was obvious.

However, it was while their blades were passing over each other's limbs that Periklis noticed something that activated a blaring warning light inside of his head. Eyes widening, the Hellenic officer kicked off of the ground unexpectedly and retreated backwards as fast as he ever had, skidding to a stop a safe distance away to see Asuma complete his swing.

Though it appeared Periklis would have struck first, he was lucky he dodged when he did.

A cut appeared on his cheek and blood seeped out of it. The swordsman flinched at the wound while at the same time commanding his attention to lock onto Asuma's blades. Disregarding the wide grin on his target's face, the officer examined his trench knives at a distance and immediately discovered the source of his concerns, as well as the reason he had backpedaled so quickly from his thrust.

In addition to the short steel that was his opposition's blade, Asuma also had another element protruding out of it and effectively increasing the range of his primary weapon. A sharp, thin and curved beam of pure energy extended out of the knife and augmented his reach to that of a sword, or duel short swords if you counted both weapons. This alarmed Periklis, because the abnormality he could hear humming loudly on the breeze and could see glowing as a tangible component of the man's arsenal did not appear all that friendly.

"_**Hien**_," Asuma exclaimed proudly.

The swordsman frowned considerably more and straightened up, "That's interesting. You can increase the reach and cutting power of your blades by manipulating the energy inside of your body and compress it through your weapons. I can assume your senses have also sharpened somewhat."

"An increase in concentration warrants an increase in one's reflexes and speed, yes," Asuma grinned, his blades humming as he switched to an orthodox fighting stance, with both his weapons held out in front. "And I've got a few more tricks I'm sure you'd like."

"Well… I can't argue with that hypothesis… however," Periklis lowered his stance, reaching behind him with his free hand while his sword hand extended. "I'm afraid I won't be allowing you to show me anymore of your tricks. This ends NOW!" All of a sudden, he drew the Luger he had holstered on his belt and pointed it directly at the shinobi. Hammer cocking back he let loose a round with a loud whip-crack echoing throughout the arena.

Asuma immediately spotted the projectile weapon before the sights were even locked onto him and dived out of the way, the bullet hitting the ground some ways behind him. He dashed around a full circle, withdrawing his trench knives and returning the rounds he had being flung at him with a barrage of shuriken. The stars cut through the air towards the fencer, who ducked under them and continued letting off round after round.

In a blur, Asuma zigzagged between the bullets fired at him, retreating slowly as Periklis drove him back. Eventually tiring of being made into game, the shinobi leapt into the air and tossed a wave of kunai, all laced with explosive tags. Periklis shot at each of the knives one after the other, hitting them in the sides and redirecting their flight paths. They all scattered around and detonated safely away from him, but the shockwaves from the simultaneous explosions going off all around the pitch did mess up the officer's aim as he tried to relock onto his target.

Seizing his chance, the still airborne Jonin flipped through hand seals and ended in a tiger seal. With the air as still as it was going to be, this was the perfect opportunity to use it.

Inhaling deeply, Asuma took careful aim before bellowing out both the technique's name and the technique itself with all the chakra he could muster.

"_**Katon: Haisekishō!"**_

A grey cloud of ash shot out of his mouth and, with the force of a typhoon pushing it down a slipstream formed by the user's abseiling of the air currents, roared straight towards its intended target. Periklis stood directly beneath the thick, blackening fumes heading in his direction and, identifying this as an immediate threat, backed off a ways. He was about to take aim with his pistol again to ward off the attack, but the cloud smoke screened his view of his target and had come in too close to fend off in that means.

Not to mention something on the air told him that shooting at the grey cloud wouldn't do him any good.

Instead, the swordsman gritted his teeth and braced himself, lowering his Luger to his side and watching as the cloud simply enveloped him. It came down to level like an avalanche making ground fall, engulfing everything in sight and covering the affected area in a blanket of smoldering ash.

Asuma smirked, still feeding ash into his technique from his mouth till he was certain he'd poured enough into it. Once ascertain that everything was right, he then snapped his teeth together sharply, igniting the flints he had wedged between them. Sparks appeared, a split second before the cloud of chakra enhanced powder combusted all at once. The grey cloud flared up into a bright orange explosion that, though it was contained to the affected area, still expanded outwards like a regular blast.

The entire quad shook with the force of the explosion.

C.C, sitting up at the top of the stands with a supreme pizza lodged between her teeth, stared down at the scene in her usual bored manner. After seeing her partner become engulfed in what she figured was an impressive technique executed with perfect timing, she merely shrugged her shoulders and went back to chewing.

"_So Periklis… how will you respond?"_

Asuma landed in time to enjoy the show of his jutsu roasting his foe alive, and relaxed as he allowed the flames to work their magic.

"That should do it," he chuckled, running a hand through his hair.

"You think so?"

The answer that the Jonin received from the burning clouds of ash startled him, and the man leapt back in time to avoid a blast of hot wind that suddenly shot out of the heart of the cataclysm, which literally parted the burning clouds. In a single gust the flames lifted off of the ground, revealing a scorched crater and the target standing perfectly still and untouched in the center of it. Sword arm held up high, Periklis revealed himself to a stunned audience and opponent when he strolled out of the decimated area, and brushed several strands of hair out of his face.

Once he was in plain view of the Jonin, he opened his eyes to the shinobi so that they could both meet each other face to face. It was at that moment Asuma got the shock of a lifetime at what he saw glowing brightly in the man's left eye.

A light purple iris had replaced his once untainted gaze, and the pupil once nestled within it was subjugated by a sharp, glowing red symbol in the shape of a bird. Though nothing like a Sharingan or Byakugan, the sight of the glowing eye piercing the shadows covering the man's face was enough to freeze the shinobi's blood.

C.C smiled when she sensed 'it's' activation, and brought the pizza she had in her hands down to level with her chest. "Oh? Using the _Power of Kings _so early? This man must be pushing you quite far, Periklis."

Asuma sweated profusely as he examined the eye and took up a defensive position with a trench knife drawn.

Something he didn't know just made itself known to the rest of the world? Oh yeah. He was nervous now.

"Okay… scary. Just what the hell is _that_ thing?"

Periklis chuckled and pointed up at his glowing red eye, "This? Why… this is what my traveling companion calls the _Power of Kings_, or what _I_ like to call… a Geass."

"A Geass?"

"It's a remarkable gift from the heavens… a real game changer, my friend," Periklis exclaimed, sliding into a stance and raising his sword. With the tip of his blade pointed in Asuma's direction, the man continued grinning unflinchingly. It almost felt as though all focus had fallen onto them in that moment of revelation, since something incredibly amazing was taking place. "The Geass is a special ability that grants the wielder of it a single, extraordinary ability. The ability varies from person to person depending on their desires and personalities. Mine suits me just fine because it has allowed me to perfect my profession and explore greater heights."

"Yeah? So what power were _you_ granted?" Asuma asked, fearful of the answer.

Periklis' grin widened, "That's the best part." As if his words were an otherworldly order directed towards nature, a gust of wind suddenly blew by him, carrying with it cluster of leaves. These leaves suddenly changed course and began circling the blade of his extended saber, a sight that had Asuma look on with a worried glare. "My Geass granted me the ability to freely control vacuums and air currents. It augmented my already incredibly high level of ability and combat prowess, making me stronger than before. Utilizing atmospheric pressures, I can close in on targets at almost instantaneous speeds and attack from a distance. As a result, my presence on the battlefield has transcended beyond the ordinary and into a level all of my own."

"You're kind of elevating yourself a little much, aren't you?" Asuma said while backing off a little. Taking note of the distance between them, the shinobi calculated a ten to fifteen meter spread.

"Perhaps. But I'm different from your run of the mill egotistical combatant. I actually have the skills to back up my bark…"

Asuma kept a close eye on him, making sure he stayed well within sight. However, just as he was looking at him and his entire person, trying to figure out how he was going to overcome this next obstacle presented to him, he suddenly vanished from sight, like he was just cut out of frame all of a sudden. Hell, the shinobi didn't even blink and yet his opponent was just… well… gone. _"Wait! What the fu-"_

The bastard moved just like Gai, something that allowed the Jonin to track his predicted path rather than try and find him. This move saved his life.

Asuma immediately looked down at the space directly in front of him, where he saw just inches from him and broken into a hard dash, the swordsman with his saber drawn back and both his eyes locked onto him.

His Geass eye glowed like a hot poker when Periklis glared up at his stunned target.

In the bat of an eye, he had moved from fifteen meters away from his opponent to being directly underneath him and inside the effectiveness of his defensive line…

"You're mine…" Periklis whispered in a dangerous voice.

Asuma broke into a cold sweat as he leaned away from the blade slashing up towards him…

"_Son of a bitch!"_

OOO

The explosions of white smoke following a straight path announced the destruction of fifty more clones, with the original Naruto leaping out of the cloud and landing on his shoulder across the concrete. Yelling out in pain, he leapt back onto all fours and glared furiously towards the same wall of white he'd exited, where he saw the golden flames of the fists belonging to his opponent come sprinting out. Guard up, Nai immediately plotted a course straight for his target, who had pulled back under the pressure of his technique.

The blonde wiped the blood from his chin and formed another cross-fingered hand seal.

"I'm not finished yet! _**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**_" the boy cried, another formation of shadow clones appearing in front of him. The numbers reaching another hundred, the two platoons worth all fell into stances and glared the charging kick boxer down. "Swarm him! Bring him down!"

Knowing what awaited them, the army of doppelgangers did what they were ordered and, with a collective war cry, charged headlong towards their attacker. They met him in the middle and spread out, surrounding the foreigner as he made with haste for the original. One after the other they leapt at him and lashed out punches, kicks and kunai. However, the boxer from Siam, his fists and feet aflame, plowed his way through them. Blocking fists coming in from all sides, using speed and agility provided by his footwork, he fended off the masses.

Clones cried out as they were blasted away and sent flying in their dozens, all from the sheer power wielded by the brawler. Even when working in teams and taking him ten at a time, they were still being wiped out. Though they did land their share of hits, it did not dissuade the attacker, and he continued mowing them down with punishing straights, hooks, knees, kicks and elbows. Sparks flew and flames bellowed upwards, and within seconds the majority of the force sent to stop Nai had been wiped clean.

Surrounded by the rest, all of them leaping at him at once, the kick boxer let out a low growl before crossing his arms. Crouching low, he then sprang upward and spun on the spot. Acting like a tornado, he unleashed a torrent of golden flames from his knuckles. The squad of copies flew right into it, seconds before the shockwave that followed the wall of fire blasted all of them away from their target. Nai's technique wiped them out, revealing the original tumbling out of range and away from the source of the flames. Nai's eyes landed on him the moment the real Naruto showed himself.

Struggling to his feet while holding his right arm tightly, which had caught the brunt of the flames, Naruto glared painfully up toward the kick boxer, who had once again began his approach of him. The Genin backed away, his limb hanging at his side and legs trembling from the damage now racking his body.

Since Nai had started getting serious with him, the Genin's fight had all been going downhill. Nothing was working on the guy.

Shaking his head, Naruto braced himself as his opponent dashed at him, a trail of fire flowing from his fists. The golden balls of energy cut through the air as the young man lunged at him with a sweeping left hook, followed by a right straight. The blonde ducked right under that, slapping him in the back of the shoulder at the same time before leaping away as fast as he could. Because of his maneuver, Nai stumbled forward from having his force redirected.

He was able to regain his footing, seconds before he spun around to face his retreating foe. Resetting his stance, Nai sprinted after him, his guard lowered this time.

Naruto took a defensive stance, glaring back at the man rushing at him while counting under his breath, "Five… four… three…" The kick boxer was within effective throwing knife distance, just five meters, "two… one!" The jinchuriki shielded his face with his arms.

A loud bang echoed throughout the arena as the explosive tag Naruto had slapped onto the back of Nai's shoulder exploded with a sharp clap. The kick boxer was engulfed in fire and smoke, the force of the blast propelling him to his left for several yards. The jinchuriki glared after him as the man skidded across the ground on both feet, digging his heels in to stop his momentum. With his back emitting smoke, Nai spun around with an incredibly pissed off look drawn across his face.

He was completely intact! All that the explosive tag did was knock him around some and send him flinging violently off to the side. All in all, by the way he effortlessly brought his hands back up to resume the fight, he was perfectly fine. This had Naruto glare back at him with an even more nervous look on his face.

"Are you _fucking_ kidding me?!" the boy shouted, taking a _Wing Chun_ stance with his dominant hand held forward. "What is this retard's body made of? Seriously?" It wouldn't be the only thing that caught his attention in that instant.

Watching as his opponent waved off the smoke and restart his approach of him, Naruto saw with his sharp eyes from his position the kick boxer's wounds starting to heal. The golden flames that were encasing his hands and were still wafting strongly, was allowing the energy he possessed to course throughout the rest of his body at an accelerated rate, and heal all of the injuries he had sustained thus far. The cuts and scars, as well as the burn mark on his right side that he took from the explosive tag, all of them were reverting back to the skin that once covered the boy; untouched and unblemished.

He was recovering at an astonishing speed, which explained how he was able to heal from the armor piercer technique a whole week before.

Just what the hell was that shit?!

"_Even in a neutral state, he was able to heal from his wounds. He must have been meditating while using this weird chakra of his!"_ Naruto thought, backing off a few more steps before watching his opponent cart to a stop. Furrowing his brow, the blonde rotated his feet till they were comfortably locked in a forward position. _"Screw this! If I keep running, I'll never damage him! This ends now!"_

With his own speed, Naruto burst into action once more. He sprinted at Nai, bringing his right fist around and jabbing out at him from the outside. However, moments before he was within reach of his target, the kick boxer unexpectedly extinguished the golden flames engulfing his hands and squatted down into an even lower stance, his feet widening to balance out his weight. The sight of it had the jinchuriki's eyes widen, just as he was uncorking a right straight to send across his target's face.

"_Crouching stance! SHIT!"_ Naruto slammed his feet into the ground, stopping himself abruptly just as he was coming to within range of his objective, _"Power shots are coming next! He's got my timing down!"_

Nai grinned menacingly. Just as his opponent was starting to backpedal away from him, in slow motion that only the two of them could keep up with as if it were normal time ticking by, the kick boxer stepped further forward till he had established a comfortable position and, with his left hand extended outward, took aim. The jinchuriki became wary of his intentions to strike at him, but while he was expecting a right cross in return for the one he had so suddenly held back, the Genin did not expect to see what the boy had planned next.

"_Your guard is wide open!"_ Nai exclaimed, his body twisting violently as his right hand came right up next to his cheek and clenched tightly._ "Here's the finishing move I made especially for you, Naruto Uzumaki! In return for this great fight, GIVE ME YOUR LIFE!"_ Without warning, his right fist rotated in an anti-clockwise direction toward his face, turning into his guard. This abnormal twist in his fist did not go unnoticed by Naruto, who continued moving back to get out of reach of his opponent.

"_Twisting shot?!"_ the jinchuriki thought in shock, his expression clearly showcasing his distress to the sudden danger. His opponent's body rotated around sharply as he pulled his fist back, a split second before Nai began lunging in with the right. The blonde brought his hands up to block, but he was too slow. _"SHIT!"_

"EAT THIS!" Nai roared, his body following through with the blow. The power he had corked back unleashed itself in his right fist all at once; gold and transparent wind manifesting around his fist in the form of a tornado as he put everything he had into the one blow. Though slower than the conventional right cross he normally executed and more noticeable, the speed he actually threw it with was shockingly greater than a normal one. The sight of it breaking the sound barrier on its approach had Naruto freeze in terror.

The kick boxer bellowed as he let his most powerful technique loose, _**"CORKSCREW CROSS!"**_

His punch shot out with the speed of a lightning bolt, Naruto head-slipping at the last second just as his fist's power exploded out of his knuckles. The shockwaves that blasted from the very end of his attack ripped across the field, marking its path with an atmospheric disturbance in the form of a tangible ripple of wind rushing through the air and cracks forming along the concrete floor the technique covered. A split second later, the force of his technique hit the end wall of the castle directly beside William and Shikamaru's duel.

An explosion greater than several artillery rounds hitting at once ripped through the wall and blew it to pieces. A massive dust cloud of debris and rubble rocketed into the air like C4 detonating en masse, and shook the entire courtyard. The crowds screamed and gawked, with the power behind the technique stunning all of the fighters and stopping them from fighting for a brief period. Asuma, Hinata, William, Vincent, and Shikamaru gawked up at the massive gap being formed in the castle wall.

At the advent of the technique's execution, a new entrance to the palace grounds had been formed, and the intentions of the new technique became all too clear…

OOO

**Meanwhile…**

Deep in the recesses of Naruto's mind, confined to the furthest corners of his psyche with his body acting as the medium to hold this very special, very secretive chamber, a massive set of iron gates stood locked in what could only be described as a sewer. It would have smelt like one too, but thankfully the Uzumaki wasn't that damaged a person. Nevertheless, it was still a very isolated, empty, and lonely place, with only the walls and this massive entrance being the only thing in sight.

There was a purpose for all this, of course. Locked behind the huge, impenetrable bars sealed under the eight trigrams pattern, bathed in silence and shadow with nothing but utter blackness as his view, sat the entity known by all in this land as the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox.

The massive beast was lying atop of the waters of this dreaded place, head on its arms and its tails whipping about behind it at random as it continued its favorite past time of the last thirteen years.

Sleep.

Hell, it was a damn sight more comfortable than being chained up against a massive ball of chakra with chakra chains wrapped around you. He remembered that experience of being inside of his last host all too well. It was almost like he had been crucified. Sure it was painful and uncomfortable, but he managed to get used to it over time.

This sewer was a sweet relief.

Over his time here, the Kyuubi had come to familiarize himself with his new host. For most of his sentence thus far, it had been pretty boring. The kid had proven himself to the world to be a huge nuisance as well as useless, with no special qualities about him whatsoever. It was only until a few months ago did things finally start getting a lot more interesting, and the once troublesome youngster had started associating with people whom the Kyuubi deemed as really powerful individuals. This was a lot coming from the most dangerous and destructive force in the shinobi world.

It gave the Nine Tails something to muse over and provided him with what little entertainment he had. By extension of this, to amuse himself beyond simple observations, the giant fox had also decided to torment the boy a little by withholding some of its chakra from him so that he couldn't heal from the aches and pains of training. Though he couldn't hold it off for long, since the chakra automatically leaked, the giant fox was still able to cork it up for a small amount of time just for the fun of it.

His host got the beat down of a lifetime every session, which gave the fox quite a laugh at the poor youngster's misfortune. It was brilliant, even today.

Things continued along at that pace with little to no dramas interrupting his slumber. All that really spiked his interest as of late was that near assassination attempt by some Otogakure punks that left the massive demon annoyed and the chore of having to heal his host repeatedly from his brushes with that little bastard Tora.

That cat just did not like people.

However, after several days and nothing, not even a whisper of danger, just as the Kyuubi was beginning to relax again in the seven day period that was his host's new mission, something unexpected happened that genuinely caught his attention.

While he was snoring away, getting comfortable in a new prone position he just so happened to discover against the cooler side of the chamber, the Kyuubi was unexpectedly awoken by what he first assumed to be an earthquake. This was quickly followed by an electrical sensation, which started from the walls, dove into the water, and made its way up his spin and tails at the speed of light.

It shocked him out of his daze.

The Kyuubi's head bolted upright, like a cat startled from its rest. Ears twitching, the demon looked through the massive gates of its prison and reconnected itself with the world outside. He didn't know exactly what it was, what he felt or what he saw, but whatever it was that roused him from his rest had him looking around in bewilderment.

"_**What the hell was that?!"**_

It was an unknown power, but it was potent…

This made the fox anxious…

OOO

"Holy shit," Tayuya gaped.

"No fucking way! That was a punch?!" Sakon also shouted, "Where did that come from?"

While everybody else had been shocked into silence, including Churchill and Kasumi up at the top of the stairs, none of that could compare to the fear that pierced Naruto's confidence.

The blonde stood shaking where he was standing as he stared back into the cold, hard glare of his opponent standing directly in front of him. The kick boxer's fist still outstretched and rotated with his thumb pointed toward the ground, the teenager held his position as he and his opponent stared each other down.

The muay thai practitioner took the lead here, while the Genin was too terrified to respond. Swallowing hard, Naruto looked over his shoulder, following the fist still stretched out till he saw the overall damage caused by the attack at least thirty meters away from him. Though the sight of the fallen section of wall was shocking enough, he didn't need _**that**_ to tell him what the damage could have done to him had that strike actually landed on him!

The burn mark on his left cheek from the twisting fist passing by his head was more than ample information…

"_Fuck, that was too close,"_ Naruto thought, fearfully looking back at his opponent. _"Any weakness this guy has is offset by his raw, destructive power. Bloody hell. That was a God damn corkscrew punch using all of the energy in his body to produce a shockwave with enough piercing power to shatter any defense standing in his way. Where the hell did he learn that?!"_

Nai smirked when he returned his target's stunned response with a cocky grin, "That was my knockout punch… one I spent a whole month creating, which I was finally able to complete thanks to you. However, it looks as though I'm going to have to rough you up a little bit more before I can fully realize its true potential…"

OOO

Shikamaru shouted out in pain as he bounced several times along the ground, rolling to a stop covered in bruises and dust. Coughing out blood, he glared up just in time to see William charging at him with his right fist pulled back. The alarming sight of the massive man threatening to run him over had the Nara quick to react. Leaping to his feet, he took a wide stance and threw both his arms up into a cross-over-cross block.

The wrestler ran headlong into him, with Shikamaru ramming his arms into his chest and stomach.

He felt like he was trying to push against ten other people at once as the Nara slid back along the ground with the soles of his sandals wearing out millimeter by millimeter. He tried to put his back into the return shove but William just kept plowing on. Eventually, the hulking American let up a little, with Shikamaru still gritting his teeth against the opposing force even though he'd managed to slow the man's run to a stroll. The wrestler gritted his teeth against the opposing force in an advantageous position beneath him, grabbing the boy by the shoulders with both hands and threatening to pick him up. The sloth responded by shoving the deft limbs out of the way before ramming punches into the guy's open stomach as hard as he could. He shouted as he uncorked ten to about twenty full-power straights… which ended well…

William chuckled and placed both his fists on his waist, letting Shikamaru pound away at his body till he either tired out or broke a hand. "That tickles! Work my left side a little more, it's been feeling a little tight recently, that's a good chum."

Shikamaru ended with a shout and a right cross, pausing momentarily before withdrawing his numb hand and grabbing the wrist of it. He bit on his tongue hard to stop himself from screaming, "AAAHHHH… damn that hurts!" His exclamation did not go unnoticed.

The wrestler laughed in amusement, before bringing his right hand over his left shoulder and backhanding the boy across the face. The slap echoed throughout the entire arena like a car colliding with a wall, with the end result being the brown haired boy flying and spinning a twenty meter distance across the clearing before bouncing along the ground to a stop for the tenth time in a row. He wound up a crumpled heap closer to the edge wall.

"You won't get anywhere if you hit me like that, my youthful friend!" William exclaimed, striking a strong man pose before marching towards his fallen opponent. Shikamaru struggled to his feet with blood leaking out of his mouth, the sounds of heavy footsteps fast approaching. "Remember, MUSCLE EQUALS POWER! WILL EQUALS MIGHT! Deliver your blows with passion and attack using your opponent's weight against him! That is how it's done?"

"Really?" Shikamaru chuckled, looking up to see the wrestler towering over him like the monolith at the beginning of time. "Heh… thanks. I'll take that into consideration."

"Think nothing of it, friend," William replied, before pulling his leg back and kicking at the boy.

The Nara responded instantly, striking at the leg swinging at him to lessen the damage and using its force to flip himself back onto his feet. Landing a few meters away, Shikamaru then tossed with pinpoint accuracy a cluster of three kunai with exploding tags right at the man's face. The knives cut like arrows and struck him head on, one bouncing off of his head and detonating over his shoulder, while the others bounced off of his mug before exploding at pointblank range.

When the fire and smoke cleared a moment later, Shikamaru wasn't at all surprised to see that his foe was still standing there. It was only when he was met with a more serious gaze, did the Nara actually have something to be concerned about.

The man's eyebrows had been burnt and so had his hair, plus he had a scar above his left eye that was now bleeding down his face. William brushed the ash out of his face before marching forward, his posture more rigid then before.

Something about his stride told Shikamaru that he'd probably pissed him off.

The boy backed away uneasily, the ground shaking even more so as the man approached step by step, making the Nara sweat with worry.

"_Oh great. I was hoping that hit would knock him out… but now it seems I've pissed off the big guy."_

He prepared to take drastic measures to evade. However, the moment he crouched, William sprang at him with incredible speed. Shocked at the split-second of distance he covered between them, the boy was suddenly backhanded and slammed into the wall at the side of the courtyard between two trees. Shikamaru shouted out in agony when he cracked the wall on impact, and just as he was beginning to fall, he felt his breath quite literally catch when William's massive hand found his neck.

Slammed and pressed into the concrete barrier a second time where he'd already made a mark, the wrestler held him above the ground and began applying pressure to his wind-pipe. With every second that passed them he increased his grip around the boy like a vice, with the Nara gasping for air and kicking uselessly against the castle wall.

"You nearly took my head off with that," William stated with a serious voice. Though his tone still sounded like he was acting the whole thing, his eyes were burning with anger, probably induced from the paper bombs going off right in front of him. Nobody liked a rude welcome like that, not even the invincible machine made of muscle. "Allow me to return the gesture with your loss."

Shikamaru, desperate for air, began kicking at the young man's face. His feet slammed against the wrestler's melon repeatedly, left and right across his cheeks, right in his nose and under his chin. Though he bruised the teen, the Nara's legs caught the worst of the pain, which resulted in the pressure around his neck increasing even more. He was lifted further up the wall as his world started to go black.

"Nice try. But it will take more than a few lifeless blows to sway me! My spirit is power incarnate! NOTHING CAN OVERCOME MY GLORIOUS BRAWN!" William shouted, a smirk forming on his face. "This match goes to me!"

Gagging, Shikamaru glared down at his enemy as things started to get hazy on him, his hands beginning to claw more viciously at the limb binding him.

This was not looking good.

"_Weakness…"_ the Nara thought in a wheeze, his mind beginning to drain of any and all ideas when he felt his life pretty much get sucked out of him through a straw. _"This… person… this… man… he's got… (choke)… he's got to have… a weakness…"_

Something! Anything! He would take an Achilles toe at this point. Sure, he'd scratched the guy over his eye at the skin with his knife, but everything else on him was built solid. He could withstand the force of a bomb blast right in front of his face for Pete's sake! There had to be a weak spot on him.

There just had to be!

Shikamaru's kicking slowed to a stop and his breathing grew still, his eyes beginning to close up on him. The light was fading…

"_A weak spot… a human… soft… spot…"_

OOO

Hinata was in a spot of trouble of her own. The girl was being pressured into following Vincent's pace and, frankly, it was getting her beaten up real bad.

"_**Hakke Kūshō!"**_ the Hyuuga shouted, unleashing a blast of invisible chakra from her hand when she thrust it forward in a long-reaching palm strike. The gust of wind shot toward the spearman at full speed, who responded to the danger by leaping clean over the pressure in the atmosphere threatening to cut him down while finding an advantageous position above the field.

Spinning his lance above his head, the officer took careful aim with the tip and thrust downward, the length of pole running at bullet speed straight toward his target on the ground below. Hinata leapt back the moment she spotted her opponent's response, the spear shattering the concrete space she was once standing on while at the same time she tossed a barrage of shuriken up at her attacker. The young Britannian managed to withdraw his weapon in time to bat the barrage aside, seconds before making land fall himself.

Kunai in hand, the kunoichi began dancing circles around the officer as he lashed out with his lance. The pole spun and twirled around him in an amazing display of grace and choreography, the metallic tip flashing through the air at a rate that Hinata just could not keep up with. She continued jumping back and forth, engaging the man in a flurry of sparks and slashes, while at the same time being driven away by his repetitive thrusts and swipes aimed for her head and legs.

Any timing carelessly executed ended with a gash, every misstep ended her getting swatted and every hesitation resulted in her losing ground. Needless to say, the in and out exchanges were draining her of chakra quickly, as her _Gentle Fist_ style of beautifully polished techniques hit nothing but air. As long as she was being kept at bay, being forced into her opponent's rhythm, controlled to fly into his attacks with a weak guard, with every passing second the risk of losing grew and grew.

Slamming her in the leg with his staff, nearly toppling her, Vincent thrust at her with a flurry of stabbing and lunging motions. Hinata slipped around them left and right, backing up sharply and, with a kunai, blocked the sharp spear tip aimed for her chest. She gritted her teeth as she skidded back, her defense wavering.

Panting, the Hyuuga glared through her Byakugan at her opponent, who glared back at her with a less intense expression. The difference in their advantages over the other was beginning to show, so it wouldn't be long till the kunoichi's lack of focus cost her.

"N-No!" Hinata shouted, bringing her right hand back and extending her left, "I'm not giving up!" Sprinting forward, she lashed out with the kunai again.

Vincent frowned, deciding to create his opening through force. He dashed in as well, allowing the girl to get in close. The jump in proximity stunned the Hyuuga and she recoiled when her opponent suddenly appeared in front of her. In a show of speed and directness, the spearman took his lance into two hands and slammed the side of his pole up into his opponent's chin. The girl's head and body was slammed back at his counter, the kunai in her hand suddenly falling free. With his target stunned, Vincent took the lance, spun on the spot and spun the staff in his grip, before taking it by the end and lashing out in a sharp and wide diagonal swing.

Hinata, recovering a second early, spotted the danger and tried to leap back. However, the damage she'd sustained to the body resulted in her legs failing her. Her toes barely pushed her out of the death blow, but the lance caught her. The tip slashed across her stomach, ripping through her jacket, shredding it, and sending a spray of blood flying through the air. The swiftness of his switch from extreme close range to a long, incapacitating attack had the Hyuuga stunned.

Vincent spun away, taking his lance into a single-handed grip this time before swinging it out again, slamming the pole end without the deadly blade across her face. He watched the kunoichi stagger away from the two strikes, holding her chest in her hand before eventually collapsing to her knees. The officer shimmied away for distance just in case she still had some trick waiting for him, and watched on with a hard stare as the girl panted heavily and bled all over the floor.

Looking down at the hand covering the gash across her core, the girl took stock of the damage. She sighed in relief when she saw that the lance had not struck any vital areas, but had left a deep impression in her nonetheless. Eyes widening in terror, she looked up to see Vincent glaring at her with his hairline shadowing his eyes.

With blood splattered across his face from landing that blow, he looked far more menacing than he did before. Gone was the charming visage of a representative, now replaced by the form of a true killer.

This man was willing to do the girl damage, and stood back to allow this realization to sink into her.

It was the perfect, demoralizing tactic.

Hinata coughed in between pants, her body beginning to tremble violently.

"_T-This man… is strong…"_ the girl murmured, gritting her teeth as her consciousness threatened to leave her. A gentle hand placed on the cold, concrete floor, now being stained by her blood, she tightened it into knuckles. _"I… I can't defeat him. His speed and reach is far greater than mine. I… I can't…"_

…

…

"_I'm finished… I…"_

OOO

A gust of wind cut through the air from his blind spot, slamming into Asuma's side and knocking him off his feet, seconds before he was again hit in the back and forced in the direction he'd just come from by a second invisible blast. Since learning of his opponent's special ability, his even battle with Periklis had suddenly changed paces completely, plummeted and reached a whole new low for the unfortunate shinobi. Never in his entire life as a member of the twelve guardian ninja and an elite serving as a member of the Konohagakure forces, had he faced an opponent like this before!

The man cried out in agony as he was repeatedly attacked from all sides by an unseen force being controlled by an ever vigilant opponent. The strikes came in within seconds of each other, giving him only a moment of comfort before being sent spinning in a whole other direction. The hits were so brutal, extreme and relentless he had no idea which way was down anymore. He wasn't given enough time to determine anything along those lines, as his feet hadn't been able to touch ground since the second blast of wind knocked him into the air.

Eventually, after getting battered around from side to side a descent number of thirty times, the natural forces eventually let up on him, allowing the man's body to fall back to ground on his two shaky feet, before allowing his legs to buckle under the damage. Asuma collapsed, absolutely spent.

His trench knives falling out of his hands, the man fell to his hands and knees, panting heavily and sweating up a storm. Gashes in his arms and all over his body showed just how many times he'd been hit, which told everyone the full extent of his opponent's capabilities. Though he could praise the swordsman for these skills he possessed, additionally he was not only terrified at the next attack to come and what pain it would bring him, he was also incredibly pissed.

Periklis was untouchable now that he was using this Geass-thing of his, and it was frustrating Asuma to no end.

After catching his breath and regaining his bearings, the Jonin allowed his hands to clench into fists before slamming one of them into the concrete, a string of curses flying from his mouth.

"God dammit!" he shouted, glaring up towards the swordsman now sheathing his sword a safe distance away. Forcing his body up onto one knee, Asuma growled irritably at the officer keeping his distance and basically looking like nothing was affecting him. It was the biggest insult the shinobi could think of, "Don't underestimate me! I'm not done yet!"

"Apparently, you are," Periklis smirked, his left eye glowing even more intensely. Wind began to pick up around him once more and formed into a tornado, which sheltered his body inside a vortex of densely packed, cutting air. "You've given me quite the run around; I'm actually starting to sweat here. But unfortunately for you, as everybody says, all good things must come to an end. It's time that I finish this duel of ours and carry on with my real mission."

"Oh, no you don't! Not yet!" Asuma growled, struggling to push himself back to his feet. He picked up his trench knives, cuffing them tightly around his fists as he pulled himself up as far as his body allowed. "Don't get conceited. I can still go on. I'll fight you till I'm no longer breathing. It's my responsibility as a shinobi of my village and a teacher."

Periklis chuckled, grabbing the handle of his sword tightly again, "Very well then." The hurricane of wind surrounding him increased its ferocity, whipping at both his jacket and disheveling his hair, "As you wish."

Asuma huffed, adjusting his stance. While he watched his opponent draw his sword from its sheath once more, the Jonin desperately began formulating a strategy to use against him. However, his confidence as well as the chakra that he needed to continue this battle, were both incredibly low, and were continuing to decrease by the minute. He didn't know how much longer he could keep this up, nor was the Jonin able to come up with an effective way of overcoming the sheer speed and fierceness now being executed by his otherworldly opponent.

Even after seeing how he moved, he didn't know how he was going to counter the officer.

His odds were slipping faster than his consciousness…

"_This guy is powerful… __**really**__ powerful. I bet he could even give Kakashi a run for his money."_ It was the honest to God truth. He'd seen the Cyclops fight. By contrast, this guy was astonishingly good. No question. _"Damn it! He uses wind to increase his speed and range. How am I going to cut through that?"_

It was grim, no matter which way he looked at it.

In fact, things were looking so bad that he was beginning to have his doubts about his own survival, something he knew he didn't need with him when in the heat of battle.

OOO

"_**Tiger Shot!"**_ Nai shouted, blasting a sphere of golden flames directly at his opponent through a punching motion, who backed away at an insane rate to try and avoid.

Unable to dodge effectively, Naruto desperately crossed his arms over his face, which got hit by the attack and knocked him flying across the quad. He was shocked at the sheer amount of force behind the wave and the scolding pain that came with it, his hands shaking from the embers as he skidded to a stop. Body trembling, he attempted to reassume a defensive stance, but before he could even bring his hands around to begin parrying, was immediately struck by his swift opponent.

Hit with a roundhouse to his leg, followed by a left hook and a right uppercut, Naruto was pummeled into submission, resulting in him stumbling away with blood flying from his mouth. Retreating, the jinchuriki attempted to circle, to dodge and evade, but the muay thai practitioner intercepted him at every point. Failing in those maneuvers, Naruto next tried to get away by jumping over his attacker, but the moment he attempted to do so, Nai leapt after him and drop-kneed him in the stomach, sending him crashing back down to the ground.

Growing more desperate by the second, the blonde tried to zigzag around, but the kick boxer pursued him, cutting off his every escape route by running circles around him. Nai stopped his movements with a quick jab, before suddenly dashing around and coming up with a swift roundhouse. Naruto leapt away, but was unable to make the distance and ended up with a right cross in the face. The blow ripped through him like an axe through a tree, chopping away at his certainty and shaking him up, ending with him staggering once more.

The jinchuriki tried to put up a smoke screen, but Nai stopped him by hitting him with a blast of fire from his knuckles, which slammed into his shoulder, and detonated. The energy ripped into his jacket and burnt his skin.

Crying out in pain, Naruto leapt to his left. The kick boxer appeared directly in front of him and roundhouse kicked him in the side of the face. Because it was so swift, it lacked the necessary killing power it previously had, but there was enough strength in it to send the shinobi reeling. Shaking his head, the blonde attempted to return fire, but was forced to guard at a sharp one two that slammed into his guard and bruised his arms even more. The boy limped back, his world blurring from damage and fatigue.

"_Damn it! I've got to move! I have to get away!"_

But he couldn't.

No matter where he ran, no matter what he did, and no matter what he countered with, his opponent wasn't letting him out of his sight. Nai was relentless.

In the few minutes since using his specialty blow to try and finish the fight quickly, the kick boxer had managed to shake Naruto up so much that he'd lost all focus. Because of that, the jinchuriki ended up trapped in his opponent's pace and was getting hit left and right way worse than before. The situation turned so bad in fact that through the blonde's eyes darting around and trying to track his opponent's movements, it looked as though the kick boxer's speed and proficiency had suddenly skyrocketed.

Attempting to weave around a jab, Naruto was caught with a right cross, which had him recoil and look back at his opponent in shock when he thought he saw his opponent's fist cock back. _"Another corkscrew? No! Wai-"_ Just as he was head slipping to avoid, he was unable to parry in time when he was hit with a left jab. He attempted to evade again, but was kicked in the leg, and forced to duck a left feint. A right feint and left followed, which was shortly broken by an uppercut slamming into his chin and sending him reeling back in pain, blood flying out of his mouth again. _"Dammit! Shit! I… I can't…"_

He couldn't predict his movements.

Nai had shifted up yet another gear. Using his speed, footwork and control over the fight to his advantage, the muay thai practitioner had started mixing in feints in with his real blows. Because Naruto had only been practicing the basics of direct and indirect combat with his instructors, he was very unfamiliar with the concept of feints in taijutsu. He'd seen it used in greater scales as a part of shinobi tactics and strategies, but as a close-combat element… it was baffling and terrifying. He didn't know what to do!

The kick boxer's fists and shoulders twitched, allowing him to react instinctively to Naruto's own responses and counter instantaneously. He kept psyching out the blond with fake hits that looked like they were moving to strike him down, yet they never came, mentally tormenting his opponent before physically assaulting him with real, sharp, heavy and punishing blows. Whenever he got too far, Nai kicked him, and whenever he got too close, the pugilist attacked him with straights and hooks.

He'd effectively stopped Naruto's footwork. His speed and shinobi tactics were no longer working.

Hell, he couldn't weave any hand seals anymore, despite how fast he could execute jutsu now. Nai wasn't letting him.

"_Fuck!"_ Naruto was slammed in the face by a jab after trying to block the feint, before getting slammed across the face by a right hook. _"I can't fight back! I can't! WHAT THE HELL!"_ He was growing frantic and getting even more careless. _"I… can't do anything!"_

Backing up some more, the jinchuriki suddenly shuddered to a halt when his back slammed into a wall. It was at that very moment the Uzumaki's eyes widened in fright when he realized he had nowhere left to run. He looked ahead to see the kick boxer advance on him, guard up and glare tightly fixated on his position, cornering him.

Nai appeared to him like a gigantic wall. No… not a wall.

His body shaking and eyes wavering in fear, Naruto found himself looking not at another shinobi, warrior or the same fighter he was pitted against at the beginning. What the jinchuriki saw staring him down… was a _tiger_.

The muay thai fighter from the young shinobi's point of view blurred between the appearance of a massive striped animal on all fours with its canines bared at him, and the boxer wielding the fists of death with a fierce, unrelenting glare. It was almost like a hallucination; one that Naruto was unable to discern the real entity from the fake one. He started to panic uncontrollably.

This only meant one thing for the observers…

The sheer killing intent being emitted by Nai had finally gotten to Naruto.

Seizing the opportunity, with his opponent driven into the wall thanks to a combination of feints and demoralizing shots, the kick boxer decided to finish him off once and for all. Sending a heel kick right into the blonde's stomach, slamming him against the barrier with a bolt like blow and making sure he stayed there, he then dived in and began mercilessly pummeling the Genin with straights and jabs. Nai gritted his teeth as he rained hell down upon him at full pelt, using the power in his arms and swings to deliver the highest level of punishment.

Kasumi, sitting up at the top of the stairs, suddenly rose from her seat when she saw her Naruto cornered against the far wall. Her hands covered her mouth, suppressing the gasp that threatened to escape her.

"_Oh no! Naruto-kun!"_

Shaken up from the corkscrew, unable to determine the real hits from the feints, and frozen from an unwavering aura of killing intent, the jinchuriki was only able to do one thing. Throwing up a turtle guard, the boy planted his feet into the concrete and, with whatever strength he had, did his best to stand against the storm of punches that came pouring down on top of him. Naruto's back was slammed repeatedly into the wall, his body shuddering immensely from the blows that hammered him into the obstruction.

The power too was reminiscent of a similar experience, one that drilled the jinchuriki to the bone.

The Genin growled as he glared through his arms, feeling the other boy's fists rip into his defense. Face swollen from already having stood against the dozens of attacks from before, he fixed his sights firmly on his unrelenting foe.

"_I… I have to do something!"_

Nai, seeing his opponent glaring back at him, pulled back his right and held out his left, jabbing at him to keep him pinned against the castle barrier.

"_It's useless to curl up against me!"_ the kick boxer shouted in his head. His expression transforming into one of fury, he opted to change tactics.

His waist dropped and legs bent into a lowered stance, his guard widening. The jinchuriki looked back in bewilderment, seeing what the teenager was now prepping his position for.

It was the same stance he took before unleashing his corkscrew blow.

"_He's going to put weight behind his punches again… and finish me off!"_ Naruto thought fearfully, hiding his face under his arms. _"Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT! I have to… I have to fight back… b-but HOW?!"_ He saw the boy twist his left over his shoulder, stepping forward into his orthodox stance before uncorking a wide cross. _"No… it's too risky! I have to hold on!"_

The left power jab exploded against his guard with the sound of a cannon rippling across the arena, dust blasting into the air and engulfing the two of them. The force of the attack could be clearly seen by the path the clouds of debris followed, with Naruto standing on the receiving end of the deadly arrowhead. The blonde recoiled in shock, his guard shaking yet holding firm against the mule's kick.

The wall his back was pressed against cracked.

Immediately leading after the fierce left, Nai's body twisted around. Like a hurricane, his right fist came around in a similar hooking motion, and slammed into Naruto's guard from the other side. A similar sound echoed all around with a mirrored affect racking the stunned blonde. The jinchuriki was forced further into the wall, which split under the raw power of the blows being executed against the intended target.

The crowds gasped in astonishment at the monstrous strength they could feel reverberating around the courtyard

"_Hold on! Hold on!"_ Naruto screamed in his head, feeling the wind cutting into him like knives.

And so the barrage picked up.

With grunts coming out in the form of roars like that of an actual tiger, Nai plowed into Naruto's guard without restraint. He bellowed out his attacks with great fury, putting the full power of his body behind every hit. His shoulders twitched at random when they hesitated with one or two punches, presenting Naruto with a confusing series of feints, before he came around with a killer shot that slammed into the boy's forearms and threatened to knock his guard wide open.

His feet no longer able to provide him with his shinobi like evasion skills and agility, the blonde had no choice but to hold up his defense and bite against the firestorm battering him like he were a sand bag.

Naruto winced and grunted, his guard slamming into his face every time he blocked a punch. Even while bracing against the onslaught, he could still feel the damage seeping in through the cracks. His body was slowly starting to fail him, a sensation that became more evident with every punishing blow. _"W-What power!"_ Another hit, followed by another and another. Though all of it was coming from directly in front, hammering away at his guard, he was completely unaware of his back, which was quite literally being buried into the concrete wall as if it were foam.

The castle defense behind him, designed to withstand the brunt force of jutsus, arrows and explosives, was crumbling away inch by inch under Naruto's back and the hammer of a man driving him into it. This showed just how much strength Nai was putting into each of his straights, and while the wall itself was giving way first, his actual target was just refusing to go down.

At least… for the moment.

Naruto felt a punch slam into his upper guard and felt it travel into his jaw, which flew back and slammed into the wall behind him from the force traveling on. The barricade crumbled even more. He'd already formed an already massive crater large enough to fit three grown men in for shelter from the rain, yet Nai wasn't stopping or letting up.

The punches kept on coming.

"_Th-This is not good…"_

The jinchuriki's world blacked out for but a moment when he felt another hook crack across his guard and face. His arms, which had once served him well up to this stage, could no longer take the strain.

His defense loosened.

"_His punches… are killing me…"_

He could feel it too.

His consciousness was slipping. If his guard went down for even a second and one of these punches landed on him, feint or not, Naruto knew that it would kill him for sure. It was all in Nai's eyes; the boy wanted to end his life and he was giving it his all to accomplish this goal.

This struck the Genin with a sensation he never thought he'd feel ever again. The amount of power behind each attack gave him inclination enough. Though the blonde tried to push back to force the punches off of him or to at least have them let up, all he received in return for his troubles was a killer roundhouse kick to the side, a side strike that nearly toppled him in one go.

The jinchuriki's legs shook and his guard continued to take the penalty, his eyes widening.

"_What punches they are… I… I…"_ Naruto thought before being slammed up against the wall again, consecutive lefts followed up by more power shots firing away at his now numb limbs. His body trembled from the display of force, with Nai yelling out with the punches he threw, showing all that each of his blows was being used in an effort to take his opponent's life.

The jinchuriki peered at his furious attacker through his arms with fear etched across his face.

"_I… was looking forward… to fighting **him**?!"_

The next few hits slammed right through his guard, catching him across the face repeatedly. The blows battered the shinobi from side to side, sweat, spit and blood flying in four different directions. Nai roared out in rage and threw a last, left hook right across the guard, hitting his opponent straight in the face through the gap and sending him staggering out of the crater he'd buried him into the wall.

Hobbling to a hunched over stop in front of the kick boxer, Naruto looked back up at him. The look of alarm on his face was all too obvious now.

"_I… I'm scared…"_

He could see it… the tiger; a massive cat with unbelievable power and strength. The giant beast was towering over him with its massive front paw held back over its head, ready to strike him down in a single swipe. With a roar that was all too real and echoed throughout the entire clearing, the monster of a wild animal dove at him with its claws flashing under the sun, canines bared, and a swing with enough strength behind it to tear flesh from bone.

Naruto could see it! He could see it coming at him, ready to snatch the life right out at him!

Ready to spill his guts over the floor, to maim him, to kill him!

This was it!

"_I'm scared…"_

His eyes widened and wavered in horror as the tiger lunged for his neck. The pain in his body was so unbearable at this point in time he feared what kind of terrible thing was coming next.

He was terrified.

"_I'm… going… to die…"_

When it came, the punch ripped across his head with the force of piston, sending Naruto flying to his right with blood spraying out of his mouth. His eyes glazed over, indicating that he was knocked unconscious, just like all of the other opponents to have fought against Nai.

As soon as his body slammed against the wall behind him and caused more bits of it to crumble away, the blonde's legs buckled… and he began to fall.

"_I… can't…"_ were his final thoughts as his world began to go out of focus. The audience, the field, and the light around him all began to fade away. _"I can't… defeat… Nai …"_

At the same time as the blonde began to slip away, the pugilist pulled back, sliding into a wide stance and watching carefully as his opponent fell before him. Taking aim of his head as his legs gave out beneath him, he brought his right fist up to his cheek and twisted it inwards.

The power began to build up as Nai prepared his final blow.

"_You put up a good fight, Uzumaki,"_ the kick boxer thought, his glare hardening on his lifeless opponent, now ready to kiss the canvas. He offered him his final condolences in the moments of his descent. _"However, as it now stands between us, you aren't good enough to beat me, and that's the truth. Last time, we fought to a draw. But this time…"_ His body twisted back as his feet planted, his right fist beginning the twisting motion as he corked it around for the grand finale. The boxer's eyes widened, _"I WILL PAY YOU BACK IN SPADES!"_

Naruto couldn't even see it coming. All he could see approaching him was the ground at his feet and the darkness beginning to close in on him.

He felt weak… tired… exhausted… broken…

As he fell, the boy knew that it would all be over once he felt the cold, hard floor against his face. The jinchuriki believed that this was what he needed, that it was what he wanted, all in order to stop the pain flooding into his body… to stop this vicious beating… this torment…

He'd suffered enough. All he had to do now was simply giv-

…

…

…

…

The jinchuriki blinked, pausing for a moment to carefully reconsider his words.

He was still falling and nothing was happening to him yet in this suspended universe, so this gave him ample time to reflect on his actions and declarations of days past.

"_Wait… what were those words…?"_

…

…

…

Give up?

Nah, that didn't sound right. Not to him. Hell… he didn't even know what those words meant.

However, Naruto allowed himself to dawn on his troubled thoughts for a moment, since it was proving to be an interesting area of discussion. He arrived at this conclusion at the exact same time Nai had finished pulling his fist back, at the same time Shikamaru found himself pinned against a wall, the same time Hinata found herself brought to her knees with a deep wound across her stomach, and at the exact same time Asuma was struggling back to his feet to stand against his oppressor of a challenger.

There was plenty of time to worry about all that, but for now Naruto just stayed the course, and allowed his mind to wander.

"_Have I used every move I know, every jutsu I've learnt, every technique I was taught…?"_

…

…

"_Have I… done everything I possibly could…?"_

Through the darkness toward the end of the tunnel, a bright light shone. Striding on, moving toward the rays of sun, the shadows opened up to the front of the academy, where Naruto was able to see the smiles of each of his friends and teachers gazing back at him; the faces of all those who believed in him. Iruka-sensei, Yim, Ran, Meow, Shikamaru, Hinata, Asuma, Teuchi, Ayame… they were all standing there, out on that field, grinning at him. It was an odd sight sure, because the boy was certain that they didn't all know each other well enough to gather together the way they had… to acknowledge him…

Wait…

Maybe… maybe that was why they had gathered together…

Did they acknowledge him? Was that it? Did they acknowledge his existence? His strength?

It made sense. I mean, why else were they there for him?

Those smiles on their faces, those warm, bright gazes of encouragement and expressions of delight, they were all signs of a friendship and a bond. These were the smiles that were only given to the person that they believed in, someone they loved and someone whom they trusted with all their hearts.

And you know what…

They were all directing these gazes; these smiles, these gestures of kindness… all of them were being directed towards _him_.

The sight of his friends beaming at him and the sudden jump from the dream state, back into reality, snapped Naruto out of his trance.

"_No!"_

"_I haven't!"_

Just inches from touching the ground, the jinchuriki's eyes flew open and his foot slammed into the ground underneath him, forcing him to a stop. He wheeled around, his teeth clenched tightly and his bright blue eyes flashing a new spark of life, at the same time as he fixed his glare on the ripped stomach of his opponent.

As he looked even higher and pulled himself back into his previous position, Nai's face and his corked up punch came into view.

"_I haven't used everything yet!"_ Naruto shouted in his head, his hands being brought around and feet sliding into a _Wing Chun_ stance, just as Nai unleashed his attack on him. _"I've still got one more move I can use!"_

If his ninjutsu, taijutsu, knives, exploding tags and fists couldn't break through Nai's guard or make him flinch, then what about something with a little more 'kick' to it?

"_I've won!"_ Nai exclaimed, his corkscrew blow unraveling in the form of a tornado surrounding his arm that suddenly came shooting around from his right. The twister of a punch flew toward Naruto like a bullet, curving through the air, and threatening to drill into the boy's head and splatter him into the ruined wall behind him._ "This is it... **CORKSCREW CROSS!"**_

The muay thai fighter could feel it…

Victory!

It was right in front of him!

"_Against Naruto Uzumaki…!"_

The jinchuriki faced down the punch as it came at him, a sight that encouraged the kick boxer to keep pushing forward, to keep going with his entire body moving into the attack as he spun in with a loud _whooshing_ noise filling the air from the barriers of sound being broken.

His drill of a fist was just moments away from impact, just inches from Naruto's face! The blonde glared back at it with wide eyes, gritted teeth and a brave face, as if he was ready to face the music. Death was staring him in the eyes and he wasn't backing down!

The moment was so intense and so instantaneous for the both of them that nobody noticed the jinchuriki's left fist drop to his waist.

Nai grinned as his punch's momentum brushed up against Naruto's cheek, its force plowing into the jinchuriki before the actual punch even landed.

It was a sure victory, one that the pugilist announced to the whole world the moment his knuckles made contact with his target's face.

This was it!

"_I'VE WON!"_

There was a massive bang, followed shortly by a blast of dust whipping through the air and perspiration flying skyward…

Nai's attack landed…

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Author's Note:<strong>_ Wow, another cliffhanger. Damn, why am I using so many? Oh well, another chapter, another suspenseful moment.

The battle has reached its highest point, a moment of desperation and hopelessness for the entire team! Will they be alright? Will they survive? Will they live to see tomorrow?

Who knows? Shit's happening, so anything is possible!

So, run down…

_**Geass**_**:** Also known as the _Power of Kings,_ the Geass is a supernatural ability originating from the series _Code Geass: Lelouche of the Rebellion._ It's a power that appears in the eyes of several individuals, granting them an ability that would be considered abnormal. The ability a Geass grants its user varies from person to person, like for example, Lelouche; who is granted the ability to give a single, absolute command to any person or group of people, the victims of which are then compelled to carry out the command to their utmost, even killing themselves if necessary.

Periklis was one of the many hundreds given a Geass by C.C through a contract, his ability enabling him the ability to bend air and vacuums to his will.

**Nai's Techniques:**

_**Art of the Tiger's Pulse**__:_ The opposite to the Dragon's Pulse, an energy source existing in the _Fullmetal Alchemist_ series that May uses to perform Alkahestry, the Tiger's Pulse is an energy existing inside of all individuals, and what muay thai fighters in this universe use to increase their fighting prowess and understanding of the world.

The energy physically manifests itself as flames, which increases Nai's range, attack power and combat prowess. The same system of energy also allows him to perform other feats, including accelerated healing in an inactive state, energy blasts, illusions and sensing.

_**Tiger Shot:**_ A technique used by Sagat from the _Street Fighter_ series, Tiger Shot manifests itself as a blast of fire shot from the knuckles or any of the eight limbs used in the sport. It is one of Sagat's signature moves and the most potent with its range and quick execution.

Nai uses it in a similar manner when empowered by his Tiger's Pulse energy, allowing him to fire consecutive shots, blasts, waves or torrents.

_**Corkscrew Punch:**_ A move used a lot by South American boxers, the corkscrew punch is a striking move executed with either the left or right hand. The basics behind it are simple, yet it takes a great deal of practice to execute properly and safely. In a straight, the corkscrew is executed like a regular punch, only with a greater twisting motion in the body and the arm. By twisting the arm and the shoulder, it allows the user to guard their chin with their shoulder from a cross counter, while striking at an opponent at the same time.

With practice, a lot of power can be used in conjunction with this attack to stagger an opponent. In the _Hajime no Ippo_ series, Date Eiji uses the Corkscrew Punch in his signature move, _**Heartbreak Shot**_. By aiming a corkscrew punch at a person's chest right over their heart, the user is able to stun their opponent, and prevent them from moving long enough to land several more combinations and beat them into submission.

Nai is so strong, he can use the Corkscrew Punch as his killing move to deliver absolute, destructive power, if he doesn't kill his opponent first with his regular attacks.

_**Feint:**_ A feint is a technique that allows someone to physically or mentally psyche out another person, forcing them to execute moves prematurely or make mistakes. Used often in sports, in combat, fighters can use this tactic to lead their opponents into a false sense of security or an open space, and hit them where they least expect or when their guard is lowered.

It's a mentally damaging technique that Nai uses against Naruto, who's inexperienced with the concept of feints in mid-combat.


	23. Land of Dusk Arc: Peace of Two Worlds

**NARUTO**

**The Art of Appropriation**

_The Peace of Two Worlds_

…and struck the wall directly in front of him.

The violent clap of thunder echoing all around was in fact the sound of Nai's fist drilling into the crumbling section of wall a once cornered Naruto had been shoved up against and was the very person he had intended to finish off with his final attack. The force put behind the blow was so intense; it caused clouds of dusts and debris to choke up the air around him, as well as send the entire top section of barrier he had struck to crumble right before his very eyes, forming another noticeable gap in the perimeter. A magnificent display of raw power executed with superb technique.

However, while his attack did indeed hit something and caused an insurmountable level of damage, it completely missed its mark. It took Nai a second or so to realize that his fist had not buried into the head of his target, but had instead brought to heel an inanimate object. His eyes widened as he found himself staring at an empty space.

The calluses on his knuckles, initially expected to feel flesh splitting and bones cracking underneath them, were pressed firmly up against the crumbling crater than once framed his target. But, he was no longer in sight, leaving the young man baffled with his arm still extended.

"_W-What? No way!"_

He had him! God damn it, the boy had him! Naruto was unable to move, he was pinned, cornered, and near close to losing consciousness! He had pretty much been slapped onto a silver platter and handed to Nai as an offering for all to see! So, while in a situation like that, with all exits blocked and pretty much all of the energy zapped clean from his body, where could a severely damaged shinobi at the age of thirteen and no longer able to put up a good fight, disappear to? It just wasn't possible.

Shock wiped across Nai's face as the wall of dust was replaced by the sight of a street and a swath of stunned villagers wandering the marketplace on the other side. Blinking away his stupor and ignoring the expressions of disbelief, the kick boxer turned his gaze downwards.

There, leaning against the bottom section and remains of the wall, glaring up at him with gritted teeth from a crouched position, was Naruto, his left fist dropped to his belt line. Nai's eyes widened in horror when he saw that his opponent's lowered hand was vibrating- no… _glowing_ and emitting a dangerous looking aura.

It was memories of his last confrontation with the shinobi that allowed the brawler to quickly identify exactly what he was staring at and fully realized his blunder.

"_H-He was waiting for my corkscrew!"_ Nai gasped, watching in slow motion as Naruto suddenly lunged straight up at him, his left fist shooting upwards from his waist in a powerful, twisting motion that cut through the air faster than a bullet. "SHIT!" The kick boxer began pulling his fist back, but he was too slow.

Naruto's body hook rammed into him with an almighty blast, like a battleship cannon was fired at extreme close range, followed shortly by a sharp crunching noise. The blonde's chi empowered fist hit home with the full force of his body, delivering the power needed to break the sturdy, natural guard of his counterpart. The shockwave that rippled from the impact point and sent dust flying into the air also lifted Nai a foot off the ground. The momentum of the hit alone was enough to crack the concrete beneath the two, with Naruto making sure his attack did as much damage as his _Armor Piercer_ technique could possibly allow.

It was a move brilliantly executed.

That loud crunching noise was two of Nai's ribs cracking and breaking. The power behind the chi-enhanced punch continued to travel through his body to the other side, shaking up all of the organs inside, tearing through muscles, and basically rattling him right to the core. The expression on his face contorted from shock to one completely overcome with pain, his cheeks puffing up like a frog's throat from the air in his lungs being pushed out all at once.

"_It was a direct hit… as a counter… he got me with a clean liver blow!"_ Nai gasped in his head, seconds before he could hold his insides in no longer.

In an astonishing display, blood came gushing out of Nai's gaping mouth, a spray which clouded the air like a fountain shooting water. Retching and choking, the kick boxer stumbled away once his feet touched the ground, gripping his side with a horrified expression. Naruto staggered forward, gasping as well with his guard flying back up to his face. At the same time, both fighters reassumed defensive stances, one of them taking his time getting his wind back while the other was bent over in sheer agony.

"_I got him! I finally got him!" _Naruto exclaimed, glaring furiously up at the pain-struck kick boxer now struggling to stay on his feet._ "How do you like that you son of a bitch?"_ A grin forming on his face, the blonde rose up to full height and extended his hands outwards into a perfect _Wing Chun_ fighting stance. Though his legs were still trembling from his own damage, the hope that victory was possible for him started flooding back in, as if the colossal damn of doubt dividing him up had ruptured with the success of that one clean hit. "That corkscrew punch of yours is a powerful weapon, but it screws up your rhythm with a massive build up! Keep practicing!"

"D-Damn you!" Nai growled, his voice breaking from the pain in his side. He struggled back up, a shaky guard returning to cover his cheeks as blood continued to pour profusely from his mouth. Glaring up at his smirking opponent, he could see the jinchuriki was back to normal as if he had managed to catch hold of a second wind. As excited as the pugilist had been at his anticipated, almost certain victory, all of those hopes were quickly dashed the moment he was afflicted with real damage for the first time this entire fight._ "H-He transformed his Armor Piercer technique from a ranged attack to a compact one. By compressing his chi into his fist… and combining it with a Liver Blow… he created a… a…"_

"_**Tekken Blow!"**_ Naruto grinned, sliding out further into a stance. His opponent glared up at him in bewilderment. "I can finally think straight again. Thanks for knocking some sense back into me."

The tables had turned.

After pretty much fighting a long, one-sided battle, unable to damage his opponent thanks to the invulnerability granted by his superior strength, muscle, and potent energy, Naruto had finally managed to get in a clean hit.

This seemed to have a domino effect with the rest of Team 10. The moment the jinchuriki managed that single, devastating attack that sent his opponent reeling after getting the snot beat out of him for the past several minutes, pretty much fired the starting gun that had all of his squad mates come back to their senses at the exact same time…

OOO

Hearing the gunshot of a counter from his teammate and seeing Nai stagger away across the courtyard through his blurring vision, snapped Shikamaru out of his half-conscious reverie. The boy's eyes widened in astonishment upon witnessing what had happened and, after getting a good view of the spectacle, he looked down at William, where he could see that the wrestler had also turned and was gazing out toward his companion's battle in equal surprise.

Like the rest of the audience on the sidelines, the massive American became overwhelmed from the sight of his team's most hardened in-fighter staggering around, barely able to keep his footing. He was also baffled to see that the return blow that had managed to bring Nai to this state had come from the jinchuriki, who was previously being plowed into the wall. Vincent and Periklis also ceased their attacks on their targets to take a look at what had happened.

Everyone in sight was swiftly and effectively silenced by the turn of events.

After gawking across at Naruto advancing on the winded Nai, Shikamaru shook his head and glared back down at his distracted foe, still holding him up by the neck against the barrier behind him.

"_A weak spot!"_ The Nara's eyes darted over the absentminded wrestler, looking him from head to toe. He examined the cut over the man's eye caused by his last attempted attack on him, and realized that the scratch in the 'impenetrable' armor had in fact not come from the exploding tags going off, but had been caused by the kunai delivering the bombs!

The realization that the dent was actually created by a sharp object told him the one important aspect he had missing from the shogi board, and Shikamaru aimed to capitalize on that.

"_THAT'S IT!"_

With William still sidetracked, Shikamaru drew from his pouch a throwing knife, took aim, and with his best swing, rammed the kunai right into the elbow joint of the arm holding him up. Just as he expected, the space on this man's body that wasn't strengthened to the durability of a steel wall, including the tissue around the eyes, ears and joints, were soft and prone to damage. As a result his small weapon was able to cut straight through the hyper extended joint with a blade through butter, a shock that reached William's brain in a flash and had him release his opponent with a yelp of pain. The American grabbed his arm to try and cut off the bolts of what felt like electricity shooting through him, allowing Shikamaru to drop to the ground and dash right between his spread legs without fear of attack from above.

When the light on his feet genin ducked under the massive teenager, Shikamaru pulled out another knife and rammed it into the joint behind his knee, the kunai impaling and sticking before he finished sprinting away. The American fell like a tree in a forest, hitting the ground hard with an earthshaking thud. Within moments, the Nara was out of reach of the fallen soldier and safe from harm. Once assured of the distance between them, he too collapsed to his own hands and knees, and breathed in the sweet nectar of fresh air.

Having nearly been strangled to death and relinquished from the iron grip thanks to his quick thinking was a big relief to the boy. Rubbing the handprint around his wind pipe, the gasping Shikamaru glared back at William, who was clutching both his right arm and left leg.

Needless to say, the counter assault was a big success.

"OOOOooh! My magnificent limbs, struck down like an act from above! Aahh… this sensation… what is this strange feeling I am feeling?!" the mighty William cried out, rolling back onto his front after falling to his side, and slamming his fist onto the concrete. Obviously, he didn't know what it felt like to have something sharp pierce his skin before. It was kind of a new experience for the juggernaut.

Grinding his teeth together William glared angrily up at his foe, who continued to stare back at him expectantly. "You are indeed a shrewd one; the first man to ever wound me in combat. Ah…" He hissed, trying desperately to keep the blood inside of him from leaking out through the two punctures in his flesh. "Inconceivable! So this is what real pain feels like?"

"I take it this doesn't happen to you often?" Shikamaru asked, hopping up onto one knee, leaning on it, and smirking back at the young titan.

"It has never happened to me before," William replied, also dragging himself back onto his four limbs. Wiping the blood from the cut across his eye, the wrestler in turn smiled back at the equally wounded shinobi he was remarkably still butting heads with.

There match was far from over.

"I will not let a wound like this deter me. As long as I still have life in my body, I WILL USE MY VERY PRESENCE TO BRING DOWN EVERYTHING IN MY PATH! My will is unbendable!"

"_Geez… he's still on?"_ Shikamaru groaned, rolling his eyes.

"Let us wrestle some more, my swift opponent from across the seas! Smear my throbbing pectorals with your man sweat! Penetrate me with your stakes of justice!"

"Uhh… yeah… sure. As appealing as that sounds, I… think I'll pass on that."

Not that he had much choice since the wrestler was able to pull himself back to his feet and chase after him, albeit a really pronounced limp. Shikamaru backed away quickly, fixing his glare on the still lively brawler thundering towards him.

The guy pretty much had his knee shot out and his tendons severed. It should have been impossible for him to move. But defying all laws governing human physiology, he was still able to walk and run!

"_Looks like I'm going to have to hit him a little harder,"_ Shikamaru thought, dodging a hand that lunged out to grab him, before William toppled over onto a knee again, his wounded leg buckling. The young male shook it off though and shakily pursued the Nara across the clearing._ "The areas of his body that he neglected to strengthen or are impossible to make completely impervious to attacks are weak against direct hits. Bombs don't faze him because he tenses before each explosion, which explains why he's still standing after taking three in a row. In other words, he has the same weaknesses as an ordinary man; only they are more tightly packed. I'll have to attack his other joints, as well as the soft spots around his head to get to him."_

"_I can win this!"_

The Nara yelped and ducked another slab of concrete sent hurling his way.

Because this guy was still doggedly hobbling after him across the courtyard, total victory for the Genin would still take some time. However, in spite of all the danger and chaos going on around him, there was only one thing Shikamaru could say to this whole mess of bullshit…

"Troublesome," he murmured, dropping down and tossing a shuriken at the man's head, only for William to bat it aside with the back of his hand and keep rolling forward…

OOO

Hinata, upon seeing Naruto force his way out of his dead spot through sheer will and hardcore grit, felt relief flood into her like she had never felt before.

A smile appearing on her face and her eyes sparkling with joy, the girl marveled over and praised her teammate's strength before her once fear filled expression transformed from delighted to one conveying both seriousness and certainty. Her overall tone changing, the Hyuuga rounded back on the lancer standing before her with his spear pointed directly at her face, and focused the entirety of her attention back on the issue at hand.

She remembered… she still had business to take care of.

Vincent's overshadowed glare switched to surprise when he watched as the girl wiped the sweat from her brow and, albeit shaky legs, force herself to a stand. It was a spectacular moment, seeing the girl suffering from a deep gash across her stomach simply push away the fear and bring herself back up to face the very thing threatening to take her life.

It was like her crippling wound was no longer there.

"I-If Naruto-kun and Shikamaru-kun can still fight," Hinata replied, sliding out into a wide stance and dropping low, extending her left hand forward, "Then so can I!"

Frowning, Vincent spun his lance about and took it into a defensive guard, ready to lunge when ready. He could see the intensity in his opponent's eyes grow even hotter since getting back to her feet, which made him draw away a little.

"_What is Ms. Hinata going to do now, I wonder?"_

He had reason to be suspicious. That last hit she tried to aim for his kidney, though effectively dampened thanks to his own little secret, and the clean combination that followed turned out to be quite piercing, which worried him. _"She focuses her energy into her hands to strike at vital organs she can see through those eyes of hers, and can project that same energy out of her palms to reach inside of her targets. Her perceptive abilities are at a phenomenally high level… almost as high as mine. However, she's going to need more power if she intends to get through __**my**__ defense. At the speed she's currently using, any attack from any angle at her current level is useless against me."_

He was still weary. A battle was not won until it was won, which was why he was staying on guard.

Eyes scanning her target over, Hinata focused her attention on the chakra network she could see inside of him. While her doejutsu was not as powerful as she liked it to be at this point in time, it still granted her a lot of useful abilities, including binocular vision, the capability to see chakra and the chakra network, and a three hundred and sixty degree field of vision. She made a note to herself to later strengthen this ability for better use out on the field, before refocusing on the more pressing issue, which had yet to be dealt with.

Though the chakra system inside of her opponent was throbbing like a bedsore yet he was still seemingly unaffected by any of her attacks, which she suspected was because he was connected to a different circulatory system she could not see, Hinata became a little bit concerned as to why her view of him was as dim as it was.

Pulling out a bit with her Byakugan, the Hyuuga eventually discovered the source of the problem, which caused her frown to deepen, "Your body is covered in energy absorbing material."

Vincent smiled, "Figured it out?"

"I knew th-that my attacks were feeling a little bit blunt. I just didn't know what it was. Y-You're protecting your body under a shock-absorbing vest, one that you use to practice with your fellow spearmen. It's designed to block direct attacks of all forms, including energy sheathed ones. Only blows with incredibly high piercing power can break through that."

"And that is power I'm afriad _you_ do not possess, Ms Hinata," Vincent exclaimed, sliding back a little more. "Even if you can get past my lance, you will never be able to get through to my body, even with your special shinobi abilities."

"We'll see," Hinata replied, slapping her hands together into a hand seal.

Vincent watched in interest as the girl concentrated, and while he could have used this opportunity to try and strike her down, he thought better against it. By the way she was able to glare back at him in spite of the damage she'd suffered, he saw that her eyes were still alive and that even a sneak attack at this point in time carried a large risk. He wasn't going to fall prey to any of those flying blades of he-

The officer jumped when Hinata's eyes suddenly flew open. When she released her hand seal, her palms as well as her feet unexpectedly burst into life with bright blue aura like flames rising off of her limbs. This seemed to create an up draught effect that made even the kunoichi's state look even more impressive than before, which had Vincent leap away sharply.

"There!" Hinata shouted, reaching into the pouch before tossing a barrage of three kunai. The blades cut through the air as if they were fired from crossbows at high torque.

Vincent smirked and swung his lance around, "Too slow!" The knives clanged loudly when he smacked them away, sparks flying. In the process of knocking them out of the air however, the officer got another even bigger surprise when he unexpectedly saw his opponent appear right inside of his attack range, dashing directly underneath his swinging staff. The boy's eyes widened in shock as he tried to bring the spear around again, only to have the girl right underneath him and up close in the blink of an eye, _"Mother of… did she just get faster!"_

As Hinata's right hand drew back and her left hand extended in careful aim, Vincent's eyes darted over her form. Not only was he able to see flecks of energy coming off of her palms like embers, but he could also see her energy enflamed feet burning brightly. Adding two and two together, the boy cursed under his breath.

"_I… I see! Using the same chakra she projects from her hands and uses to stick to surfaces, she can also use to increase her speed!"_ The teen backed off hastily when she came swinging in. _"I didn't know she could do that!"_

Before she could lunge in and upward with a palm strike, Vincent kicked off of the ground and threw himself back as fast as he could. His eyes widened further when her attack struck air and a blast of visible chakra shot outwards. For all he knew, that could have been his stomach or heart combusting like a boiler.

He spun his lance around over his shoulder and took aim, just as the girl landed on the ground with her forward foot once more and dashed on with yet another burst of explosive speed.

"_Oh no you don't!"_

Vincent swung to his left, thrusting his lance out at the speed of a bullet. Hinata ducked under it and dashed after him, her swiftness thanks to her chakra imbued limbs helping her to keep pace with him. The lancer wasn't done yet though and spun his lance over again, lashing out at her with thrusts and swings as he retreated. When she ducked under a particularly wide lash, he brought his spear back in quickly before throwing it out, this time aiming for her lowered body that he knew wouldn't be able to descend any further to the ground without her throwing herself flat across it in her sprint.

"_Got you!"_ The officer was sure of a hit, even while running backwards at this speed. However, much to his astonishment, the girl ducked in line of the spear tip but, instead of rushing through it with her shoulder, his spear veered off course on its own accord.

The cause of it; a burst of chakra exploding off of the kunoichi's body and redirecting it, allowing an opening for the now reinvigorated girl.

Vincent freaked when he came face to face with his attacker, who came to within arm's reach of him and established a perfect striking position. _"Sh-She can project energy off of her body too? Why didn't she use these skills before?!"_

Hinata swung her left back, before diving in with it, chakra twisting around her fingers like a vortex. _"Defending with chakra takes a lot of concentration. I need to time each burst right to knock his attacks off of their intended trajectories!"_

With her step in going deep thanks to her increased speed, the girl rammed a sharp finger blow into the boy's shoulder. When Vincent staggered with a wince, the girl followed up with a quick five hit combo with more finger strikes, followed by a spin in. Chakra bursting off of her body to keep his guard open, the kunoichi then drove a double palm strike into the boy's stomach, a final shot of chakra blasting off of her hands, "JUKEN!"

The shockwave echoed all around. Vincent coiled over at the force of the assault with a deer caught in the headlights expression and blood flying from his mouth. Chakra whipped over his body like a fierce, unyielding gust of wind before he was sent hurling off his feet and across the quad. His feet slammed into the ground after a few meters of flight and forced his body to a stop. Drool and blood flowed freely down his chin as his shocked appearance faced the floor.

Okay, NOW his insides definitely felt those ones.

On top of the front of his jacket and vest being shredded, his organs felt like they were going to collapse in on themselves.

"_Her increased speed allows her to develop enough power to get through my armor. Damn it… the surprise hurts more than her blows."_ Biting his teeth and cursing his luck, he glared up at the girl to see her walking around him cautiously. He considered putting on a brave face, but a lightning bolt of pain a second later had him hunch further over,_ "No… wait… I change my mind. This hurts worse than the shock…"_

Upright, Hinata kept her eyes fixated on her target as she circled, watching him bring his spear around to aim it at her. Both sides inspected the other's condition, with the officer then turning his gaze southward on his opponent to see that her feet were still glowing brightly with chakra.

Frowning, Vincent glared back up at her, "Your energy emission state and control is consistent. In addition you also have a surprisingly higher level of lower body strength from before, allowing you greater control over your increased dashing speed. Why didn't you use this kind of agility earlier in our fight?"

Hinata stopped in her tracks and turned to him fully, at the same time reaching up to the top of her jumper and grabbing the zip, "N-Naruto-kun and Asuma-sensei helped me to strengthen my legs… t-to make my _Gentle Fist_ style stronger. It took me a while… b-but I've finally learned how to use my legs properly." She unzipped her jacket and threw it off of her, leaving her in a black top and pants. Tossing the bulky jumper on the wind, she reassumed a proper fighting stance, "With their strength helping to lift me up and push me on, I _will_ defeat you, Vincent-san!"

Shaking his head to get himself out of his daze, Vincent chuckled and reached up for his own top. Grabbing it by the front he yanked it off of him in one go. What he revealed underneath was the very vest that was blocking Hinata's chakra from efficiently entering his body, and while it had protected him up until this point, only served to anchor his movements down because of its weight.

Not only did he remove his battle tunic, he also removed the flexible armor too, leaving him in only a black singlet.

Now that he had better access to his body, he removed one of his gloves, "You damaged my liver and the muscles around my lungs. I'm afraid that this won't do." When he removed the covering, he revealed some strange circular markings painted onto his palm, which he then showed to the ever vigilant Hyuuga.

Hinata blinked in surprise as she watched him press his hand over the right side of his body and saw it start to glow. Sparks of blue electricity ran up and down his core in a very peculiar sight vaguely similar to the manifestation of visible chakra.

The girl lowered her guard a little, "W-What are you doing now?"

"Alchemy is an amazing thing. I learned enough of it to help me create some powerful healing techniques, should the need for them ever arise. Instead of decreasing my overall lifespan in the equivalent exchange process, it takes away my stamina and the nutrients in my body," Vincent stated, while wiping the blood away from his body. Several seconds later, the electricity effect around his hand disappeared, and he removed it from his waist to reveal a hand print burnt into his side. "Writing an alchemic circle is like writing a mathematical equation. You just need the right numbers to administer the right affect, and can have disastrous consequences should you get it wrong."

"S-So this is your other skill," Hinata blinked, retaking a defensive stance after watching the teenager kick his lance back up into his hands and ready himself for reengagement. "I knew you were holding back."

"Unfortunately," Vincent sighed, feeling a little out of breath with sweat starting to drip down his forehead, "I can only use it a couple of times a day. I'll need to replenish my energy supply if I am to use it again, but since I can't at the moment…" His grip tightened around his staff as he rotated in, taking aim, "My only option is to prevent you from getting close to me. This means that this will be our final round!"

"Th-Then I will do my best to beat you… a-and WIN!" Hinata shouted, dropping low before dashing forward at full speed.

Vincent also dropped low and moved forward, but not as quickly. With a yell he lunged out with his lance, which once again abseiled over Hinata's shoulder thanks to a burst of chakra, and the kunoichi dove in with a palm strike.

"Let's finish this!" the kunoichi cried out, the chakra around her hand exploding against the man's staff when he swung it in to block…

OOO

Asuma, gripping his trench knives tightly, dropped into a sprinting start and held his arms back. Though it was an unusual stance to take since it provided one huge opening and very little defense, it did make his intentions clear to those watching. With his Geass glowing from the supernatural energy allowing him dominion over the forces of nature within the atmosphere, Periklis noticed his opponent's strategy change and also slid back further in preparation. His sword flickered through the air as he brought it up, with its tip facing his foe.

"_What does he think he's doing?"_ the fencer thought, hardening his glare on the battle readying Jonin. _"A full frontal attack? That's suicide against me and he knows it…"_

Did his student's advantageous hit over his enemy give his companions some kind of confidence boost, the belief that they could defeat their opponents… defeat Britannia's allies? If that act did invoke a change in their approach from passive to increased aggression, than that blonde haired boy had a lot more to him than a friendly grin and a magnetic personality.

That Genin had potential to do extraordinary things; the power to change the world. It's what occupied Periklis' thoughts for the brief as he stared down his now re-energized target.

"_To encourage a turnaround from his friends… to give them reassurance… to push them out of their states of doubt and fear… __**that**__ is a gift," _Periklis considered, easing away as he watched Asuma's glare narrow further onto him. _"Even his teacher falls under the same light that radiates off of that boy. They all believe in him… they give each other hope… and support one another."_

Good team work. No question.

"I know what you're thinking," Periklis grinned, his blade flashing under the sun, "It won't work. My wind can hit you from all directions. The control that I exert over this invisible force is unparalleled. No matter what you do, you won't be able to get to me."

Asuma smirked, "That remains to be seen. I haven't used up all of my cards yet. I've still got a few more tricks I can use." Focusing, the man then sprang from his position and dashed at full speed towards Periklis.

The swordsman backed down sharply before bringing his weapon over his shoulder. He took aim and swung out with a yell, _**"Slicing Wind Blades!"**_ A powerful gust shot out of his sword at his will. The atmosphere being cut and projected by the strike was enhanced by his Geass, which accelerated the forces and transformed them into an accurate vortex that whipped through the air down a single, straight path. It cut towards the charging Jonin at vacuum speed.

Seeing it coming, the shinobi smiled, beads of sweat running down his face, _"Well… here goes nothing."_ Asuma was betting it all on this.

Bringing his trench knives in front of him, he prepared to strike out at the closing atmospheric pressure surge. He could feel it coming, his heightened reflexes and sharp eyes allowing him to follow the path of the slip streams.

Periklis smirked, his Geass tracking Asuma's movements and seeing exactly what he was trying to do next. _"That won't work. Cutting the wind with your knives will accomplish nothing. Air can go anywhere you can… you can't possibly…"_ His words caught in his throat when he saw what the Jonin unleashed next.

The energy that appeared on his blades from before reappeared, increasing the length of his weapons with a metallic hum filling the air. The Jonin struck in with his right, allowing his chakra enhanced trench knife to lead him and pressed on. The energy he wielded counteracted against the cutting atmospheric pressure now ramming into him without end, his technique carving a straight path right toward his target, whom he continued to advance on at full pelt. His speed only increased the closer he got, and when he came within striking distance, Periklis leaned back in shock.

"_No way… he's using his energy blades to slice my winds… that means,"_ the swordsman began to think frantically, his weapon pulling back as his target dove in with his left, cutting across at full speed, _"He uses wind too?"_

Periklis ducked right as Asuma moved right as well, the extended blade carving into the fencer's back arm as he evaded. The Jonin spun when he swung; returning with his right in a follow-through as he pretty much breezed past his opponent, who tumbled to avoid extensive damage from his attacker. Blood sprayed through the air from both the fencer's arm and his side, which caught the return attack.

In the bat of an eye, Asuma was able to pull off a miracle of his own.

Rotating, the shinobi slid to a stop, watching as his opponent rolled onto both feet before rising up and turning as well. The latter staggered when the pain from the newly inflicted damage got to him and caused Periklis to lose balance. His stance distorted when his knees nearly failed him, but he was able to reposition his feet to support himself.

Blood was dripping out of his side and down his tunic, as was the wound across his arm. It slowly started to recolor his uniform.

"You moved better than I thought," Periklis exclaimed, biting his bottom lip to fight against the stinging sensations shooting through his nerves from his left side. "Your _**Hien**_ caught me off guard."

"It was just a theory. I thought about it for a while. If wind was to meet wind on the same neutral plain I knew that something had to happen. Any result would fall along the lines of complete and utter catastrophe, one form cancelling out the other, or the sharpest blade cutting through the differing substance," Asuma replied, holding both knives out in front of him, the two of which were still sheathed in his chakra. "I am able to compress my chakra down to the sharpest blade. It's the perfect battle element, particularly if I'm facing off against someone like you. It looks as though I've finally been able to level out the playing field."

"And so you have. However, just because you were able to get past my winds this one time doesn't mean you'll suddenly find yourself on a roll," Periklis replied, frowning back at the large shinobi. As much as the scars now engraved in his body were irritating him, he wasn't going to let damage like these put him off his pace. "I won't let you trump me so easily again… you can count on that."

"If that's what you want, then go right ahead. I hate it when things are too easy anyway!" Asuma suddenly shouted before chucking a barrage of chakra enhanced kunai at the man.

Periklis ducked them at the last second before firing off a ball of pressurized air from his sword, which rippled across the clearing like a shockwave. The Jonin crossed both arms over in a block, his knives humming loudly when they formed an 'X' shaped shield over his chest and face. He threw both outward and sliced into the sphere of wind, cutting it down and effectively dispelling it into nothing. The breeze that remained gently ruffled his clothes.

Unaffected, the Jonin then ducked and dashed, his opponent doing the same. In the blink of an eye they crossed weapons, sparks flying when they leapt and spun at each other.

The blades intercepted in mid-flight but ended with both combatants flying past their intended targets again, landing safely in their jumping distance before spinning to face each other. Once more they charged in, weapons blazing…

OOO

Nai smirked and straightened himself up to tower back over Naruto, who maintained his position across from him with an unwavering glare locked onto his person.

As a result of the mindboggling body blow, the kick boxer presently had a visible imprint of a fist lodged in his side, which was black and swelling from the amount of power that had been put behind it, all of it aimed to take him down both externally and internally. As much as it was killing him right now with a set of broken ribs and a shaken liver, he was not going to let something like this slow him down.

He was confident in another turn around, which was why he was once again bathing himself in the golden flames of his _**Tiger's Pulse**_ technique. The flames started at the hands and feet, before completely enveloping him in a light aura that started to waft off of him and rise into the air, like some otherworldly phenomenon.

Naruto made no attempts to stop him. Instead, he waited off on his side, waiting and watching to see what'll happen. It was clear his target was healing himself of his wounds.

How this will affect his combat prowess was yet to be seen. Hell, the young Genin wasn't even sure if Nai would still be able to continue fighting. He could fall unconscious at any moment or pack it in for instance. This was merely another test of his skills to see what would result from a direct chi attack. Not to mention the jinchuriki didn't want to just jump out there and get into another hitting match. He needed to make sure his opponent's defenses were completely down before he made his move.

"An impressive counter," Nai grinned, bringing his fists to his sides and focusing on his 'power up'. The flames around him increased in ferocity and, slowly but surely, the massive bruise in his side started to disappear. "However, don't go thinking that just because you got in one good shot that you've won this whole thing. I still have enough energy at my disposal to bring you down."

"If that's what you think, dattebayo," Naruto smiled.

His confidence got a frown from the kick boxer, "What do you mean by that?"

"Breaking your guard was only part of my plan. I was aiming for something else… something more troubling than just your energy pathways."

"What exactly, were you a-" Nai's body unexpectedly shuddered, and the next thing the boxer became aware of was his body bending over out of reflex and suddenly emptying a pool of blood all over the floor. He staggered in shock when bolts of pain went shooting through him, the golden aura once surrounding him vanishing as quickly as it had come. Naruto grinned when he saw him back off, his legs shaking even more than before.

"My plan was to stop your feet. If I stop your feet, _you_ won't be able to move, which means all you can do from now on is defend," the jinchuriki stated, his feet grinding into the concrete warningly. "Now _I'll_ be the one attacking…"

"Y-You son of a…" Nai choked out, clenching his jaw tightly and looking down at the wound at his side. While the swelling and the massive bruise had disappeared, and a lot of the damage to the inside was gone, the fist mark was still there. The major crippling effect of the attack was still etched into his side and because of the pressure against his ribcage, he could not breathe properly. Gasping for air, the boy glared back up at his target, his vision blurring slightly. _"He crippled my ability to recover effectively by disturbing my breathing pattern. I can't focus my tiger's pulse properly because of the damn body blow. Why is chi such an annoying, fucking thing to deal with…"_

"Feeling a little heavy?" Naruto laughed, crouching down before running forward, "Perfect. Let's see you try and chase after me now!" The blonde then dashed out at him, fists first and ready for battle.

Still dizzy from the damage, Nai forced his hands up and jabbed out with his left, only for his target to duck underneath it. Now able to move forward without fear of being hit by his opponent's destructive power shots, the accuracy of which had been cut in half, the blonde shinobi swept out at the pugilist's forward leg with a sweeping kick followed by another to the back foot, disrupting Nai's balance greatly. The kick boxer roared out in frustration and threw a right roundhouse on an unstable foundation, which Naruto quickly head-slipped back to dodge. The wild throw barely grazed his nose.

The blonde's eyes followed the path of his enemy's kick before jumping up from his crouched position and sending a leaping uppercut into Nai's exposed jaw.

Naruto cracked the kick boxer right under the chin, the target bending backwards sharply with blood and sweat sprinkling the air above. The jinchuriki landed back on the ground and immediately followed up with a spinning back kick across the boy's face, sending Nai stumbling off to the side. Reassuming his _Iron Cat Fist_ stance with his hands curled into loose fists in front of him, Naruto followed him with his eyes.

The blonde glared at the boy in surprise as he staggered away, his knees visibly shaking from the damage stacking up on him.

"_His defense is gone. I can actually hurt him now!"_ Naruto shouted in his head, before rushing forward again, now more confident in his victory.

The Genin's approach was swift, running a zigzag line before leaping at the wounded muay thai fighter.

His guard no longer up, Nai had the wind knocked out of him when the boy in orange rammed into him with both his knees. The jinchuriki then stuck there, using the kick boxer's collar and shoulder as a crouching post, while pressing down on top of him with all of his weight focused on his chest. When Nai staggered back, Naruto brought his right hand up above his shoulder, forming a clawed hand before mercilessly slashing at the boy's face.

With both hands formed into claws, the blonde scratched and slashed away, burying his nails into the teen's face and badly scarring him.

Bloody gashes were drawn as a result.

"Yah, yah, yah, yah, yah!" Naruto shouted in a very Meow like fashion, before kicking Nai in the chin and flipping off of him. He landed in a crouching stance directly in front of the kick boxer as he retreated in a daze, once again forming the _Iron Cat Fist_ style.

"Damn you!" Nai roared, slamming both feet into the concrete and bringing his guard back up for balance. Hands defending his face, he bit tooth and nail to hold his form as he glared across at the blonde haired boy staring back at him.

The kick boxer began to circle, but his pace was labored all account of his legs threatening to fail him. _"You think you can still win? Even if I'm grounded I can still fight!"_ Case in point, the jinchuriki chucked a cluster of shuriken from close proximity to test his timing, which Nai smacked aside with a back fist. The blades cut into the gauze around his arms but were still rendered ineffective. _"My reflexes and power are still with me, so I'll just keep my distance till I've recovered enough to keep pace with you…"_

Naruto gritted his teeth and rushed in at him, forming his cross fingered hand seal, _**"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"**_ Bursts of cloud shot up around him, copies flying out of the fumes and tackling Nai head on. The boxer threw up a turtle guard as they came ramming into him, before he fended them off with quick, compact shots that sent them reeling in all directions. The original came in under the six that dispelled, ramming a right into his exposed abdominals that had Nai hunch over in surprise, saliva flying out of his gaping mouth.

If anything the clones definitely improved his combinations.

"Stay back!" the boxer shouted, thrusting a right knee up, which slammed into Naruto's chin and sent him staggering away. When Nai landed back on that foot he trembled, but managed to hold it together.

Shaking his head to clear his vision, the pugilist backed away even further, making sure to circle so that he wasn't cornered and throwing up his guard with his left extended in orthodox. When Naruto turned back to face him with a _Wing Chun_ form, the kick boxer's limbs and shoulders began twitching again, a sign that he had switched back to using feints. _"You think my corkscrew is my only knock-out punch? I'll get you with these!"_

"_Even if I surround him with clones or try to circle, he can still swivel about using the same pivots he uses for kicks. He can break my rhythm with those damn feints!"_ Naruto gritted his teeth and switched back to _Iron Cat Fist_. He hunched his shoulders to protect his chin from both sides and brought his curled fists up to protect his face, left in front of the right. He then began a bobbing movement from side to side; his head following a figure eight motion as his feet shuffled him forward, approaching his opponent as quickly as he was physically allowed. _"I don't need to worry about them! Feints are used in place of actual attacks, so I'll just dodge them all. Use what Meow-chan taught you! Weave your body! WEAVE!"_

Nai backed away uneasily, continuing to pop feints as his opponent approached, his head moving from side to side, up and down, and following a non-linear and non sequential pattern. Both traded fake attacks with maneuvers, keeping the other person on their toes and guessing. The situation actually made the kick boxer sweat as he couldn't get a bead on the boy's head.

Naruto had started weaving so fast it looked as though there were five of him standing in the same place.

"_Fuck, he took it up another gear!"_ Nai growled, backing away wearily. His opponent used this tactic at the opening of their fight, but he didn't display this kind of speed before. He must be using his chakra to help keep his feet planted and legs stable in order for him to move the way he was. _"I can't corner him with feints if he moves like that! What the hell do I do now?"_

"Come on!" Naruto roared, lunging at his opponent suddenly once finding an opening in his feints, who also chose to do the same in order to stop him.

Their foreheads slammed into each other and both fighters growled, attempting to overpower the other with their bodyweight. However, once at this range they quickly separated but stayed with their forward foot positioned within extreme close range of their target. There was only a foot of distance between Naruto and his foe, a range that they both specialized in and proceeded to take advantage of. Nai began viciously hooking and jabbing out at his opponent, who began ducking, dodging and weaving around his hits again, chucking everything he had at the brawler's body in the form of quick body shots and chain punches. He hammered away at Nai, while also taking one or two hits of his own.

Head twisting around sharply with a spray of blood flying from his lips, Naruto gritted his teeth and glared back around, eyes alight with the fire of fury, _"I won't hit according to his rhythm! I'll take the lead, and give him TWENTY hits for every ONE he's given me!"_ The blonde began his weaving at breakneck speed, feet planted as he slipped past the straights cutting the air surrounding his head.

This was his pace!

The fight was jaw dropping.

Shinobi rarely came across hard hitters like Nai in their line of work. The boy was a solid fighter, preferring to duke it out at extreme close range too uncomfortable for other shinobi, and batter his opponents into submission. Naruto knew this from feeling his target's fists up close, even taking some to the face through a guard. It was a terrifying prospect.

While guys like Sasuke and Kiba had a pretty good punch, their hitting power was no where even close to Nai's. Each of his attacks was scary and Naruto was certain that after this day was through, he would never be afraid of another person's punch again.

This was why he was determined to win this. If he won, he would be able to move forward, grow and continue his march towards becoming the strongest shinobi in _Konohagakure_!

He'd worked hard to get up to this point, so there was no way in hell he was stopping now!

Right fist vibrating as he poured chi into it, the relentless young shinobi swung in with a smooth hook. Nai returned it with a right cross enflamed with his own energy, burning a bright gold and forming a bolt shaped streak along its path. Whatever remained of their power they rammed into each other with their full strength, both attacks connecting and exploding outwards with a force comparable to a bomb blast.

Hot winds ripped at their bodies, the two boys skidding away from the center more disheveled and frustrated than ever, before returning with jabs leading them.

Naruto spun around and swung in with a roundhouse, going through a motion of hand gestures he had watched Yim perform when she first showed him the armor piercer technique. Tai chi moves followed by a carefully aimed left thrust. Nai tensed and spun away at the last second; barely dodging the chi wave the blonde fired off from his fingers when he flowed into the final extension. The attack rippled across the area before dispelling safely, forcing the jinchuriki to back up and avoid a knee strike from his opponent.

"_That's two in a row… shit!"_ Naruto thought furiously, his world almost going blank from expending so many chi attacks in such a short amount of time.

They both retreated and went back to dancing around one another.

"_I've disrupted his accelerated healing, but getting past those fire bursts he's still able to muster is annoying!"_ Naruto murmured, swiftly weaving under his opponent's response once they were in close again.

Ducking around a left jab and a right hook, Naruto stood up straight, guarding a left uppercut and locking it up. Nai twisted in with a right cross to counter, the jinchuriki relinquishing the other fist and blocking his incoming, while at the same time swiftly kicking him in the shin. Nai winced from the blow, but he persisted. The boxer sent a left hook, which his opponent parried and then threw both arms up and out, preventing more hooks from the outside while breaking his opponent's guard temporarily. With Nai's defense thrown open, Naruto thrust his left palm forward, which stopped just short of the brawler's nose.

Head slipping back in shock, Nai threw his arms up into a turtle guard. The jinchuriki then wasted no time after testing his range and began pouring on chain punches without restraint, hit after hit after hit after hit. His punches came in at the firing rate of a machine gun, battering away at the boxer's guard twenty hits per second and blurring into a single repertoire of continuous straights as a result. It wasn't long till the stinging sunk in and the barrage of hundreds upon hundreds of punches started to bruise the other teenager's arms, his feet sliding back along the ground at the show of force being exerted against him.

Growling back the pain, Nai yelled out in anger and hooked out with a right followed by a left, breaking the boy's pattern. Naruto countered, parrying both before swiftly jabbing his foe in the face and uncorking under unrelenting stream of chain punches. The kick boxer's guard was up the moment the response broke into him, the Siam teen planting his feet to hold back the assault driving what felt like miniature drills into his defense. The blonde haired shinobi rained hell on him, beginning to circle the taller teen while ramming countless blurred punches into his body.

The jinchuriki began yelling out in volume with the attack stream, as the amount of punches he was uncorking in the several seconds to follow started to cause his shoulders and fists to burn from the amount of effort being applied to keep up his insane pace.

"_Come on, you son of a bitch! Show me that face! Break! BREAK! BREAK!"_ Naruto screamed, walking a full circle around Nai while continuing the long chain punch combo. _"FUCKING BREAK!" _He went back to wailing on the guard, before finishing with a right cross. Spotting an opening at the base, the blonde grinned and rammed a left uppercut underneath and between Nai's elbows, slamming the boy in the chin.

The muay thai fighter's head cocked back with a spray of perspiration. His guard split open, Naruto then sent a punishing right side kick into his chest, sending him stumbling back with a loud thud ringing out all around. Nai staggered to a stop, arms down, face still thrown upward and panting like an exhausted dog. On top of the bloody scratches forming a tic-tac-toe board on his face, his cheeks had also swollen up even after guarding against Naruto's lightning fast, sharp punches.

His assault had managed to pierce through the pugilist's defense. Naruto panted heavily from the combination he had managed to perform, his knuckles bruised and bloody as a result of pounding at a guard as solid as a steel wall.

His own knees starting to shake, the blonde gritted his teeth and tried to form a hand seal. However, his arms were shaking so much he couldn't bring himself to form the correct symbol, which ended with him dismissing the effort out of frustration. He grabbed his wrist and massaged it irritably, _"Damn it… even if I __**was**__ to use ninjutsu it wouldn't do me any good. I don't have anything in my arsenal with enough hitting power to knock him out… no fire jutsu, water jutsu… nothing! He knocks away my clones in droves. I've spent all of my exploding tags on blowing up their camp and I've only got a couple shuriken left."_

After massaging his bloody hands, Naruto slid back into a _Wing Chun_ stance. His opponent also reassumed his orthodox stance and both ended up glaring across at one another. Sizing up the other's damage, the two circled before measuring the distance between them. After seeing the kick boxer stagger, bite his teeth and try to hold his upright position, Naruto smirked.

"_My legs aren't the only ones that are shaking, huh,"_ the blonde thought, cursing at himself, _"That was stupid. The idiot can still dodge and counter my chi attacks at close range. I already used three so I won't do that again, not unless I'm sure I can hit him."_

Using the armor piercer drained him of his stamina. If he ran out of chi, he would pretty much be dead in the water. He hadn't used the energy source long enough to be able to recover from the fatigue that came with it. It still came as a massive shock to his body whenever he fired off a shot.

With his right fist clenched and his left extended, his stance narrowed as his left foot slid in front. _"I'll have to use my __**Slicing Cross**__, and finish him in one go!"_

His special counter; the one he had been practicing for days on end and had entitled to be his second strongest attack. It was knockout capable, as proven from experience.

He just needed to get the timing down.

Nai meanwhile was trying to keep his cool. Even though his legs were shaking he still had the strength to keep on going. He just needed to reframe from excess movements so that even while fighting he could encourage his recovery. Unfortunately, he was up against an opponent who was willing to go all out from start to finish, but was careful enough not to exhaust himself too quickly. Since his target was hanging back and reevaluating the situation, the kick boxer knew what he was thinking based on his expressions, and used the moment to also make some adjustments to his strategy.

"_I've sealed up all of his options except to take me on directly. His clones are no problem; just more targets for me to hit. He's realized this and wants to fight the rest of this battle on the basis of quality over quantity,"_ Nai thought, keeping his right close to his chin with his left extended out slightly as he used it to keep tabs on his target. _"He's also used the armor piercer three times. The fact that he's still standing means he's still got some juice left to burn, but I'll bet anything that he's going to be careful not to expend the rest of it carelessly. I'll keep him away using compact hits and stop his ability to counter me."_

The two paced for a little while longer. Then, right on cue, Nai suddenly moved in when the opportunity presented itself, allowing his jab to lead him. Naruto leapt back a little, avoiding the boy's sharp punches when they came snapping at him like a cobra. The blonde backed away in a zigzag motion, dodging the sharp punch that came flying at him one after the other, repeatedly. Hooks joined the fray as Nai advanced using shuffling step-ins to increase the reach of his short jabs, swings and upper cuts.

He was leading with _only_ his left, which had Naruto dodging quite excessively with a surprised expression.

After ducking a sailing left cross, the jinchuriki looked up just in time to suddenly spot his opponent diving at him with a wild right. The blonde threw up a cross arm block to defend against it, the punch slamming into him a split second later with the sound of a gunshot and a force that threw the young Genin several meters across the quad. Landing on both feet with a changed expression, the blonde looked across in surprise, realizing in that moment that his opponent's punches were still alive and well.

Frowning, Naruto then rushed at him, watching as his opponent lead in with his left followed by his right. The jinchuriki began head slipping and swaying, dodging the compact straights as they came in non-stop. Sweat flying off of his head, the Genin continued observing his enemy's punches and their flight paths, getting the timing down for them as best as he could.

Nai huffed, jabbing out repeatedly followed by his heavy right. His punches whooshed loudly as they cut the atmosphere, making his opponent visibly cringe after circumventing each shot. _"He's still able to dodge well and has a good set of eyes. But how long will you be able to keep this up?"_ The kick boxer smirked and threw another long jab.

In the blink of an eye, Naruto ducked inside of the boy's attack and threw a return shot with a step in. His punch was fired off like a shotgun, a loud bang ringing out when it smashed into his opponent's face directly between the eyes, sending Nai bending back with a shockwave rippling out, showing just how fast and sharp the counter was. The kick boxer blinked in shock, not knowing what it was that hit him and didn't care.

After stepping back Nai retaliated immediately with a heavy right, the punch cutting through the air and aiming to strike the blonde down.

However, when he first thought his punch would make contact it instead cut through a transparent image of the jinchuriki, which then vanished a split second later. Nai gaped in disbelief, _"What in the?"_ Eyes widening, he spun around, where he then saw Naruto rushing at him from his blind spot. _"His speed went up? Seriously?! That's the first time anyone's disappeared while they were standing right in front of me!"_ Realizing he'd been outmaneuvered, the kick boxer spun in and stepped forward with a sharp jab. It rotated in with perfect timing, speed and the exact amount of power necessary for a knock-out.

Seeing the wind being broken around the incoming cannon, Naruto knew he had to avoid. He also had the timing down perfectly, which got him to smile for but a moment before he suddenly ducked under the punch, using his left to brush it aside and redirect it and then step forward with his right foot. He followed up with his right fist, which cut clean across his opponent's still extending left, over his shoulder, before slamming with the full weight and power of the jinchuriki's body into Nai's chin.

The blonde's lightning fast counter impacted with a loud clap of thunder, which not only cocked his head across but also threw him off of his feet. Nai quite literally did a full cartwheel flip before slamming back first into the ground, bouncing. His horror struck expression met Naruto's serious one as he withdrew his fist, the kick boxer bouncing like a pebble tossed along a lake's surface across the concrete quad several times before rolling to a stop ten meters away.

Exhausted and terrified from the effort, Naruto gulped in air and started panting heavily. Bending over, he gripped his knees tightly and glared up toward his fallen foe.

"Finally. H-How… did you like that, you bastard?" the jinchuriki sighed, feeling relieved that his battle was done and dusted. "Didn't see that coming, huh? Yeah! Woo! This fight… is… _over_. I win!"

Unfortunately… he spoke too soon.

Just as he was replenishing his air supply, the blonde looked on in bewilderment when he suddenly saw Nai push himself back to his feet. Albeit a great deal of effort, with his body shaking and blood dripping profusely down from his lip, the raven haired boy with the bloated left cheek and cracked jaw managed to force himself into a weak stance. Similar to his attacker's bent-over condition, the kick boxer took in his own fair share of oxygen before straightening up and reassuming a fighting stance.

His resilience to punishing attacks was reflected in his current state of consciousness, and his determination was just… remarkable!

"You were saying?" Nai exclaimed, massaging his jaw._ "Bloody hell… that nearly took my head off…"_

Naruto was flabbergasted, "H-How… what?" He was able to survive an attack like that in his current condition? That just wasn't possible. Did this guy have several extra layers of bone or something? Maybe his brain had extra cushioning under it? No matter how hard he hit under his own power, that boy just refused to go down. "How badly do you want to win this thing?"

"More than even _you_ can imagine, Naruto Uzumaki… that's all I'm saying," Nai growled back, stomping forward under the pressure of his trembling knees. "I take it you want to try that again?"

Gritting his teeth, Naruto sprinted in, tossing two of the remaining shuriken he had left. "Damn right I do! As many times as it takes!" The kick boxer smacked them aside and led on with a left jab. Still possessing power enough in his punches, he began throwing it out at his opponent, who continued trying to get at him to finish him off while he was weak enough to be knocked down. However, while Nai couldn't move as well using his legs, he could still dish out punishing blows over and over, as emphasized by how his fist was cutting smoothly through the air like a blade and the sound it was making.

The kick boxer cringed when the pain in his head and body caused his forward momentum to lurch back rather uncomfortably. However, he was able to keep himself from tipping over with a quick shift of weight, at the same time making sure his target was kept at a distance. _"Dammit… that cross counter he used hurts like a bitch! If I take one more of those things…I'm pretty sure I won't be getting up again."_

Equally frustrated, Naruto danced around his opponent some more. Unable to find an opening the Genin created a bunch of clones to go after him, but Nai managed to brush them off as he did before by either beating them into submission no matter which way they came from, or using his _**Tiger Shot**_ to dispense with them in a sheen of flames. When substitutes and waves didn't work, the jinchuriki went back to dancing just outside or within reach of him, allowing Nai's left jab to follow through.

While swaying and weaving around his jab, Naruto focused his best glare on his opponent, being careful to time his evasions. Using the same patterns he'd used at the beginning of their fight where this whole scene began, the Uzumaki planned to end this bout with one final hit.

"_If one __**Slicing Cross**__ isn't going to work, then I'll give him two… or three more! It looks like he's on his last legs, so one more, clean hit across his chin will be able to knock him out permanently,"_ Naruto calculated with a smile, ducking under a swift one-two from the boy's jab. His hair bristled from how close those attacks came to actually making their mark, hastening the blonde's maneuvers. He could feel the air getting hot at the power in his punches. _"Those are some nice lefts. They seem more like straights than jabs. I can tell how dangerous they are from the way they're cutting through the air. If I take one of those in the temple, I'm out of this fight…"_

Nai grunted as he jabbed out some more, speeding up his lone left combination while keeping his right cocked back. He watched his opponent weave around him, which would have frustrated any other opponent by how he was barely keeping out of reach. He was reduced to shuffling along after all. However, this keeping the blonde attacker at bay with his jabs was all a part of his ongoing plan.

Since Nai couldn't move well anymore or risk spending energy pulling off anything big, all account of his head ringing from that last damn punch he caught across the face, he had to time his own attacks perfectly.

A cross counter with pinpoint accuracy was his enemy here. This appeared to be his opponent's pride and joy, something that Nai was all too happy to break.

The kick boxer's glare hardened, _"These combinations are meant to stop you from aiming for my body, keep you from tackling me and keep you on your toes. Take one of these and you're dead… but…"_ His lips twitched, threatening to form a smile. But he kept the urge suppressed and just continued uncorking a jab that just wouldn't rest, as he fired off shot after shot after his dodging opponent. _"They're also meant to bait you. I'll destroy your ability to counter me, so that I can finish you off with my one-two combination. Like I said… I have more than one knockout punch, not just the corkscrew…"_

Naruto waited, watching as the punches shot out at him. He weaved, taking note of the angles again and resetting himself for his lunge. _"He's got me marked… perfect. My counter uses less energy and all of the power in my body. I'll take him out with one last hit! ONE MORE!"_

A left shot out! The kick boxer stepped in! It was a full jab!

"_Got you!"_

The jinchuriki timed it. He ducked his head, stepping forward with his right foot while his left hand redirected the punch. His right fist went shooting out over his shoulder, cutting across his opponent's extending arm and aiming to hit him in the chin. The blonde was positive his target was unable to see it at the speed they passed, which meant it was the Genin's advantage.

Naruto lunged in with all intent to land a hit, a smirk forming…

…

…

…

_**BANG!**_

The crowds looked on stunned when Naruto's head was suddenly blasted skyward with a look of absolute shock slapped across his face, a shower of perspiration and blood raining down around him and further staining the battlefield. Kasumi leapt out of her chair in astonishment, Churchill looked taken aback, Asuma, Hinata and Shikamaru gaped in disbelief, and all those hiding in amongst the crowd had the same expressions of incredulity drawn over their faces.

Not only was the sound of a punch being landed loud enough that it was heard in all corners across the village, but the one who actually landed a hit was not Naruto, but the wounded Nai. The kick boxer glared across at his opponent as he sailed several meters back through the air, before landing on both feet, which allowed him to slide to a rigid stop.

Blood dribbled freely down the jinchuriki's chin as he looked across at the kick boxer through a blurry vision. He swore to God that his head was also cut, because he could see flashes of red he initially mistook for his own blood running over his eyes.

"_W-What the fuck was that?!"_

Managing to stay up, Naruto slammed his left foot forward and attempted to assume an orthodox stance. His consciousness flickered in and out of reception, his glazed over eyes looking back at his opponent to see Nai smirking at him with his guard held up high.

The jinchuriki, bowled over, shook his head furiously to clear it of any and all delusions before marching forward. His legs nearly buckled when he moved too quickly.

"_What the hell? Did I screw up? N-No way!"_ Naruto thought furiously, fixing his sights on his target… or… both of them. Damn it! The damage that had traveled through his chin up into his brain was shaking him up something terrible. If he let up for even a second, he was out._ "I never miss with my __**Slicing Cross**__! B-But… did I…"_ He tried to think back to what happened. _"Did I get clipped by his left? No… I dodged it!"_

Audibly growling, Naruto took his _Wing Chun_ stance again before moving forward quickly, opening up with a series of chain punches.

He'd figure it out later. He was positive that he just got clipped by the left and didn't even touch his opponent. All he had to do was recalculate the angle of the counter and set it up again. If his opponent was only fending him off with his left and that was all that he could do at this time, judging by how his legs were still shaking, then he could use that to his advantage.

Nai countered with his left again as expected, which threw the boy off his attack path and annoyed the Genin further at his persistence, forcing him to dodge and move to the outside. The kick boxer led with his jabs, chasing after the blonde with it as he circled around, keeping on his toes. Leaping back, Naruto spun on the spot and back kicked at the muay thai fighter, who lunged in with another jab. The kick was completely thrown off and the blonde missed his mark, ending up with his leg getting smacked away.

Stumbling, the blonde leapt in retreat, avoiding another series of long reaching jabs and tumbling across the ground. Dropping into a crouched stance, Naruto swept a kick at his opponent's foot, who kept it firmly planted on the ground and resulted in the ninja's low attack bouncing off of his shin. Frustrated at his opponent's tree stump like foundations, the jinchuriki backpedaled out of the way to avoid a kick that shot up to knock him in the chest.

Back flipping, Naruto landed on his feet and sprang back at his opponent with a lunging right. His opponent parried and countered with a left, forcing the blonde to fall back into the jab race that had him bobbing his head about.

"_This is stopping… right NOW!"_ Naruto thought, evading to his left before spotting a long reaching jab incoming in his opponent's footwork. He used the space between their feet to determine their distance, and matching it up with the speed of the punch, timed his counter. _"This time… this time… FOR SURE!"_

It was on!

Naruto repeated the motion like before, redirecting the edge of the punch shooting out at him before ducking underneath it and stepping deep toward the outside with his right. Naruto's head popped up on the inside while his fist cut around his opponent's arm, whose left continued to travel forward with the step-in. This closed the distance sharply between both the jinchuriki and the boxer, with the blonde's confidence rocketing into the air and the victory podium standing plain in his sights.

The jinchuriki could see it! The moment his right fist slammed across Nai's serious look and wiped it clean from his face, he would emerge the winner!

His lightning counter was perfect. It shaved across his opponent's limb like an actual bolt flashing through the air, ready to make its mark across the shoulder…

"_The timing is perfect! I win…"_

Once again…

…

…

He spoke too soon.

In real time, the exchange happened in the blink of an eye. But through Naruto's heightened reflexes as well as Nai's, the two of them were able to fully comprehend the full picture of what actually went down between them.

Just before Naruto's fist could make landing with Nai's face, all momentum in his punch suddenly forfeited when it was unexpectedly redirected. The elbow in his right arm was shoved violently outwards and while the jinchuriki was still moving forward, he unexpectedly found his straight draped over Nai's left, which had pulled back into a partially bent position.

The result was this…

Naruto's right cross traveling over Nai's left to hit him from the outside over his shoulder, had been bent at the elbow by the kick boxer's extended left, which had pulled back at the last second and effectively changed the direction of his punch. It stopped the counter from hitting its mark and left the jinchuriki hanging on the inside, guard open and completely exposed. This was the exact opening the muay thai practitioner was waiting for.

While it seemed like nothing impressive from an audience's point of view, it came as an apocalyptic shock to Naruto, who found himself staring in abject horror at his opponent.

The altered angle of the punch would prove to be fatal…

Nai smirked at him, _**"Bloody Cross."**_

Naruto's eyes widened even more so, his eyes wavering with fear and disbelief, _"I-It wasn't a mistake! He was aiming for this… FOR MY COUNTER?! SON OF A BITCH!"_

Before Naruto could begin to pull back on account of his body still moving forward, the counter Nai threw at him ran full circle with a punishing right upper cut to the chin sending his head skyrocketing along with a geyser of blood. The Genin's efforts all boiled down to nothing in one second flat when the kick boxer stopped his best chance of a one-hit success in their fight. It was painful too, in more ways than one.

Unable to regain his sense of reality in time, the jinchuriki's head found itself being blasted from side to side by pulverizing hooks slamming into his face over and over again by his opponent.

Punches aiming to crack open his skull rammed the defenseless jinchuriki from left to right with full power blows, pummeling him into submission.

"_It was on purpose!"_ Naruto thought desperately and in agony as blood flew free from his mouth. More left and right hooks smashed him about, with every fiber inside of his head feeling as though they were being ripped to shreds by the raw power of the swings Nai was pouring down on top of him._ "Nai… the bastard baited me with his jabs, not just to stop me from using body counters, jutsu or getting extremely close, but he was coaxing a counter aimed for his head from the outside! He had an anti-counter ready and waiting for me, and aimed specifically for my Slicing Cross! Dammit! F-FUCK!"_

The punishment continued. Naruto's face was smashed into a bloody mess by Nai's punches and hooks that rained on him endlessly. The methodical beat down lasted several more seconds, consisting with one-two, power hits that would have reduced a full, solid boulder into a pile of gravel, before a final spray of blood was sent upwards when the kick boxer finished off his combination with a swift, roundhouse kick across the shinobi's head, seemingly marking the end of the fight.

The full on hit slammed with the full pivoting power of the brawler's body into the side of the jinchuriki's head, which not only sent him flying quite a distance across the courtyard, but also had him spiraling.

A fountain of blood flew off of Naruto as the near unconscious boy rolled and bounced painfully across the quad, before tumbling to a stop into a crumpled heap several meters out from the kick boxer's range. The blonde's body twitched as blood poured out of his mouth and formed a pool on the ground.

Seeing him go down, Nai rose to full height and clenched his fists at his sides. Panting, he fixed his best glare on his fallen foe.

"The win… goes to me…"

"NARUTO-KUN!" Kasumi screamed, running to the edge of the stairs from her chair, only to be stopped short by her right-hand man. Okita held her back, preventing her from running out there onto the battlefield. "N-NARUTO… N-NO!"

OOO

"GET BACK HERE!" Asuma roared angrily, blood flying out of his mouth as he ripped off his vest when the saber of his opponent slashed right through it. The Jonin yelled out in sheer effort as he lunged forward without stopping, swinging out with his chakra enhanced blade while his tattered top flapped freely on the wind.

Periklis growled back with equal vigor, his attack in slashing outwards ending in a close miss. However, undeterred from being thrown off his mark, while leaping back across the clearing the fencer brought his blade back around and prepared to strike downwards, wind whipping around him like a hurricane.

Before his sword could begin its new track to slice his opponent in half from the shoulder down a diagonal path though, the Jonin managed to strike across with his own wind blade, aiming directly at the weapon.

He batted it aside in a shower of sparks.

No way in hell was Asuma getting skewered by this guy.

Both shinobi and swordsman were beaten, cut up, bruised, dirt covered and bloody. Most of this was on the Konoha shinobi though. His vest was tattered and barely clinging to his body, he had blood running down his forehead and eyes, giving him the appearance of a murderer who had just committed his latest caper, and he also had huge gashes across his legs, arms and body. In addition to the cut across his eye and cheek, he was feeling quite peachy.

Okay, sarcasm. But he was pretty fucked up.

The same could be said for Periklis. His Geass glowing brightly, the man was giving it his all in this bout, unleashing blasts of wind mercilessly upon his target, ruining his already torn up and bloodied tunic, his body riddled with scars and burns. The Jonin had managed to catch him with more than a handful of traps, including explosive tags and a fire ball technique that just engulfed the entire area. However, the swordsman had managed to pull through all that hell, and was still fighting strong.

"TAKE THIS!" the Hellenic officer shouted, slicing downwards with a blast of wind following.

"NO WAY!" Asuma yelled back, ducking under the attack and swinging upwards.

There was a sharp hum, followed by a loud clang when the shinobi's well placed attack managed to slice clean through the swordsman's weapon. The silver, curved blade of the end half spun into the air, followed by a shower of blood from Periklis' chest getting cut. Though it wasn't deep the wound still shocked the fencer at how close that energy blade came. The Jonin was on the inside of his defense and his primary weapon was destroyed.

This left him wide open. Asuma swung in with his other blade, his left carving downwards in a full swing.

"I don't think so!" Periklis shouted, catching the arm, twisting it, before shoulder tossing the shinobi clean across the court again. The shinobi twisted and spiraled before landing on both feet about twenty meters away, yelling out in pain from the sudden contortions experienced in his flight. The swordsman, wielding a now blunt blade, pursued his target regardless of condition and danger, his feet exploding off of the ground with a shockwave from the wind propelling him across the clearing, at the same time spinning his damaged weapon in his grip before thrusting at the Jonin. "It's not over!"

Asuma yelled and chucked one of his combat knives at his approaching opponent, cutting through the vortex of wind twisting around the swordsman as he spun in, ripping apart the ground in his path and sending rubble flying in all directions. Their battle was monstrous in comparison to the others. The crowds screamed when debris came raining down on them from the skies above, but didn't cause any other casualties beyond those on the field.

Spotting the incoming knife Periklis caught it with his bare hand, his own wind empowered fist stopping its cutting power dead, dispelling its chakra coating and making it dull.

The trench knife flipped into a back-facing grip, the swordsman then spiraled at the Jonin before ramming it into him, the shinobi catching it in the shoulder before being punched across the face, which sent him tumbling to the ground.

His roll slowing to a stop, which had him sprawled out on the ground with his own blade embedded in his shoulder, Asuma bit back the pain and glared upward. Appearing startled, he saw his swordsman opponent leap into the sky, perform some artistic flips before descending toward him from a height of several stories.

"YOU'RE FINISHED!" Periklis shouted.

Asuma responded immediately. Ripping his trench knife out of his shoulder, he chucked it up at the man, hitting him in his own shoulder when he was barely able to head slip it. However, he continued to plummet towards the downed Jonin, his half blade held up and ready to slash down in a finishing strike. This presented one last opening for the ninja.

Taking up his last trench knife Asuma leapt to his feet, crouched low and with a shout of effort, lunged forward at the same time Periklis slashed down at him, their blades passing each other. The shinobi finished in a typical samurai pattern, in a blink of an eye his blade flashing out in front of him and facing forward, the chakra sheath humming loudly.

Panting heavily, Asuma glared ahead of him and listened as his opponent stumbled forward upon his landing…

…before ultimately falling to his knees…

Slamming his blunt sword into the ground to support him, the battered officer with the massive scar in his side gasped in pain and gripped his body. Overcome with an electric feeling that pretty much stunted his movements, the man shakily glared over his shoulder at the ninja, who spun around to face him in combat ready mode. "Y-You…"

"It's over!" Asuma stated, rushing forward at full speed and bringing his blade back over his shoulder. His dash was marked as a blur, "I win this one!"

Periklis quivered, attempting to force himself back to his feet. However, with the amount of blood running out of him and forming a pool around his shadow, stacked on top of the rest of the damage he'd sustained from their battle, he just couldn't do it. The man yelped out when he collapsed onto all fours, his consciousness wavering as he glared up in time to see the Jonin soon upon him.

In real time, their actions were untraceable…

In their time…

It was over…

Unfortunately, Asuma wasn't able to finish off the swordsman that had given him the beating of a lifetime when all of a sudden the Jonin found his path blocked off by a girl with long green hair. The young interloper, appearing to be a couple years older than Naruto and wearing a kimono, suddenly materialized out of nowhere between the swordsman and the shinobi, her arms held out and a serious glare fixing on the man in the Konoha uniform skidding to a stop.

The elite relented, backing off with his trench knife still active and glowing brightly with its extended blade.

C.C frowned at Asuma and spoke with a commanding voice that was heard all around, "That's enough!" She then turned to look down at Periklis, where she saw the man glaring back up at her with a blood smeared expression. "Your fight is over. Asuma Sarutobi wins…"

The downed swordsman huffed, seeing his opponent lower his guard at the announcement, "I don't need your help or your verdict, you troublesome witch."

"Be grateful that I stepped in when I did. I'd hate to see you diced up before your contract with me is yet to be completed. You still have a job to do, remember?"

The wounded fencer hissed and shook his head, before looking up at the stumped Jonin overshadowing him. Periklis watched as the man lowered his trench knife completely from over his shoulder and cut the line to his chakra. The blue blade vanished with a whip, leaving the pair glaring across at one another with the mediator still standing as extra precaution between the two. Silence fell on their battle, around the same time the others fights were starting to wrap up.

Once realization of his situation dawned on the swordsman in contrast to his opponent's, Periklis breathed a sigh and allowed his head to drop, looking down towards the ground in disappointment, "You win… I submit."

The Jonin breathed out, tossing his trench knife away and crouching down, "About time, dammit." Shit, he was spent. The Sarutobi felt like he just finished a five day marathon, he was that exhausted.

Cracking open a pack of cigarettes from his pouch Asuma flicked one out and offered it to the swordsman. Periklis glared at it suspiciously for a moment, but then decided 'what the heck' before taking it and accepting the gesture of a lighter to ignite the end.

"You should have given up sooner. Now we have to endure this pain for the next hour or so."

"Why didn't you?" the fencer asked, seeing the Jonin plop down on his ass with his own cigarette shoved into his mouth. C.C stepped out of the way, glancing between the two as they convened. The crowds watching close by remained silent, watching and listening out to what was being said. When they were unable to catch any of their tunes being played however, the audience then refocused on the other conflicts taking place and went on to watch the closing sequences to the other battles. "You were closer to the hand of death then I was. Why didn't you throw in the towel when you had the opportunity to do so, when your body was close to being utterly broken?"

"Because, I'm just _that_ stubborn," Asuma chuckled, glancing across at the man and seeing that both of them were sitting comfortably on the concrete. Their knees pulled up, the pair relaxed, in spite of the searing pain racking their bodies. They were still bleeding out after all.

The Jonin then nodded over to his blonde haired student's fight, which had just recently turned pear-shaped when he got hit with the second _Bloody Cross_ counter that Nai executed against him, and had seemingly knocked him out. Though things at first seemed dire for the poor kid, Asuma appeared surprisingly calm about it. He just stared for a moment before smiling when he witnessed a new development take place.

"You can blame _him_ for making me like this," the instructor pointed, clearly singling out the jinchuriki. "It's got to be some sort of virus he's got that makes other people want to march on. I have no idea where it comes from or how it's caught, but it… it's ridiculously addictive."

Curious, Periklis looked across to see exactly what the man was directing his attention towards. His eyebrow rose when he saw what was happening, "Oh?"

"Yup," Asuma laughed out painfully, coughing out puffs of smoke, "He may be getting the shit kicked out of him most of the time and, hell, he can be a bit of a knucklehead. However, I can guarantee you guys this… and that that _boy_ over there fighting for his life and the lives of his friends, will never, _ever_ give up… not on himself or anyone."

OOO

Fist slamming into the ground, Naruto growled and glared up at Nai, where he could see a look of pure stupefaction come across his face.

Fingers scraping the concrete the jinchuriki forced himself to a position further up, with blood and sweat dripping down his face and landing on the floor. Further staining the already ruined battlefield with drops from his body, the boy pulled himself to a trembling knee. There, he panted heavily and groaned out in pain, taking a moment to collect his bearings before the jinchuriki furiously shook his head.

"What… were you thinking?" the jinchuriki growled, loud enough for the kick boxer to hear and clearly expressing his displeasure at his ruined state.

The raven haired pugilist flinched, hearing the irritation in the boy's voice climbing.

"Did you seriously believe… that I was going to roll over and die… from an attack like THAT?" Naruto suddenly shouted, looking up with a wide grin.

His bloody teeth flashing in the light, the jinchuriki ran the back of his arm over his mouth and wiped away the excess juice. With his vision blurring and the pain racking him being so unbearable he was only barely able to hold it all together the pesky blonde nevertheless strolled through to recovery.

Once he was upright though, he was able to smile clearly again with less effort on his part, "Don't underestimate me. You may be strong… stronger than any person I've ever fought thus far, but I'm not giving up! Not on your life!"

"You stubborn fool," Nai growled, spitting out the blood in his mouth and reassuming a stance. "I get the impression that you want to have some more sense beaten into you. Don't you understand yet? You can't win against me! I'll knock you down flat!"

"Well, are you gonna talk about it or are you gonna do it?" Naruto asked, letting out a low groan as he pulled himself into a proper standing position. He smirked as he glared across at the boy, holding his left fist out to him in declaration, "You won't win, because I won't ever give up! I will _never_ give up! That's why you'll lose here today!"

"Then… let's finish this, and see if your words carry true heart in them."

"Gladly!"

With that said and done, Naruto slid into his _Blocking Fist_ stance, opting to finish this fight the way he started it, with the culmination of everything he'd learnt.

He began bouncing on his toes, his hands moving about in front of him as loosely and as smooth as humanly possible. Once comfortable with his pace, the blonde haired boy grinned and gestured for his opponent to 'bring it.'

"Let's dance."

OOO

Ramming yet another kunai into his opponent's arm and rendering it useless, Shikamaru then kicked off of William's knee, hiked up his shoulder and straddled his back. The wrestler roared out angrily, flailing his arms up uselessly to try and grab the monkey clambering over him. The Nara however managed to knock the hand closest to him away with a swift kick, before wrapping his legs around the man's chest, locking up his heels before wrapping his arms around his head.

The battered Genin growled as he began strangling the man from behind, feeling the American stumble about while trying to get the little insect off of him.

It would, unfortunately, be all for naught on the big guy's end…

"You bastard… just go down!" Shikamaru shouted, increasing the pressure and tightening his hold around the massive teenager's thick neck. The wrestler clawed away at the small arms pressing down on his wind pipe to try and get him off, but his joints at the elbows were so screwed he couldn't muster the necessary strength or flexibility. He was already brought down to his knees anyway, which gave the Nara extra leverage over the big teenager and allowed him to increase the pressure. "I've had enough of this! This ends here!"

Voice strangled, William fell onto all fours and pounded the ground with his fist uselessly, "L-Let go… you creature of mischief! This… (gasp)… is most… (growl)… unyouthful!"

"Speak for yourself, you walking pile of muscles!" Shikamaru yelled, feeling himself get tossed around as if he was on a bull. His foe was still strong enough to thrash about, trying with all his might to throw him off. The Genin knew that if he relented for even a second he would be thrown off.

He was not letting this chance slip away!

"There's only one way that I can beat you and this is it! Now stop struggling… AND GO TO SLEEP!"

William roared out some more, taking in desperate breaths of air as Shikamaru continued applying the pressure.

The two of them had basically dished out an even beating throughout the rest of their battle. Though the smaller of the two was unable to damage the man with punches, kicks or explosives, he was still able to hit his soft spots, all account of him being smaller and more agile than the hulking American. He simply aimed for all of his joints.

The guy's arms at the elbows had at best three kunai driven into each of them, with two under his left arm and one behind his right shoulder. The shinobi had also taken the liberty of disabling his legs, so William had at least two kunai driven into the joints behind his knees.

He may have still been able to power on, all because of his rugged toughness and stubbornness even in the face of physical impossibilities related to the human condition, but he was still weakened. The fight thereafter allowed Shikamaru to plow into him with as many hits as he could land, before finally boiling down to this scenario. Figuring that he was unable to stop the train that was his opponent, the Nara decided to cut the power conduit which he figured out to be his air passage. Because he didn't possess the same flexibility of a shinobi, a small target would be able to latch onto his back and strangle him into submission with only minor problems.

His back was his ultimate blind spot.

Now, hooked on like a tick behind the older boy's head, Shikamaru had his arms wrapped around his large neck tightly, with enough force being applied that it threatened to pop William's melon off from the rest of his body entirely. Unless the wrestler passed out from lack of oxygen in the next few minutes the shinobi was worried that he might lose his head entirely. But, because his enemy was so tough, the sloth didn't have to worry about completely beheading his foe, and waited for the man to simply run out of steam.

It would be a long and painful ordeal.

In a last ditch effort to throw the boy off, William threw himself onto his back and landed on Shikamaru. The boy cried out in pain, but kept his stranglehold over him.

Forming a hand seal in his position the Nara bared against the withering of the massive man on top of him, and performed his final technique for this fight, "Be still! _**Kagemane no Jutsu!"**_ In an instant, a length of shadow shot out from Shikamaru's feet and wrapped around the man's body.

Binding him in chakra, William's thrashing shuddered to a halt and the teenager found himself frozen. Gasping his last as Shikamaru increased the pressure, the American's groaning, choking and twitching eventually came to a standstill. Within seconds since falling onto his back, on top of an even more battered Nara, the wrestler slipped into unconsciousness.

Before his world went entirely black, the muscle bound teen was able to speak his last, few, most youthful words he could think of to his opponent before vacating the place entirely. It would be his most defining moment of the day.

"This… was a man's battle… of _men_…"

And that was that.

Feeling the dead weight fall on him, Shikamaru relinquished his hold of the now unconscious male specimen and sprawled out. Gasping for air, the boy checked the vital signs of the mass of muscle. Relieved to feel that he was still alive the sloth then went on to his own favorite past time and tried to knock himself out. However…

Groaning, the brown haired boy looked down with an annoyed expression coming over his exhausted face and clicked his tongue.

"Damn it! Can somebody please get this big sack of sweaty flesh off of me? Seriously, the guy weighs a ton…" Unable to get any assistance at this time, the Nara just let it slide for the time being and allowed his head to fall back down to the concrete. He shook despondently at the situation, reminding himself to slap Naruto over the head if his friend managed to get himself out of his sticky situation alive.

"_Ugh… what a drag…"_

OOO

Vincent gasped as he stepped back, thrusting his staff forward and blocking the palm strikes flying his way, forcing him to perform some more impressive lance movements. Spinning his weapon around his neck and body he parried all of the glowing hands slicing at him, returning with swift lunges with the deadly end of his asset.

The kunoichi however was undeterred, maintaining a well balanced stance as she moved a full circle around him with swift, smooth footwork. It was almost like Hinata was walking on air. That was how smooth she moved.

The officer had a hard time tracking her, swinging around with his staff and forcing her to duck. The Hyuuga shouted out with effort as she lunged forward, her legs carrying her on and allowing her to drive home with a renewed barrage. Vincent swung out with his staff, knocking her fists away one after the other, before spinning his weapon in both hands and swinging out wide. Hinata leapt over him, flipping through the air and landing behind him, performing a sweeping kick to his back foot.

Spotting the danger, the boy hopped back, thrusting his lance at her at the same time. The length of weapon shot towards the kunoichi, who barreled out of the way and landed, crouched a few feet away from where the spear tip impacted. Assuming a sprinters stance Hinata then exploded forward with a greater burst of speed. She yelled out as she led with her right palm, "JUKEN!" A blast of chakra followed, which Vincent guarded against but was thrown flying back across the quad from the force exerted.

The boy staggered, his knees nearly buckling. _"Come on friends… just a little bit longer…"_ He gritted his teeth and looked up.

Hinata leapt at him with a roundhouse, which he head-slipped before spinning around with his staff. His body led his weapon as he held it behind his back, his arms linked around the pole and pressing it against him. The weapon cut through the air as he rotated in a retreat, forcing Hinata to duck twice before she was able to get into arm's reach of him and catch it. Holding the staff in place, the girl blocked a jab when her foe attempted to force her off.

She then braced the staff firmly and took aim.

"You can't do anything without this!" Hinata shouted, her body rotating as her palm twisted into the weapon, "HA!" The blast of chakra cut into the weapon and split it in half, splinters flying as a result.

Shocked, Vincent spun out of the deadlock and kicked at the half pole Hinata was holding. He knocked it spinning out of her grip, before taking the other half of the lance he still held and aimed the spear tip in her direction. He lashed out viciously with shorter, sharper bursts, forcing his opponent to back off, ducking and weaving rapidly.

The kunoichi was caught off guard at his increased speed, proficiency, and sudden proximity, which ended in her getting clipped across her right shoulder.

The girl yelped as another scar was drawn into her and blood splattered across the floor.

"This fight goes to me, Ms Hinata!" Vincent shouted, leaping back before lunging forward, spinning in with his shortened staff. The blue haired girl looked visibly startled, leaping off of the ground and performing a variety of cartwheels as she evaded his flurry of attacks. The spearman glared after her when she managed to dodge his combination, observing as she landed and skidded to a stop.

Her Byakugan flared.

The two charged at each other, exchanging blows. A spear strike grazed Hinata's arm when she passed him with a right cross, her palm strike grazing his shoulder in return. Once passing each other, the two then spun around and faced their opponent. They were in close and ready to strike, their main weapons rearing back.

Vincent let out a yell of effort as he thrust his half lance forward with both hands, a twisting motion in his body propelling the spear forward, aiming for Hinata's center.

"_**SILVER JOLT!"**_

"_**JUKEN!" **_The kunoichi responded with a wild yell of her own, her right hand shooting out fingers first, with chakra radiating around it.

The pair impacted against each other in a simultaneous exchange, a shockwave ringing out that had audiences rise from their seats and gasps fill the arena. The two fighters were flushed up against one another, shoulder to shoulder, glare facing glare, fist against spear, and both were dead silent. Of course, after a few seconds of waiting and watching to see what would happen next, it would soon be revealed that only one of them had managed to land that final, decisive hit.

Hinata cringed slightly, feeling the cut that her opponent had landed across her cheek open up and start bleeding. This was the only sacrifice she gave to allow her attack to bury itself right into the side of her opponent. The pair glared at each other momentarily before they both pushed off and staggered away from each other.

The kunoichi took her _Gentle Fist_ stance and glared at her opponent, who had also taken up another spear fighting stance with his lance ready and in hand.

Vincent had missed, but that didn't mean he could try again…

Unfortunately, continuing the battle was apparently no longer an option for his body, when his legs unexpectedly gave way under him and he collapsed to one knee. He bowed over almost submissively, his body trembling violently as he propped himself on his staff that he managed to bury into the concrete to lessen the impact of his fall. Eyes widened, the officer then began puking up blood, which splattered over the floor in a mess and showed everyone that the damage he took was deep, piercing, and conclusive.

He was done…

Hinata glared at him for several more seconds shortly before breaking down into heavy pants. Her arms fell to her sides as she collapsed to her own knees, allowing exhaustion and fatigue to take over. Breathing heavily, the girl locked onto her downed opponent to see him hanging onto his lance in relief and was currently smiling in her direction.

It surprised her that he could still smile; in spite of all of the pain he must be feeling right now…

"You got me," Vincent chuckled, shaking his head, "No one has ever beaten me at this game before. I'm shocked."

"You left your guard open. Your swing was also t-too wide," Hinata exclaimed, pointing out the error in his final attack, "And your center was exposed. Big attacks like that sh-shouldn't be made when in close…"

"Heh… moves like those have always served me well up until now. Fact is… I've… (cough)… I've only ever fought long range battles, and… not close ones…"

"My advantage over yours, V-Vincent-san," Hinata said, a small smile appearing on her tired face. "B-But you were strong… _very_ strong…"

"Th-Thank you kindly," the spearman grinned, blood dribbling down his chin. "But you… were the stronger out of the two of us, Ms Hinata." His eyes sparkled when he gazed across at the girl, admiration befalling his defeated state. "Your _love_ for Naruto… for your companions and your friends, and your determination to keep on going… is stronger still… if not _the_ strongest."

Blushing, the girl looked away and rubbed her cheek bashfully. As much as she hated to showcase her affections, she could not hide it. The stammers that followed as she pressed her fingers together told everyone that Vincent spoke the truth. The boy could only chuckle at his misfortune for his loss, and allowed himself to hang where he was with his damaged weapon against his shoulder. He allowed his head to dip as the pair rested.

"I couldn't beat you… because my conviction was not powerful enough."

"It can be p-powerful… if you believe in it with all your heart," Hinata stated, looking across at the boy, who was on the verge of calling it quits. "N-Naruto-kun taught me this. He said that if you believe in yourself, in your friends, and in your strength… then you can do anything you set your mind too."

Blinking, the perplexed officer laughed a little more and tilted his head at the Genin, "And that's why you love him so much?"

"Uh… m-maybe… I… I don't know." Hands massaging each other nervously, the girl looked away with red flushed up on her face.

Vincent grinned, _"So easy to read… my goodness…"_ Eyes turning, both former combatants and contenders looked ahead to see how the last battle was coming about.

It wouldn't be long now.

Though the overall victor was already decided with three wins already, there was still one last fight that needed to be wrapped up. It was not only the longest and the hardest match being fought, but it was also the most interesting….

OOO

More clones burst out of existence, with the one at the head of the pack being drop kicked in the stomach and sent tumbling into the rest standing behind it, bowling them over and causing them to dispel. Following up his combination with a right hook, Nai finished off the last of his attackers before returning to a more stable form so that he didn't lose out. The original Naruto dashed around him in a circle, rushing at him with a left jab. His opponent sent a back fist around to intercept him, but the blonde leapt over him and kicked down at the boy's head.

Nai blocked, watching his opponent flip and land on the other side, and lunge! The boxer uncorked his lightning fast jabs, with Naruto parrying the last and sending a wild, swinging right straight across his face with a full wind up. The massive blow had the raven haired teen stumbling away, seconds before another right came around and hooked him across the melon, again before he had a chance to regain his footing. The jinchuriki didn't give him even a breath of space to recover, interlocking his fingers together and holding his hands down at his right side.

"EAT THIS!" With a roar of rage, the blonde thrust his interlocked fists right up into Nai's exposed chin. The blow slammed into the kick boxer's jaw and sent him flying back, stunned. He was still on his feet though, which allowed the blonde haired shinobi to advance.

Recovering from his stumble, the kick boxer growled and threw both hands out, slamming his palms into both sides of Naruto's head. Discombobulated, the jinchuriki yelped out and staggered forward, throwing a wild hook. The muay thai fighter avoided, grabbing his wrist and twisting him till he was locked against his chest, preventing the boy from moving. The boxer then used his free hand and slammed it into Naruto's side, his palm bursting into golden flames and beginning to burn into the Genin. On top of his nails and fingers digging into the soft spot through his jacket, the pain just became searing and unbearable.

Naruto cried out in agony and staggered back into his opponent, who continued to hold him in the lock. Biting his teeth together, the jinchuriki poured sweat before glaring furiously over his shoulder at the equally enraged Nai. Opening presented, the blonde haired shinobi then brought around his free arm, jerked both of them forward so that his opponent stumbled across and then repeatedly slammed his elbow into the pugilist's face. The full cocking blows smashed up Nai's nose and face before sending him hurling back, blood pouring out of his orifices.

The enemy released the jinchuriki, allowing Naruto to duck away and slam a kick into his abdominals. With the kick boxer standing on top of weak soil, the ninja took the opportunity presented to him and rushed around, coming at his opponent from the side where he presumed a blind spot to be sitting.

The kick boxer sensed him coming up from his left and glared over.

Emitting a loud yell, Nai side kicked Naruto in the chest before he could step into his own striking range and sent him on his way. The jinchuriki yelped in pain and skidded to a stop, hands held up in defense and glare fixated on his opponent.

The two fighters were soon back to square one. They exchanged death glares from where they stood, were bleeding profusely from the mouth and nose, and had bruises of all forms causing them endless amounts of tremendous pain.

Over all, both of them looked absolutely wrecked.

"_Trading hits with him is ending in nothing but a stalemate. I have to do something… but… but what?"_ Naruto thought furiously, looking his foe up and down.

Seeing the boxer's guard reset itself, the jinchuriki's eyes darted over his limbs from the throbbing veins of his biceps, to the immense fists hovering in front of him, to the bulky shoulders framing the rest of his incredible upper body. Overcome by their sheer enormity and definition of his limbs, the desperate and exhausted blonde began thinking that perhaps this whole ordeal might drag on for a little longer than either of them wanted it to.

That was… until he suddenly became struck by an unexpected and inconceivable jolt of inspiration; something which came to him from a memory he remembered well, but had tried so desperately to put out of his mind.

Naruto looked up in surprise when all aspects of that night from weeks before, the night where he had found himself cornered and so close to death, came back to him.

"_My fight with Zaku! That's it!"_

Nai shuffled forward, leading with a jab followed by a right cross.

Naruto dashed around him, using his footwork from his _Blocking Fist_ style to avoid. He took up position behind the kick boxer when they wheeled around to face each other again, the jinchuriki's glare hardening. He had a new point of interest now, which the Uzumaki marked out and decided to make his primary target. Until it was overcome, this standoff would last forever. With their insane stamina, it was a high possibility.

He was going to put a stop to this right here and now.

Naruto slowed his hopping, yet kept on his toes still enough to allow his opponent to make the first move.

The kick boxer, furrowing his brow in confusion as to why his opponent was suddenly slowing down, merely shrugged his shoulders and readjusted his hand positions, _"Don't get comfortable. I'm taking this fight to you!"_ Nai lunged, his right shooting out and aiming to hit the lightly guarded shinobi, _"You're mine!"_

Feet suddenly starting to glow blue, Naruto dashed back at the man with shocking speed. The power in his legs allowing him to cover the distance between them much faster than the boxer anticipated, the blonde parried the opening punch, watching it retract quickly before the pugilist crossed with his left. As if seeing it in slow motion, the jinchuriki redirected and caught the punch with his right hand, before swiftly rotating with his own left and slamming his fist into the boy's bicep. The blow rippled across his arm, agitating the extended muscle greatly.

Nai winced, returning with a wild right. Naruto blocked and chopped down at his bicep with an elbow, slicing into it with a crack. The boxer returned fire with another left hook, which his opponent elbowed in a counter before chopping at the boy's neck with two sleight blows with both hands, before back fisting him in the face with his right. The kick boxer followed up with a wild right as response, one of the only attacks he was still able to muster, before Naruto slammed his fist into his bicep again, the muscle audibly cracking, and then chasing up the blonde with a left body shot.

Naruto caught and locked up the left, his fist blurring when he slammed it into the joint and then elbowing the muscle. A louder crack was heard, with Nai yelping out in pain and swiftly bringing his stinging right arm up, and cutting across his opponent's face. The jinchuriki ducked and weaved under it, slamming a swift right hook into the bicep, intercepting it in mid-flight and effectively cracking the hard muscle again. He then hooked up with a swift jab under Nai's shoulder, his blow easily sinking into the soft spot and staggering the kick boxer.

The pugilist's arm dropping back, Naruto returned with a right, back elbow to his opponent's face, followed by another two chops to his temple followed by a swift left body shot. It agitated the existing wound from the tekken blow and caused the receiver great pain. The blonde then ducked a sloppy hook, allowing him to strike him under the arm pit again, swiftly strike a one-two to his left pectoral, and then chop up at his face. He finished up with an elbow to counter another right hook aimed for his head, back fisting Nai in the face with his right then firing off one last, left body shot at his side.

The lightning fast combinations and counters to the boxer's body finally paid in dividends, and Naruto's efforts resulted in success.

The kick boxer growled angrily, stumbling away and shaking his arms out. His limbs had become unbearably numb and, just as Nai was bringing them up into another guard, his muscles suddenly gave out and his arms fell uselessly in front of him. His fists struggled to come back and his battered limbs refused to budge.

"W-What the… fuck?!" Nai groaned, shuffling a circle and glaring across at his opponent, who danced around on his toes, keeping his arms up and his target in sight. The blonde switched from southpaw to orthodox, a smile forming on his face at his win. "What the hell did you do to me?!"

"I took out your arms!" Naruto chirped happily in a very mischievous tone of voice, sticking out his tongue for good measure. After teasing his foe, he then took up a serious expression and switched over from his _Blocking Fist_ stance to his _Iron Cat Fist_ stance, his fists being held up and loosening. The sight alarmed the open faced Nai, who was no longer protected by his sturdy and now ruined arms. "This ends here!"

Dropping to a low, crouching stance, the jinchuriki prepared to move. However, he was forced back when the kick boxer came swinging at him, not with his dangling arms, but with his legs. Mustering up whatever strength he had left in them, the boxer roared out to the extreme as he sent roundhouse kick after roundhouse kick at punching speed at his foe. The blonde haired boy ducked and weaved backwards, dodging left and right with a smile on his face as his eyes followed the paths of his attacks.

This was a speed he could manage and counter… easily.

The moment Nai's left leg dropped back after a roundhouse, Naruto dashed in and struck at the joint connected to the boy's pelvis with a finger strike. Using his knowledge of pressure points to his advantage, his hit effectively cut off all energy and chi flow to his leg, causing his limb to give out and plant… temporarily.

He was officially grounded.

Gasping in pain, Nai gritted his teeth and swung at Naruto with a useless right backhand, which dropped down to dangle at his side when he missed. He only had one good leg left… not something he could fight back on, but was damn well putting up the best one he could.

Naruto leapt back, smirking before dashing forward with his head low and guard up._ "I have no time left… this whole thing stops right now!"_

Then suddenly… it all happened in an instant…

The moment the jinchuriki began his advance on the toppling kick boxer, Naruto was certain he would be able to bring the boy down with just one more punch. Just _one more_ and that would be the end of this damn war! The score ends with the last man, the STRONGEST man, standing!

However, just as he was closing in on his bewildered foe with all intent set on one last combination, he saw a flash of fire suddenly appear behind his opponent's eyes under the shadow of his hair line. The sight alarmed the Genin the moment he caught wind of a potent killing intent flooding over him and caused Naruto's eyes to widen.

"_H-He's still got life left in him!"_

It was just like the time before; seconds before he had had his leg blown up by a killer roundhouse kick that left him crippled for an entire day!

A primal roar escaped Nai's throat as he leaned back sharply for space and, with his will power giving him the strength he needed to push forward, managed to bring his right fist up to his cheek. His raised hand twisted inwards, a sight marked by the appearance of a miniature tornado that startled his approaching target!

"_Don't get cocky… just because you were able to predict my left…"_ Nai thought, teeth bared in rage as his arm swung back before suddenly flashing forward with the speed of a bullet propelling it along a path that was straight and true. His fist began twisting like an arrow, a vortex of wind forming around his arm as it sliced through the air at breakneck speed, his body lunging toward his opponent to cut him off._ "I still… have… MY RIGHT!"_

Naruto's eyes widened in horror as he saw the signature move of his opponent's _**Corkscrew Cross**_ cutting toward him at full speed, his life pretty much flashing before his very eyes when the rotating fist came within inches of his face!

It looked like it was all over for him…

However, a split second before it hit, the jinchuriki managed to duck at the last second, a startled yelp escaping him when he felt the air above his hair get scorched from the huge swing that sliced right over him. His opponent's follow through was marked by a sonic boom from the sound wave being broken, a vicious display of raw power that no ordinary man would be able to match.

In the end though, the attack missed.

With his damaged right arm still hyper extended and seemingly frozen, Nai's glare turned southwards, where he saw his swift opponent suddenly coming back up at him, twisting like a spin top with a left body hook at the ready.

The two warriors glared at one another, blood smeared over their faces and eyes burning with determination and will…

"_N… NARUTO UZUMAKIIIIIIII!"_

"_NAI-SAAAAAAAAAANN!"_ Naruto bellowed in his head in turn, before burying a second liver blow into the existing one in Nai's side.

This attack turned out to be just as fierce and powerful as his turnaround one. The impact exploded with a clap of thunder, the ribs underneath Nai's muscles fracturing and a shockwave rippling outwards, splitting concrete. Nai's expression twisted in agony as blood spewed from his mouth, clouding the air along with his sweat that was blasted off of him in one go. Before he knew it, he was staggering backwards, his defenses dropping completely…

Coming up right underneath his opponent, Naruto yelled out with great effort and with his spirit pushing him forward, jumped at his opponent with a crouching uppercut, followed by a series of left and right blows which he slammed across the hapless boy's face repeatedly. The kick boxer grunted out in pain, taking one hit after another of his opponent's swift blows, saliva flying from his lips as his head was battered from side to side.

This was the jinchuriki's repayment for the beating he received from the _**Bloody Cross**_ combo.

Naruto ended with a right hook, leaving Nai standing with his head cocked to the side, swollen, and stunned. Seizing the opportunity, the Genin then jumped skywards, flying right up and passed his opponent till he was suspended in the air several stories above him.

His shadow cast, the jinchuriki then took aim and plummeted down at Nai feet first, his dazed target looking up just in time to see the shinobi's legs open up into a split. But, when it first looked as though the blonde was going to slam into the brawler and hook his legs around his head for a toss, the agile shinobi instead spiraled down at the kick boxer before hitting the boy right in the face with a drop kick, landing on both his face and foot in a perfectly executed split.

The impact was marked by a sound similar to a slap, only… it was one amplified a hundred fold and looked five times as painful. The audience, Asuma, Shikamaru, Hinata, Kasumi and Churchill visibly cringed when the shockwaves rippled out and hit them, before they all looked back to see Naruto cartwheel off of his foe through the air, before landing gracefully several meters away.

The jinchuriki knelt on the ground similar to a cat, smiling delightfully while his stunned foe staggered circles behind him. Mumbling all sorts of nonsense, Nai's eyes crossed before the boy inevitably fell to his knees, before falling flat over onto his front, hitting the concrete with a loud thud.

Sure it was not the ending everyone was expecting, but the jinchuriki ended it exactly how he wanted… with style…

"Damn…"

Blinking, the Genin looked over his shoulder to see that his opponent was still conscious. However, when he expected to be seeing an absolutely furious expression staring back at him, Naruto saw that Nai was glaring at him quite neutrally, which he took as displeasure at being beaten.

Responding to his curse, the shinobi rose to his feet and limped his way over to his fallen comrade of practice. Amidst the silence that fell upon them from the crowds leveling like a still ocean, the blonde crouched down in front of the defeated muay thai fighter to face him eye to eye.

Nai's soul was still alive in his gaze and, though he had a beaten, bloodied, swollen, and scratch covered face, and his body was in an equally miserable state, the boy was still capable of coherent speech. "How the hell… can you fight like that? I've never seen another person move the way you do. Your footwork, your agility, and your speed… it's almost comparable to that of water." His words were honest and true.

Chuckling, the blonde rubbed the back of his head, "Took me a bit of thinking to come up with that myself. But… _yeah_." Naruto smiled down at him, "I stepped up from fighting with the flexibility of a reed and the sturdiness of bamboo, and started fighting freely, allowing my attacks to flow as I wanted them to. To be like water… to flow, to creep, to drip, to move, to crash… that's how I fight."

"I-Incredible," Nai choked, struggling to try and move but failing. The damage had really gotten to him and had apparently decided to stick around for a while longer. "You're one hell of a guy. Man…"

"So are you." Breathing out, Naruto fell flat onto his rear and leaned back. He turned his gaze skywards with a wide grin still in play. Feeling the pings from his fight had him groan and rub his jaw, which he could feel was cracked. He then started biting back more pain that came running up to his brain from all other parts of his body, his form curling up sharply into a spasm. "Far out… I think I've got more than a fair share of broken bones and torn muscles. The bruises are the real killers…"

"Sorry about that," Nai chuckled.

"It was your fault you bastard," the blonde scowled.

"Ditto," the kick boxer replied with a head nod, groaning when his neck started complaining. It would take a while till his healing abilities kicked in so until the bruise in his side went away, he wouldn't be able to move for an extended period. He then noticed the displeased look he was getting from the shinobi, which he frowned at with a renewed flare of spirit. "Hey, what the hell is up with that look?"

"Huh?"

"You look disappointed. Why?"

"Well… uhh… n-no particular reason," the youngster chuckled nervously. "It… It's just that…"

Nai glared, "Hey! You just defeated _me_, Nai Khanomtom; the Muay Thai Warrior from Siam! That makes you the best in our class."

"Really?" Naruto asked, straightening up in surprise.

The boxer grinned from his position. With some struggling he managed to bring his arm around and produce a thumbs-up from his prone state. It was quick and crude, but it definitely got the message across by how Naruto smiled in return at the gesture. "You are strong, my friend."

"Thanks, Nai," the shinobi nodded in gratitude.

After exchanging stares, the pair then broke out into fits of laughter. Though their bodies were protesting like crazy and they were both on the verge of passing out, they completely ignored the signs of complete and utter agony and just went with it. The sight of their grinning faces and sounds of their mirth filtered throughout the arena, reaching the audiences and filling them with senses of relief. The moment was allowed to go on uninterrupted, up until the start of the first round of applause.

That applause then transformed into a storm, which rained down onto the courtyard and swelled the combatants' hearts with pride. While Asuma, Hinata, Vincent and Periklis were able to stand and accept their audiences' cheers of approval, Shikamaru was still unfortunately being flattened by his opponent. The boy didn't voice a single word of complaint though as he had permitted sweet sleep to embrace him. It would be some time till a medical team went down to collect the unfortunate fighters scattered over the ruined palace grounds here and there, so why not enjoy the peace?

Though there was going to be one hefty bill for all the damages, Kasumi had no problems with paying it. She was also up and celebrating Team 10's unanimous victory, hands in the air as she clapped and cheered excitedly. Not even her assistant could stop her, as he too was smiling proudly at the efforts of their visitors.

It was quite clear that they were grateful for the help.

Churchill sighed and leaned back in his seat, breathing deeply on his pipe, "It's a shame. I thought that my team would be enough to bring my side victory today… but it looks as though I miscalculated."

"You mean _underestimated_, Mr. Churchill, sir," the princess exclaimed, looking over at the man in the suit. She saw how downcast he was, apparently taking to his losses like a child, which amused the teenager somewhat. "Your men fought well. It's only fitting that you should congratulate and reward them for their efforts."

"True. For all the injuries they sustained in this contest, they've earned themselves a leave of absence and a consolation prize for the trouble," the man stated, rising up and out of his seat. He laced his hands in front of him and smiled down at the raven haired girl and leader of the _Land of Dusk_. "But more importantly, it was _your_ victory today, Princess Kasumi. Thanks to this friendly competition I am now able to see the potential strength of the warriors in this land… so I am confident you'll be able to handle the situation."

"I'm glad that we're able to come to an understanding," Kasumi smiled, approaching the taller individual and extending a hand to him. "I promise you, Mr. Churchill, we won't let you down."

The pair shook hands before the cameras, the crowds still cheering wildly while those covering the segment informed all those watching across the world the results of the fight. It only made sense for the people back home to know exactly what went on down here and who emerged victorious. This was big news. It wouldn't surprise anyone if the hidden villages also heard about this. Everyone in this country was linked to everyone.

Word was bound to get out one way or another of the amazing performances that had taken place here on behalf of Britannia and the Elemental Nations…

OOO

Outside of the palace gates and making all haste for the nearest main road out of the village, Sakon and Tayuya both decided that they'd seen enough for one day and started for home. Barely sparing a glance over their shoulders at the crowds flocking the castle wall's entrance, the pair dressed in _Otogakure_ colors kept to the sides where the traffic was thinnest, and dodged any and all curious eyes looking through the masses for unsavory activity. They used the blanket of celebrations and out goers to conceal their escape.

Huffing to himself with his arms folded, Sakon looked across at his teammate striding alongside him, "Some show, huh?"

"No shit."

"Well… at least I'll be able to sleep soundly tonight knowing that the _Elemental Nations_ were the ones who came out on top today… all thanks to those _Konohagakure_ scumbags," the boy in lipstick replied, looking up and blowing the few bangs of hair hanging in front of his face, "Damn that beginning half was irritating to watch. And here I was looking forward to a massacre."

"You're just disappointed because there was no action for you on this mission," the kunoichi rebuked.

"It was boring as shit in the practicality department, but I'm sure as hell satisfied at the end results," Sakon smirked, looking ahead of him sharply. "Orochimaru-sama will be pleased at the information we have to give. At least we'll be able to hand over some good updates on the situations here in these lesser countries and the current capabilities of Konoha's shinobi. Now that I think about it, he does seem to have his eyes set on a couple of them…"

"Creepy bastard… glad I'm not in the main labs during the times he's actually dreaming up this shit," Tayuya scoffed, folding her arms.

Sakon agreed with her wholeheartedly, "It's a good thing I don't have any medical check-ups coming in the next month. I'm all set for the rest of the year, thank you very much."

"Lucky you," Tayuya sighed, stopping in her tracks and looking back at the castle.

Her memories took her back to the fights she had just watched and saw finished, not just the one with the Jonin and the swordsman but mostly the one involving the boy with blonde hair and wearing orange. That was some rough bull he had to pull through that was for sure, especially against a person who possessed enough physical strength in his arms to bring down a wall able to withstand jutsu assaults for days on end in one second flat. It had been insane to see up close, not to mention shocking.

Still, Tayuya couldn't help but think back to how that spiky haired kid with whiskers went from a cowering runt getting the life literally beaten out of him to a grinning, top of the line, balls to the wall fighter. His balance of speed and strength was unreal, he could create clones in battalions' worth, and the moves he displayed weren't at all normal for any shinobi she knew.

That boy… he was something interesting…

His grinning expression when he faced down Nai after his remarkable comeback stuck in her mind like a photograph. Fearless, bold, daring, conniving…

Cute…?

Shaking her head, the murderous kunoichi returned to earth to find herself still glaring towards the gate, where she was sure the winners beyond it were in full celebration mode, if still not licking at their wounds.

"_Naruto Uzumaki, huh?"_

"Hey! Tayuya? You comin'?"

"Yeah, yeah, hold your fucking horses," the red head called, moving back on track and following after her waiting companion. Sakon continued on when she rejoined and began chasing his shadow down the street. However, while they wandered on, cutting through the crowds and completely engrossed in their thoughts, Tayuya couldn't help but ponder on over the jinchuriki's fight.

If anything, his moves had been spectacular. That smile too, which had burned onto the back of her retinas, just wouldn't go away, no matter how hard she tried to disperse of him from her mind…

"_Kid's got skill,"_ the girl thought, distracting herself down another train of thought._ "I might be seeing more of him in the future…"_

The Chunin exams that they were next scheduled to infiltrate and observe, perhaps?

That seemed like a possibility…

* * *

><p><strong>Meanwhile…<strong>

Located in an unknown country, hidden behind a waterfall concealed within a large, trackless forest, through a cavern of labyrinths and passageways, sat the village of _Takigakure_. It was a small, pretty much unnoticeable place nestled underneath the shadow of a massive tree, something that people would often take a glance towards before dismissing entirely. This was a good thing on the villagers' part because it was their main goal to remain unfound. Without having the larger shinobi nations breathing down their necks every waking morning, they would be able to carry on with their lives quietly and in peace.

Still, at least they maintained a good relationship with _Konohagakure_ and her allies. That had to count for something in the long run. Whenever they needed help they could always rely on the trust of their neighbors.

Not _Iwagakure_ though. That village had a grudge against everybody.

Anyway, sitting at the edge of what looked to be an enchanted lake formed around the large tree, the small village of Taki sat and carried on with business as usual. People were out fishing on boats, traversing the market places, performing chores, and doing all the other good things that made village life out here so enjoyable. The children were definitely having fun if everything else wasn't clear.

The leaders of this small settlement however were unable to join in with the rest of the festivities of their village, since they were occupied with something else entirely.

Inside the largest building in the office post of the Kage, a couple of uniquely dressed individuals gathered around the window-side desk were gazing across at the television on the other side of the oval room, relaying the signing ceremony taking place over in the _Land of Dusk_. While things at the beginning of the day had started off wonderfully, all of it then suddenly went to shit. The village leader and his closest of compatriots were then forced to sit through what felt like an hour, on the edge of their seats, watching a group of Konoha shinobi fight for the future of their continent against an equally powerful force.

Needless to say, the entire ordeal had been biblical.

Upon watching the team claim victory over their Britannian counterparts, with the cameras freezing on the battle that had just taken place between the blonde haired boy and the kick boxer, the Takigakure Kage leaned back in his chair and breathed a sigh of relief. The old man wearing a beige uniform and the signature hat of the Kage around his neck ran a hand through his hair before looking up at his son sitting in the chair next to his desk. The boy with long brown hair and wearing a blue shinobi uniform with belts was also gazing at the television in awe.

"S-So strong," Shibuki blinked, having seen and heard everything that had taken place miles away through the magic box.

His father chuckled, stroking the beard on his chin thoughtfully, "Brave too, not to mention incredibly skilled and resilient. Kind of makes you want to work even harder to stay as far ahead of him as possible, huh son?"

"W-Well," the boy smiled meekly and rubbed the back of his head, "I think _I'm_ the one that has some catching up to do on this road, dad. I mean… did you see what happened there? Both of those guys were practically demolishing each other, but Naruto ended up carrying on despite his damage and won out."

"It was a close shave for him. Either one of those kids could have gotten it. I'm pretty sure Britannia would have taken the winning seat if that young man hadn't stepped up when he did," the Kage thought, looking back at the television to see the replays. It was all being recorded anyway, so it was understandable why the closing sequences were of little consequence to them right now. A smile formed on the older man's face as he gazed down at the other seat in front of the TV. "It was an interesting match. That Naruto youngster in particular kind of reminds me of somebody else we both know really well, huh Shibuki?"

The boy in question also looked towards the chair where his father was directing him, where they saw a young girl around the age of thirteen with an orange clip in her short mint green hair, wearing a short sleeveless white midriff shirt with fishnet armor underneath, long white armlets, fishnet shorts, and a white apron skirt, sitting comfortably and watching the broadcast. She had her Takigakure headband tied to her right arm, signifying her allegiance.

The girl with orange eyes gazed without distraction towards the screen, completely enchanted in the action taking place.

No, she wasn't just astonished. She was awed, captivated and completely overcome by the battles she was watching.

While all those present in the room had been wowed into silence by all of the fights, the Jonin and the swordsman's, the Hyuuga and the spearman's, and the Nara and the wrestler's, the one that spoke the most in terms of finesse, character and appeal was indeed the blonde's war.

This one boy in orange had managed to have most of the cameras focused on his battle, because not only was it the first fight to take place on that stage, it was also the most intense…

This definitely spoke to the green haired girl sitting attentively before the television, who leaned forward on the edge of her seat, her hands clutching her skirt tightly and her eyes widening even more so as she re-watched the coverage. It was quite obvious to everyone that she was going to watch these videos again, but above all that… she was pumped…

The kunoichi watched it switch to the blonde's fight again, where she could see him dodging left and right with grace, pummeling his opponent with relentless jabs, clones and barrages of shuriken. The scene also replayed the spectacular turn around, where she saw the jinchuriki lift his opponent off the ground with a single, powerful body hook.

The blast of his fist impacting could be heard from the television's speakers. Needless to say, it had Shibuki and the Kage reeling at the power.

The girl too, only she leaned further forward in excitement, a grin forming on her face.

"_His uppercuts look good… and his other attacks are spectacular,"_ the kunoichi thought, watching as it showed the jinchuriki beating on his opponent with chain punches. Her fists clenched even tighter, _"Damn… it's got my blood boiling."_

Was she pleased? Oh yes. Was she pumped? Oh yes. Was she excited?

Beyond belief!

She grinned when it showed Naruto laughing happily and then when he went on to help Nai back to his feet.

"_Finally… I've __**finally**__ found someone who can fight evenly with me,"_ the girl exclaimed in her mind, raising both of her fists. They had tightened up so much that they were shaking. She couldn't help herself.

She wanted to meet this boy. She wanted to meet him, fight him… get to know him…

"_I can't believe it… a Genin from another village possessing a fighting style exactly the same as mine!"_

Oh Naruto, making friends and enemies before he'd even gotten that far out into the world…

Hell, he wasn't even a Chunin yet and already he was making acquaintances he didn't know about.

Fu especially was a perfect example of one of those people. The girl suddenly rose from her seat and turned sharply toward her village leader and teammate. Her grin became all that more pronounced, a sight that surprised the father and son duo sitting quietly behind her.

"Boss, I have a special request I'd like to make!"

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Finally. That sure as hell was a long ass haul.

Any who… I know some of you may have complaints about the fight, the arc, the length and the whatever, but it doesn't matter to me. I'm writing this story how I want it. This fight in particular was very important. The fact that it was long and went for three chapters, shows that this would be Team 10s hardest fight, the one that set them all up for the rest of the story to follow.

It was like the Wave Arc, pretty much. It set the stage for growth in all of the characters, making them stronger, while also giving them an idea of how tough the world is out there. This was a big day, something that became recognized by the rest of the world. It definitely got Fu's attention.

If any of you skipped out on the last chapter and everything, you'll pretty much be missing out on a lot of important things to come. To everyone who disregards this… I don't know what to say.

But, the arc is coming to an end with more excitement. Next up is the Wave Arc, which I'll get too as quickly as I can.

I know some people may have some gripes with the strengths of the historic characters, so I guess I should come out and say this.

_**The invulnerability thing may be something played out in shows like DBZ and stuff, but it's not something that makes the fighters invincible. It's their character, their strength and their advantage. It was overcome anyway, so they're NOT overpowered.**_

Shikamaru beat William being quicker, smarter, and going for the weak spots the moment he figured it out. Hinata beat Vincent's skill and reach with her own style and increased agility. And Naruto beat Nai with grit, will power and his own skills. Asuma too. But damn, a lot of asses got beat.

_**At this stage:**_ **Naruto** is on Haku and Lee's level, **Hinata** was strong enough to beat Vincent, who was on Neji's level at the time at the beginning of the Chunin Exams, **Shikamaru** is closer to the level he was in the last stage of the Chunin Exams, **Asuma** is the same as he is in the series, **Nai** has more punching power than Asuma but is about as fast, intelligent and proficient as Naruto, or around low Chunin rank, **Vincent** is on par with Neji, **William** is… I should say, just below Nai's level, and **Periklis** is just below Kakashi's level, but not as nimble, swift or stealthy.

It's better to see how strong they each are when they fight and how the characters' thoughts evaluate the other. It makes the picture clearer.

Anyway, thanks for reading and hope you look forward to the next chapter…


	24. Wave Arc: The Fated Cross

**NARUTO**

**The Art of Appropriation**

_The Fated Cross_

In the end, things worked out well for all parties on both sides of the chess board, well… save for a few minor discrepancies that needed to be addressed, among which included an extended hospital stay for the majority of the teams that participated in the competition and bed rest for the other two. The moment their fights were concluded and it was unanimously agreed by all heads in attendance of the gathering that the _Land of Dusk_ and, by extension the _Elemental Nations,_ had won the competition, the leaders of Britannia relented in face of the shocking revelation. Upon rushing Asuma and the others to the medical bay, Kasumi and Churchill reconvened over the plinth and discussed the renewed terms of the trade agreement. Sure it was signed by the end of the day under hundreds of witnesses and cameras, but there were also a handful of alterations made.

Both Britannia and the Land of Dusk found an ally in the other. For the next few years to come, the two nations would be able to trade and communicate freely with each other, under the safety and protection of both flags.

Of course, all the hand shaking and celebrations that came after that didn't concern Team 10 in the least, since all of them were forced to spend the rest of that day rolling around in pain in beds in the sick bay while medical staff fussed over them. Sure Naruto and Nai accompanied them for a while, but all they really needed were several bandages and ointments since by the time they were carried up to the sick room inside the castle, most of their muscle injuries had healed and their once broken bones were starting to come back together. By that night, they were able to walk about the princess's home, albeit a bit of a limp.

The others wound up sticking around the bay for much longer. While Asuma and Periklis were treated for severe lacerations, Vincent needed to be checked for internal injuries to his organs, William required some of his muscles and tendons to be sewn back together, and Shikamaru had a couple busted ribs, a locked up neck, dislocated shoulder and a broken hand. Hinata was suffering from extreme exhaustion and severe bruising, as well as being in need of a few stitches herself. They could all be eternally grateful that the medical staff under Kasumi's banner knew how to use healing jutsu. That sped up their recovery by days.

In the time that he had on hand in the _Port of Dusk_, Naruto stuck by Kasumi's side and continued on with his squad's mission in the days when his teammates were incapacitated and confined to their quarters. Respectively, Nai also stayed the course by following Churchill around wherever he needed to go since both Periklis and Vincent were temporarily out of commission. This allowed the pair varying periods of work and free time, which became pretty routine after two days of this. At her request, in a spread of over a few free days the princess of the village dragged the jinchuriki around wherever she needed and wanted to go, including the markets where the festival stalls were still set up, the cinema, the hot springs, the theater where a rendition of _Phantom of the Opera_ was being played courtesy of the visiting Britannians, and the beach.

If the blonde knew any better, he'd say Kasumi was genuinely taking him out on an assemblage of dates.

Too bad he didn't know any better and remained completely oblivious to the raven haired girl's attempts to get closer to him and have their relationship progress beyond one that was between client and bodyguard, as well as close friends.

Still, it was fun for both of them and Kasumi continually thanked her blonde haired companion for accompanying her. She enjoyed hanging out with him most and continually admired him from a distance, gazing at him whenever he wasn't looking and watching him train to get the strength back into his muscles after nearly getting pulverized by his opponent.

Though she wouldn't admit it outwardly, she'd actually fallen quite a bit for the grinning idiot.

By the fifth day of the week of festivities, Hinata, Vincent and William were finally able to get up and move around. Shikamaru, Asuma and Periklis joined them a full day later. Both teams got together at the final celebration, which was a feast held between the westerners and the elemental nations inside of Kasumi's castle. Needless to say it was a brilliant way to conclude a week of such high temp, with the two sides gathering at the one table and scattering themselves between seats to commune, to mingle and to gorge themselves on the exotic foods provided.

Yet again, Naruto and Nai made a spectacle of themselves on their side when they seemingly fell into yet another vicious competition to show who the better man was.

Everyone sat in silence and shock as they stared across at the pair literally sucking down all of the food lying out in front of them. The jinchuriki was consuming his fill of ramen by the truckload whereas the kick boxer ate everything in sight, not to mention everything he could get his hands on. Stacks of empty plates formed up on their spaces with very little wasted. Waiters came and went to help clear up the mess they were making regularly.

Inhaling yet another bowl, Naruto chewed through a bloated mouth and grinned over his shoulder toward the waitress standing behind him. She, like every other person in the hall, gawked at the brothers from different countries sitting side by side and pretty much devouring the entirety of their kitchen, "Excuse me! Another three bowls of miso, please!"

Nai, after working a whole fried chicken down to the bone in less than ten seconds, tossed the remains onto the large dish where it came from before waving a hand over to the same stunned waitress, "Me too! Three more, please!"

Naruto grinned, using his chopsticks to go for a dish of spaghetti but quickly realized that it was empty. He blinked and looked over at the kick boxer to see him picking up three pork buns at once and shoving them into his mouth with his hand, followed by another three, "Hey Nai, we're out of pasta."

Swallowing the food in his mouth after five chews, the kick boxer waved back over at the same waitress about to shuffle away, "Pasta and egg rolls as well! Four dishes! Oh yeah, and some dim sam if you've got any!"

"Add some Yakisoba to that if you can!"

The rest of the teams sitting close by gaped when the pair tore through another wave of entrees, dishes and finishers. While Shikamaru shook his head and tried to hide his face from his companion's unappealing mannerisms, Hinata looked on in amazement and Asuma just propped his head on his hand and looked across at Periklis sitting opposite of him, visibly exhausted. The swordsman was trying to dine on his own meal, but had become distracted by the show their two most energetic team members were performing.

The pair exchanged stares, both of them quickly acknowledging their little problems while trying not to make too big a fuss over them.

"Welcome to my world," the Jonin said with a gesture.

"I share the sentiment, sir," the fencer replied, both of them going back to picking at their food.

After watching those two eat, they'd pretty much lost their appetites. Everybody had, with the exception of William eating nothing but stuff with high levels of protein and iron in it, Vincent trying to dine as he normally would with a gentlemanly air in his fork and knife movements, Kasumi delighting herself in her ice-cream treat, and C.C hiding on her side with three huge plates of pizza in front of her.

The green haired girl picked up a slice of Hawaiian and nibbled at it, sparing not a single glance toward the rain of food bits falling across the length of table from the jinchuriki and his friend plowing through the feast. She wanted to keep eating peacefully thank you very much.

"Nothing is normal in this fleeting existence. The closer you are to accepting that reality," C.C exclaimed while taking another bite, "The less surprises come your way. That's the secret."

Was she breaking the fourth wall? Maybe, but that was just her being herself.

OOO

By the end of the week and at the conclusion of the festivities, there was just enough time for one more day at the beach, where former opponents were able to congregate, kick a ball around and have an afternoon barbeque with each other.

It was interesting for the youngsters to see their mentor and team leaders in a normal environment for once, and not one where they were brandishing a vest, a kunai or a sword. Hell, Asuma had a whopping good time of his own in spite of the bandages he still wore tightly around his waist from getting kicked around earlier. Even Vincent lightened up a little, joining Hinata and Naruto on their little venture when they went into the reefs and explored the corals.

There had been a whole bunch of activities that everybody enjoyed. Kasumi and Churchill also joined them. It wasn't like politicians were always on _all_ the time. They were normal people too.

Well… in contrast to the many.

William took their volleyball game a little too far when, after a pleasant few rounds, he started getting way too youthful and competitive under the sun. It turned into a slugfest with a ball between the jinchuriki, the kick boxer and the wrestler, and they all wound up destroying six of them. However, it did little to detract from all the fun everyone was able to have, but soon though, it all had to come to an end.

The end of the week had arrived; the agreed upon time Churchill would take his armada back to their homeland and relay the good news.

The soldiers and marines packed up all their stuff in just one day, and with all ships boarded they began making way for home. One by one, the freighters, destroyers and cruisers pulled out of the harbor and took up position just outside of the port. The last ship to leave was the _HMS Hood_, the capital ship, and the one that Churchill himself would personally escort back to their land. It was an impressive send off.

Kasumi and her staff shook hands with the Britannian representatives. William picked up and hugged every one of his newly made friends, particularly Shikamaru whom he'd found a new 'rival' in. It made perfect sense too. Brain against brawn generated an interesting atmosphere, and while the wrestler was exuberant as ever Shikamaru managed to spout a smile and wished him well.

Vincent showered Hinata in flowers again, much to the girl's awe and discomfort, which ended in her hiding behind Naruto and the officer sulking for a good half hour afterwards. In the end he too gave them his best wishes and hoped for the Hyuuga's happiness in earning the love of her teammate. They kept this conversation on the down low so that the jinchuriki didn't catch a word of it.

It was best to keep some things a secret until the right time.

Asuma and Periklis shook hands just like everybody else. It was mostly silence between them since they were both hardcore and still weary of the other's presence. But that was mostly their years of infinite experience whispering to them, so they spent the time they had exchanging pleasantries and listening to these voices speaking to them. Nevertheless, they were proud to look another equal in the eye and expressed their deepest wishes to meet each other again in the future, but next time as allies and not enemies. Neither one of them wanted to feel the sting of the other's blade in battle, especially after the trial they went through.

The whole departure thing showed that there was no ill will held between Britannian and shinobi. There were no things left unsaid and no bad feelings bottled up whatsoever. That was an excellent start to an alliance that was bound to last for many years to come.

The heads of the _Land of Dusk_ waved the Britannian officials as they ascended the ramp; William, Vincent and Periklis included. By the end of the hour, the ship was pulled out of port and slowly led into open water, seen off by fireworks, streamers, confetti and cheers. The crowds in the harbor stood there and watched as the vessels sailed over the horizon; with Team 10 positioned at the front where they would stand until the very last ship was gone from sight.

OOO

Standing up on deck of the _HMS Hood_, Periklis stared out toward the shinobi mainland as it shrunk away into the distance. It would be some time before it vanished completely from view, but the distinguished team leader and representative had no problems with that. All he wanted to do for the time being was catch the last glimpses of a far-off and interesting land that had treated him so well in his stay there.

The experience had given him a great amount of insight into the strengths of warriors outside of his country's reach, which gave him hope that there were even more amazing things out there to look forward to. Though he didn't show it outwardly, the officer was grateful for the opportunity to have fought someone so powerful.

Placing his only good hand on the arm that had caught the most damage in his fight with Asuma, which was comfortably hanging off of a sling at rest, the swordsman breathed out in relief before leaning against the railing. He was standing at the stern end of the ship, which allowed him a perfect view of the country drifting away from him.

"I bet they're thinking the exact same thing, sir," a voice suddenly cut into the silence, drawing the fencer's attention around to see Vincent strolling towards him. The Britannian officer joined his fellow representative in leaning against the barrier where they were both able to focus on the green hills far off in the distance. "The warriors in our world aren't the only ones we need to watch out for. There is a well of potential existing outside of our borders, and it's only going to grow even more in the years to come."

"Are you worried?" Periklis asked.

"Not at all," Vincent chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm actually… quite excited."

"You and me both," the swordsman agreed, keeping his gaze locked on the coast now far out of sight. "I'm going to have to work even harder if I don't want to end up in a state close to nearly being quartered. If I'm not prepared I might just end up losing something more valuable than my head."

"No need to spit the little details. Just concentrate on your practice so that you don't get sliced to bits again," the other officer exclaimed while rapping the metal bar supporting him. "I'd hate to be the one to sew your body back together if you end up in another miserable condition."

"Don't worry, you won't have to. I won't allow it," the older individual exclaimed, his Geass flickering and allowing a gentle breeze to cool him. He breathed a sigh of relief, "It will be great to finally see home again after so long."

"I can't wait to tell the family about my trip. They're going to be absolutely thrilled," Vincent chirped, all of a sudden looking incredibly pleased.

Everybody suffered from home sickness, even the most hardcore and composed of individuals.

"Of course they will… unless they grill you out about your loss to that girl first," Periklis replied with a sly smile.

Their battles had been broadcasted worldwide after all. It wouldn't surprise any of them if they were greeted by old friends at the port asking them why they had lost and all that garbage. But those concerns could wait until a later date. Hell, they could hardly care at this point. They were alive weren't they?

Sensing a challenge from the older, stronger gentleman, Vincent scowled up at him in annoyance, "You lost too you know. Don't go trying to cover yourself when it was a unanimous decision all around." He received a grunt in response, which allowed him further time for thought on the matter. It was almost immediately upon reviewing memories of the day a whole week before that Vincent suddenly gave his fellow officer an inquisitive glance, "By the way… what happened to that green haired friend of yours that followed you all the way out here to these countries?"

Periklis blinked, remembering the _other_ luggage he had ended up bringing along with him and looked about momentarily. After a brief interlude that involved him scanning the decks for his traveling companion, the fencer then turned his gaze back out toward the mainland, where he could see the mountains beginning to sink over the ocean line.

His worried expression transformed into one with a smile, which had the man run his hand through his hair and laugh good-naturedly, "Oh that girl. What am I ever going to do with her?"

"W-Will she be alright?" Vincent asked, coming about to the fact that she was _gone_.

The swordsman shrugged before pocketing his one good hand, "She never did like sticking to one person for an extended period… she'll be fine…"

OOO

While heading back towards the castle to pack their stuff and to make their formal farewells to Kasumi and her staff before their departure, Naruto and his team suddenly found themselves confronted by Nai standing at the front gates. Leaning against the wall off to the side with one hand in his pocket and a travel pack slung over his shoulder and held by the other, the boy was glaring ahead of him patiently and silently. Obviously waiting for their return, the kick boxer looked up when he sensed their timely arrival and smiled when he spotted the jinchuriki leading the group.

Stopping abruptly at the sight of the raven haired teenager, the squad watched on wearily as he stood up off of the wall and marched up to them. Expecting another fight to break out Naruto took a step back in preparation, only to see the boy stop sharply in front of him and smile kindly. All hostile intent floating in the atmosphere seemed to vanish with his change of expressions.

"Took you long enough to get back. I was beginning to think that you guys had already set out and that I'd have to chase you up just to say 'adios'," the pugilist exclaimed with amusement in his voice.

Naruto smirked back, "What? Are you seriously gonna miss me that much? Wouldn't that seem kind of petty?" Asuma chuckled at his apprentice's comeback, whereas Shikamaru and Hinata just smiled across at the boy.

"If that's what you like to think, then fine," Nai replied, raising his right fist and tapping it against his counterpart's chest. Naruto grunted when he felt the heavy thud and looked down to see the teen's knuckles pressed against him. "I'm heading on home now. I just wanted to give you guys my thanks and best wishes."

Blinking, the jinchuriki looked back up and gave him a half-smirk, "S-Sure. No problem."

"Try not to get into anymore trouble on your way back, okay?" Shikamaru exclaimed, hands on his hips.

Hinata nodded curtly to him as well in an effort to show that his presence with them over the week had been greatly appreciated, "T-Take care."

Nai grinned even wider, acknowledging the team's words of confidence and graces before turning to Naruto once more and tapping his knuckles against his chest, this time passing on yet another baton to the young man he was certain he would carry with him for years to come, "You're _really_ strong, my friend. I can't wait to get back to Siam and tell master all about you and my adventures through this strange land. Mum and dad will also want to hear about this!"

"Hope you make it back home in one piece," Naruto exclaimed with equal fervor in his voice, watching the boy pull his fist back. The jinchuriki raised his left to meet his right. "Don't be a stranger now. Keep in touch."

"You bet," Nai chuckled, the pair bumping fists as a show of gratitude and an exchange of good fortunes with the other.

However, just as they were trading grins, Nai suddenly stepped in and wrapped an arm around the boy's shoulders tightly. Naruto appeared surprised at his action but went with it as he leaned in to whisper in his ear.

"Let's meet again, Naruto Uzumaki," the kick boxer said calmly, unable to contain the confidence in his voice, "In another arena, in another place… alright?"

Surprise coming over him, the blonde then grinned and jabbed the kick boxer in the stomach, who grunted at the friendly hit. "Count on it, dattebayo!"

Satisfied, Nai detached himself from his fellow combatant and sprinted down the road. Bag secured on his back, he began making all haste for the exit to the village, but not before looking over his shoulder and waving at the team smiling after him.

"I'll be seeing you around, Team 10 of _Konohagakure_!"

The group waved at him in return and watched him vanish completely from sight around the next bend.

With the final farewell hanging fresh in the air, Shikamaru's hand suddenly lowered and his eyes looked around at the still grinning and waving Naruto, "Wait… is he running all the way back to his country?"

The jinchuriki laughed, "Oh yeah."

"I-Isn't that… r-really far away?" Hinata asked, now starting to look and feel a little worried for the pugilist's wellbeing. What lay in the road ahead of him was a collection of all sorts of dangers and hazards, including enemy ninja, bandits, deserts, forests and treacherous crossings across various ravines, mountains and rivers. "Will he be okay traveling so far on his own?"

Asuma chuckled, "Nothing is too far away for _that_ boy." He then looked down at his most energetic of apprentices, knowing full well that if they wanted a positive and sincere answer in regards to a life-changing situation, then it would be their resident jinchuriki who would pass the final and absolute verdict. "You know him best, Naruto. What do you think? Will he make it?"

The boy in question leaned back and grinned up at his instructor with the same liveliness and vigor he possessed 24/7. That look alone assured his companions and teacher that all would be right with the world.

"He'll be fine!" Naruto raised his fist up and thrust it toward the sky, "Believe it!"

OOO

Heads forward and paces set, once all their affairs had been put in order and Kasumi had bid final farewell to her friends in the forms of hugs for the three teenagers and a paycheck for Asuma for a job well done, the team wasted no time in heading for home. They had a stop off at the hot spring on the way back, so it definitely gave them something more to look forward to once they left the outskirt buildings of the port far behind and began trekking up the hillsides. Now that the celebrations were over and people had periodically chosen to head back to their own home towns, it was easier for the young Team 10 to leave without encountering any problems whatsoever.

Their bags stuffed with souvenirs and alike, the four shinobi headed North West, with gleams in their eyes and smiles on their faces.

Well… most of them…

"See. I told you it would be easy," Naruto exclaimed, throwing his hands up behind his head and grinning excitedly. "This mission was awesome!"

"Speak for yourself," Shikamaru groaned while massaging his neck. "That William guy hit harder than you or Asuma on a _good_ day. I know I should be feeling fine right now, but I think I'm still a little bit stiff from that dance we had back in the quad…"

"Just be grateful that Kasumi-chan paid for all of the damages and didn't syphon it off of our paychecks," Naruto shot back before smirking up at their teacher striding comfortably behind them, "Right, sensei?"

Patches slapped across both his cheeks, the Jonin looked back down at the jinchuriki with a smile of his own, "Don't worry about it. It was an all expenses paid assignment. I'll split the bill between us when we get home. We all deserve the rest…"

"Sweet!" the blonde hopped into the air victoriously and continued moving forward.

"You seem awfully cheery for someone who got beat up worse than the rest of us," Shikamaru exclaimed with a smirk and hands in his pockets. "How come you're not bogged down like me and Hinata? What's your secret, Naruto?"

"A hard head and plenty of exercise." Would he buy it?

"I'm being serious you know. How do you recover a lot quicker than everybody else?"

Of course he didn't. Still, it wasn't like the jinchuriki was completely below dodging suspicions from pesky investigators. He'd gotten out of much tighter spots in the past no sweat.

Asuma kept quiet on this, whereas Hinata listened in to the pair communing with greater interest etched on her face. Like her other squad mate, she too was a little bit curious about her blonde teammate's supposed immortality and invincibility in battle, which was not afraid to show itself even in times of peace.

Was he a secret genius? Did he purposefully hide his talents during all his failed years at the academy to avert everyone's attention away from him? Actually, that was perfect for a shinobi. Taking the path of least resistance with as little attention to your person as possible was a sure way to success.

However, if genius level intellect wasn't his secret, then what was it?

Naruto gave them the longest dramatic pause he could allow, before clearing his throat and breaking the ice with a wide grin, "I'm just 'naturally' gifted with the perfect body, Shikamaru-kun. Being put down by a few broken bones doesn't exist in my world." He threw his arms out grandly, in spite of lying through his teeth like a politician, "Do you seriously doubt the sheer awesomeness of your future village leader?"

"Geez, aren't you the humble one," Shikamaru rolled his eyes, clearly speaking out in sarcasm. "Gifted huh? Must be inherited from all of that ramen you eat. I bet it's turned your blood into broth and your insides into noodles."

"Probably, but I can't say so for sure. I need to get myself checked out once we get back… and see if it would be okay for me to increase my training routine," Naruto murmured to himself, patting himself on the stomach thoughtfully.

Inwardly, the boy was relieved that his friends bought his response and didn't follow-up with anymore questions. He didn't exactly want to reveal to them that he was the container of the Nine-Tails just yet. It was too soon.

After all the shit he'd been through in the past, segregation and loneliness, there was no way in hell he wanted to destroy this fantastic thing he had going with Shikamaru and Hinata. Their friendship was one of the best and most important things he'd ever had. They, like Yim and Ran, they were like family to him. He didn't want to lose that.

Until he was certain he could trust them with all that he was, body, soul, heart and mind, he would keep this between himself and the orange haired fur ball inside of him, as well as everybody else privy to this information.

He was sure Asuma knew, so he was positive his friends could wait another day.

There was also one other truth Naruto could add to his whirlwind of thoughts though, and that was the intention he actually had planned for as soon as he returned to the village.

He remembered his fight with Nai all too well, particularly the instances where his kunai had quite literally shattered upon being driven into the rock that was his former opponent. Not even wood was that sturdy. This memory had Naruto frown with envy at his opposite's good fortunes and how he had been able to stand through all the punishment that he had without even falling to his knees. That grin on Nai's face would stick in the blonde's mind as a confidence booster for future battles to come; he just knew it.

Naruto clenched his fists tightly and smirked, "I want rock awesome abs too! The moment I get back to Konoha, I'm fixing my schedule!"

"Don't kill yourself," Asuma chuckled, hearing every word from his young apprentices flooding back onto him.

While they were on the topic, Naruto suddenly blinked when he turned his eyes skyward and scratched his chin. In spite of it having remained far outside of his mind for the duration of their mission, once reality started coming back to him he couldn't help but stew a little more, "I wonder how Yim-chan and the others are doing? It's been over a week, my house had better be in one piece…"

"I-I'm sure they've taken great care of it in your absence, Naruto-kun," Hinata exclaimed, walking a little closer to the boy with a happy smile. "You trust them very much, don't you?"

"With my life," the blonde stated, popping up a thumb. "But with so many strong people under one roof… it just makes me worry."

"Come on, it's not like the world is gonna end with the destruction of your new bachelor pad," Shikamaru inputted helpfully, also trying to get the boy to veer away from the idea of witnessing potential catastrophe should he head for his domain the moment he marched through the front gates of their village and find it in ruins. "Not that I'm praying for the end of the world on your part, it would just mean that if something like that were to happen to you, then you would pretty much be branded the most unlucky person on the face of the planet."

Naruto groaned in abject despair, "Always a joy hearing your words of comfort, Shikamaru."

"That's exactly what I'm here for; moral support," Shikamaru said with a lazy pat to his friend's back. Asuma snickered back a laugh.

"Isn't that N-Naruto-kun's job though; to lift our spirits when we need it the most?" Hinata asked.

"Exactly. But its share around in our group or so I figure it, especially after what we've been through," the Nara replied with a tired yawn. "Among many of his other quirks, Naruto's positive vibes seems to spread around to all of us and not just those he affects directly."

"It sure as hell helped _me_ a lot back in my fight," Asuma spoke under his breath while scratching the patch on his cheek. Obviously he had hoped his words would go on unheard since he had his attention focused on the woods passing them, but when he looked back to refocus on the path ahead he saw that his young team had indeed heard him and were looking over their shoulders at him with curious gazes in play. Jumping a little at seeing three pairs of eyes fixed on his person, the Jonin waved a hand out in front with a nervous grin, "I mean… all _three_ of you supported one another well! That's what I really meant." The man cleared his throat, "Good job."

"Whatever you say, sensei," Shikamaru replied with a small smirk, "And you're welcome."

"Tsk. Troublesome kid…" the Jonin muttered.

Smile widening, Naruto closed his eyes and strode on, taking very wide and very rigid looking steps that allowed him to cover way more ground. "Let's just say it was a team effort. Right?"

"Y-yes… it was," Hinata said pleasantly, sharing this expression with Shikamaru while their teacher sent them his compliments silently. "It definitely was."

"We completed our mission and at the same time saved this world from another war. Go team ten!" the boy with whiskers continued without skipping a beat, raising his hand into the air. His companions reciprocated his action with all four of them raising their fists toward the skies, each with varying levels of excitement.

A crisis averted; all thanks to them breaking the rules of diplomacy and engagement just for the sake of one job. Credit for the opening could go to Naruto.

Whether or not he'd be punished or rewarded for his actions back home was unknown, but both Shikamaru and Hinata vowed that they would be there for him. After all, he'd stuck his neck out for them and gave them all hope many times before. The least they could do was support him in times when he needed it. They were pretty much inseparable…

* * *

><p><strong>That night…<strong>

The last place that any shinobi in the world ever wanted to find themselves in was inside the walls and corridors of an inescapable prison, especially the one situated somewhere on the edge of _Kusagakure_ known all around the continent as _**Hozukijo**_ prison. It was a depressing place; a large, dark castle situated at the top of a cliff overlooking an ocean filled with dangerous currents and whirlpools that had the capacity to suck up any would-be escapees. This along with the unique imprisonment technique used by the chief warden of the institute that would reduce anyone to ash the moment they strayed too far from the grounds, made escape virtually impossible.

Of course, there was no such thing as full-proof in this world or the next. By the makings of some otherworldly phenomenon, there was always some form of weakness associated with any impregnable idea, as Shikamaru and Naruto adamantly believed. Too bad they didn't know about this place…

Under the stone walls and towering structures making up the castle, behind the dozens of uniformed, ever vigilant guards marching around in routine with crossbows and kunai launchers resembling rifles slung over their shoulders, there sat a labyrinth of hallways making up the prison. Thick wooden brigs and gates formed the cells in the great halls, all connected to the same system of locks allowing the doors to either be opened at once or individually. It was an impressive network, but beneath that, further inside the castle many floors down, there sat the isolation wards.

One section in particular had been cut off from the rest of these and boy was it out-of-the-way. Bacteria couldn't even be found down here. The only form of life present in this dank and dark realm beneath the stone monolith above was in fact the lone prisoner locked behind an iron-barred gate at the far end of the corridor.

Sealing tags were pasted all over the walls and the entrance itself, giving the impression that this place had been reserved for some form of taboo ritual or something. It was debatable since all of the seals were drawn in blood and activated in the same manner, with only the warden himself able to grant access to this chamber. Candlelight was the sole form of illumination in this holding space, revealing an empty room with a bed, a sink and a toilet protruding from the stone walls.

There was nothing else, not even personal possessions; just bulwarks, a gate, a fuck ton of sealing tags, and the prisoner.

With long orange hair draped over their shoulders and wearing nothing but a large tattered shirt and undergarments, the pale, slightly dirty form of the criminal lay comfortably across the bed provided for them. Silent as the night and with a small piece of rock in hand, the person entertained themselves by chucking it absentmindedly at the bars of the cell. The rock bounced off of one bar, hit the one next to it and bounced back at the thrower perfectly each and every time. Hell, the inmate wasn't putting any effort behind their actions as they were reclined with a hand resting behind their head and a bored expression drawn across their face.

Apparently, solitude suited them just fine.

Along the person's smooth skin they had an array of intricate and complicated seals drawn over them, on top of the same seal pattern that had been used on Kin back in _Konohagakure_. The _**Fire Release: Heavenly Prison**_ technique was no joke, after all. The tire track like markings snaked all along the person's body, arms and legs, preventing them from calling upon any chakra or using any jutsu whatsoever. The fact that such a complex array of seals had been drawn on their person showed just how dangerous this individual was.

Still, it wasn't like they were showing any hostile intentions now, and they didn't really care. They seemed pretty content with just lying where they were; contemplating on life's greatest mysteries.

Like what was for breakfast tomorrow? Rice? Gruel? Potatoes?

You know… the little things…

While they were busy bouncing the rock off of the bars and glaring down the corridor with a stoic scowl across their face, the prisoner suddenly stopped when they spotted an eerie shadow step out from behind one of the pillar's down the runway. Head tilting, they watched as the figure strolled towards them from the darkness and stop just short of the gate and the row of tags lying out across the floor. They took careful note of the security and focused on the prisoner lying behind the bars.

"Visiting hours is from ten to four, Monday to Friday," the inmate spoke in a very calm, very feminine voice. It wasn't much of a surprise since the person was clearly a woman. She looked back at the bars uninterestingly and continued chucking the stone at them, the loud clanging continuing to echo throughout her lonesome universe. "Still, since you're already here, what can I do for you?"

The person in question stepped out of the shadows at their address and revealed himself to be a man with long, raven black hair wearing dark samurai robes, a sword at his side and a straw hat on top of his head. The wide brim hid his face from view, which was noticeably very sharp and pale. The woman behind the bars continued chucking the stone until she was able to get a full glimpse of the individual visiting her, which caused her to stop abruptly and look him over.

She didn't need a history or bingo book to tell her who this person was exactly. Years of experience and inherited knowledge told her everything she needed to know about the entity staring back at her.

Blinking in mild surprise, the orange haired woman then chuckled, tossing the stone up and down in her hand a couple of times before catching it into a firm hold.

"Well… isn't this a surprise. In all my years I never once thought that I'd ever see your face around here, at least… not in _my_ lifetime," the suddenly cheerful prisoner exclaimed. The grin on her face became an even cockier one as she glared across at the shadowy man, "A lot of people say that you're dead…"

"They can say whatever they like about me. But whether they choose to believe in my existence or not is of little concern. The fact is that I'm _back_," the samurai replied, his own face procuring its own harsh smile, "Back and ready to bring this world into a shiny new era of glory and peace."

"I see," the woman chuckled, "So you're still set on making every single person on this continent bow before your iron fist? I heard your proficiency with a blade is truly one to be feared, especially for the very man who not only fought against Madara Uchiha back in the days but the Great Sage himself." She glanced up at his concealed face, fear and terror absent from her mind. Whereas anybody else would be trembling at this point, she knew no such thing. "On that note, you age rather gracefully, my friend… I'm jealous…"

"You appear to be very familiar with my history and intentions, Fuma Kotaro," the samurai exclaimed, his lips twitching into a small grin as he gave name to the woman behind the gate, "That's good. I expected nothing less from the only shinobi in history who was able to be able to defeat the almighty Hanzo of the Salamander in his prime and have the good graces of mercy to allow him to live. Your astuteness means that I don't have to waste any time explaining to you why I'm here."

Kotaro let out an amused laugh and swung her legs up, hooking one over the other while continuing to toss the stone in her hand up and down. Holding it between her two fingers, she then stared at it while continuing to engage her visitor in conversation, "If that's the case then speak. Just like everybody else, time is of great importance to me… even all the way down here where the sun no longer shines…"

The samurai extended a hand to her, "I would very much like for you to join me…" It was an offering he made with the sincerest of tones and the most meaningful of intentions. "It would give me great pleasure to have the legendary Fuma Kotaro standing by my side on the day that I finally establish my throne over this continent and its people."

"Is that _recruitment_ I hear knocking on my front door?"

"Your terms and services are negotiable of course, but only under the condition that you swear your undying loyalty to me."

Of course, it came as a bit of a surprise to the dark warrior when all he got in return for that information was the sight of the woman brushing his offer aside with yet another laugh and a dismissive wave of her hand.

"What? And play side-kick to the devil and see that all of his goals are met to their utmost? You may have an ambitious plot in store for the elemental nations, but as fun as that sounds," Kotaro breathed while closing her eyes in delight, "The _Demon of the Shadow Windmill_ works only for herself, I always have and always will."

The samurai frowned, lowering his hand back down to his side when he registered completely to her reply, "So… you're rejecting my proposition?"

The kunoichi sighed and brought the hand holding the rock up to her forehead, "It seems that way doesn't it. Sorry to inconvenience you-"

"I strongly urge for you to reconsider," the stranger interrupted, an even darker and colder shade stretching over him. It enveloped him like a hand and gave off an aura that could be smelt before it could be seen, which failed to even shake the prisoner behind the iron barrier. "You were once revered as the greatest leader of your generation, one who sold their allegiance to the side you saw fit for glory. You should know better than to dismiss what I have to offer you. It's a fool's choice to say no. I promise you eternal magnificence, riches and a place at my side as a God."

"A God?" the woman murmured thoughtfully, pursing her lips in mild interest.

"Yes. It is your dream is it not; to be remembered for all eternity for your actions and to leave your mark upon this land as a warrior? Wasn't that the reason why you led your entire clan into battle against the _Land of Lightning_ and defeated the invincible Third Raikage? For honor and for glory?"

The woman let out a boisterous almost maniacal laugh, which had even the demon of a samurai flinch at the hilarity evident in her vocals. Kotaro grinned across at the figure, her eyes sharpened and irises shrunken in a creepy showcase of paranoia, "I think you've got me all wrong." She waved her hands above her in a flowing gesture, showing how flippant she was of his point of view while also expressing her own feelings on the matter, "My motives aren't so sophisticated as honor or hatred or any bullshit like that. The reason I went on that suicide attack against _Kumogakure_ and had all ten thousand of my fellow clansmen slaughtered by the _Strongest Raikage_… was because I wanted to…"

Her grin grew all the more so, showing just how empty the deepest pits of her soul really was.

"I wanted to see who the world favored the most; the old generation desperately clinging onto the ways of the past or the part desiring the unending forward march of time and the passing of the torch on to the next. Whatever is left of my family; lies scattered on the winds of fate as it was decided by their choices. They mean nothing to me now."

Hearing the resolute tone in her voice had the samurai smirk under his hat. Grabbing the brim of it, he lowered it further over his face, concealing his amused expression. Both parties on either side of the bars were amused in some way, shape and form, but it had been made quite clear to them now where this had all ended and where each of them now stood. With a courteous bow, the samurai then began backing away, back into the shadows from where he had come.

"That's too bad, Fuma Kotaro. That really is too bad…" he whispered with a shake of his head. "I had such high hopes for you, but I guess they were all for naught. Perhaps in our next meeting you will be more compliable. Good day."

Within seconds his body dissipated into the wind like a phantom. His form dematerialized into what could only be described as black smoke, which caught onto the draught blowing up into the vents and back out into the world beyond. With him gone, all that remained in the hallway and chamber that was the prison of solitude for one of the most dangerous criminals in the shinobi world was the Fuma Clan leader herself.

Former, of course…

The orange haired woman giggled to herself before going back to chucking her rock at the bars again. The loud 'pangs' that rang out filled her room with the sound of lonesomeness, reminding her of her isolation and current place in the world.

She wasn't worried though.

She had her own plans set for the future that she was looking forward to completing.

It was all in the wrist, after all.

"_Unfortunately, he was not my ticket out of this place… not the right one anyway. I'll bide my time and see what other interesting things will happen,"_ she thought, catching the rock again and rolling it between her fingers. _"What to do… what to do…"_

Shrugging away her questions, she continued chucking the stone at the bars, continuing to pass the time left in her life sentence doing just this…

* * *

><p><strong>The following day…<strong>

What better way was there to cure the blues and sooth the pains of a rough week then another heavenly night at the local hot springs? It was one of the team's favorite past times as a group, something they had no hesitation in taking full advantage of. Once again on the return trip, as promised by their instructor, the entire squad of exhausted Genin and its Jonin bunked at the same establishment they had lounged at before on their first trip toward the _Land of Dusk_ and kicked back their feet.

It had been a great intermediary period; a relaxing bath, a good wash down, followed by a game of table tennis and dinner. The night's rest that came afterwards served its purpose well. It was then that very next morning the team continued its forward march for _Konohagakure_, where they would pass through the main gate and end their first, official, C-Rank mission. They had also served an additional A-Rank mission, one that Asuma was sure to cash in with the rest of the paperwork.

After a full hour of walking, at the end of which the team could finally see the giant wall surrounding their village closing in, the squad spent its last free moments outside of the ring of authority reflecting on some of the issues they had come across whist exploring the _Port of Dusk_. The most glaring memory came in the form of one of the documents the young team had pilfered from the Britannian camp that they had with great pleasure set alight in a brilliant firework display.

Shikamaru had the wanted poster currently in hand and was glaring down at the sketch of the individual that the westerners had come to this country in search for. Naruto and Hinata noticed the boy's intent stare as he analyzed the photo and decided to play along with him in his silent investigation.

"This is really perplexing," Shikamaru murmured, handing the sheet over to Naruto so that he could take a better look, "No insignia, no symbols… hell, not even a good enough profile picture to make any real connections. All we know is that this imbecile is a samurai…"

"But he definitely knows how to make a first impression," the blonde mumbled, turning the sheet over a couple of times out of habit, "What's his beef, anyway?"

Asuma plucked the paper out of their hands and held it up to his own eyes for inspection. Rolling the cigarette between his lips thoughtfully, the man made his own input on the mysterious individual, "I speculate that he's some poor sap who lost his honor as a warrior a long time ago and now wishes to redeem himself in a glorious battle of life and death… or by starting a war with the rest of the world."

"Well, thanks to us… we barely avoided one?" Shikamaru replied.

The Jonin groaned, "Geez, whatever happened to good old-fashioned seppuku?"

"Died out with the rest of the samurai, would be my guess," Shikamaru stated, slipping his hands back into his pockets carelessly. "There are still a few clans out there who continue to uphold the old ways of the warrior, especially in the _Land of Iron_. Their entire country is run and populated by samurai. Hell, the entire continent was once ruled by them. But once us shinobi came into the picture, their methods of winning battles and settling disputes started to fade away into memory. The wind and time hacked away at the great monolith that was their era till all that remained of it were some shallow images carved into stone."

"In other words… they're just old school now, right?" Naruto asked, trying to follow what his friend was saying, "Out of style?"

"The short version? Yes."

"Well… I bet there are still many more of them out there," the blonde commented with a bright smile. "Ran-chan is a samurai and she's _really_ out there in the world, so there's bound to be a lot of _her_ people roaming the countryside."

Hinata looked up at Asuma still studying the picture carefully, her gaze suggesting inquisitiveness, "W-Why do you say that the man lost his honor as a warrior, sensei? Is it something on the photo?"

The man scratched his chin, "It's just a theory, but the fact that he doesn't have his hair wrapped up in a top-knot or a ponytail tells me that he's either let it loose for the sake of some fashion craze or had it cut off for a serious offense committed in the past."

"Like an apprentice braid or something?" the Hyuuga asked again.

"Exactly. I learned way back that a samurai ponytail isn't just used to help support the helmets they wear into battle, but is also a symbol of social status and honor. A lot of the feudal lords and elders today still have their hair done up in these kinds of top knots, so it wouldn't surprise me if this guy had his hair tied up in the same way long ago. Still," he tilted his head even more at the picture, "There's something eerie about this whole thing, I just… can't figure out what…"

"He's just another bad guy, sensei!" Naruto exclaimed, kicking his feet up in his stride. "And like all bad guys, they need to be taught a lesson!"

"Heh," Shikamaru chuckled, "If only the world was that simple, Naruto."

The jinchuriki looked across with a more disheartened expression, "It can be if you want it to be. You just need to believe."

"Alright, I'll go along with you on that one," the other boy yawned. "Take things the way they are with as little resistance as possible. Go with the flow. Explore the path less traveled. Make your bed and sleep in it. All that stuff."

"Hey, that's a surprise," Naruto exclaimed while nudging his comrade in the side, "It's one of the first things we've ever agreed on."

"Oh. Yeah. You're right," Shikamaru laughed, returning the gesture. "See. Easy."

Hinata beamed, happy to see they were all so at ease with the coming end of their journey. Even Asuma spared them a second glance and a smile, folding up the paper in his hand and packing it into his pocket. He could review the issue of the unknown criminal later with the Hokage and the rest of the Konoha contingent. For now, the team needed to focus and brace themselves for the orchestra they were about to face, which would be coming up soon in the form of the East entrance to the village.

_Konohagakure_ was a figurehead in itself, so it wouldn't surprise any of them if they found a welcoming party waiting for them.

Sure enough, as soon as they were in sight of the large gate permitting access to travelers and alike, the entire team was immediately confronted by the familiar sight of the long-reaching shadows of the Hokage, his two advisors, their bodyguards, and surprisingly enough all of the rookie teams that had graduated from the academy along with Naruto, Shikamaru and Hinata. Drawing ever closer, the baffled jinchuriki also identified Tenten and bunch of other guys whom he quickly deduced to be her own squad, which had him do a double-take at the full turnout.

What was this, some kind of lynching? He sure hoped not. They'd had enough to deal with back at the _Port of Dusk_.

The team stopped a comfortable distance from the crowd, just meters out from the archway. Within seconds, the atmosphere became thick to the point that a person could choke on it. It transformed into a stand-off familiar between enemies, in spite of all participants there being friends. This didn't sit too well with the members of Team 10 of course, who already knew why they were getting this kind of a reception.

Collecting themselves as best as they could and forming an orderly line before the glare of the Hokage and those from the patiently waiting teams, Asuma then stepped forward with his hands at his sides. He looked the Hokage dead in the eyes, his father wrinkling his nose out of reflex.

"Welcome back, you four."

"It's good to be back," the Jonin nodded in greeting. The old man's frown deepened.

"I hope you have a damn good explanation for what went on over in the _Land of Dusk_, Asuma," Hiruzen breathed out, canceling out all other emotions save for the formalities. "Meddling in the affairs of another country, challenging a force sent from a nation across the seas AND putting yourselves and the rest of our world in danger? This is something I cannot overlook without good reason. The quality of your response will determine the judgment I shall pass on you and your squad." His eyes panned over Naruto and the others, all of whom stiffened at the sight of the elderly man singling them out. "Answer poorly, and I will have no choice but to reprimand you."

Everyone was stock straight and nervous. Hell, even the teams and their leaders that had dropped on by to see the squad's fateful return were sweating profoundly.

Asuma breathed in, sticking his chest out and readying himself to give his response.

However, just as he was beginning to utter the word 'Hokage', which would have predictably been followed by 'sama' or something or other, the man was unexpectedly interrupted by Naruto jumping in front of the firing squad. He stood before his instructor and the eyes of the Hokage and his associates, a move that surprised his team, the rookies and their squad leaders.

"It's my fault, Hokage-jiji," Naruto spoke up with a combination of directness and certainty.

A loud slap echoed out in the silence that followed, which notably came from Shikamaru slapping himself in the face from the way Naruto opened up his statement.

God damn if he knew how to speak to figures of high authority, which he didn't…

Now they were _all_ screwed!

However, the jinchuriki had no intention of letting it end there. Sticking his chest out and marching forward, the boy stood uncharacteristically at attention and looked the village leader dead in the eye. "Everything that happened over there at the ceremony was my doing. The others had nothing to do with it. The entire thing happened because of my agreement to a fight with Nai-kun… and…" He sighed in resignation, "Even I will admit it was a stupid call to make."

"N-Naruto-kun," Hinata whispered out in worry and admiration. She and Shikamaru stepped forward to back him up, but as soon as they got within reach of him they were stopped when they saw him wave back at them firmly. The jinchuriki's sudden turn to glare also had them stop in their tracks, which told them and Asuma that he wanted to deal with this himself.

Looking back, the boy reach up and untied his headband.

Both serious and firm, Naruto walked up to Hiruzen and held out his headwear to the elder, as if ready to drop it into his hand at his order. The Third however, had failed to bring his hands out from behind him, and just continued to stare down at the boy as he stood before him as the mastermind behind the whole incident. Well… not exactly mastermind, but the one who took the entire shinobi world's wellbeing upon his shoulders and challenged a whole other world across the seas. It definitely made an impact with all those watching, and astonished his friends at his admission…

"I'll take any punishment you have planned for my team. Don't blame them," Naruto finished, his glare fixed on the old man's, after which a deathly silence once again fell.

All those on the sidelines swore the almighty Third Hokage was about to drop the whole book on top of the boy's head. By how he'd responded to these kinds of infractions in the past with other shinobi and the way he looked now, anything was possible at this point; from a life-sentence in prison to public execution. Of course, both were a long way off for a Genin.

The worst thing that could happen to Naruto was that he had his shinobi title stripped from him right then and there, and he'd be barred from ever interfering in shinobi affairs again.

However, much to the shock of the council members Homura and Koharu, Kakashi, Kurenai, and everybody else there, the Third Hokage suddenly faked a cough and looked away. He cleared his throat as he turned his gaze to the tree line nearby, bewildering the focused crowd.

"I'm surprised, Naruto," the elder spoke while seeing the blonde visibly flinch at his words. "I never noticed how much you'd grown in these past few months…"

"Uhh… huh?" Naruto murmured 'intelligently'. Even Asuma and the others were dumbfounded.

Wiping the ridge under his nose with his finger, Hiruzen then looked back down at the youngster with a conflicted expression. It was a mix between disgruntled and awkward. "You may have stepped out of line on that day, accepting a challenge on behalf of a whole country so readily. But of all the moves that could have been played in that moment, when every single weapon in that square had been pointed across that thin line drawn in the sand, ready to fight a war that would have claimed the lives of thousands, you stood as a wall before the shinobi nations and the great flood… and held firm."

Naruto blinked in astonishment, a moment before the Hokage brought his hand up, rested it on his extended hand, and pushed his headband back toward him. The elder smiled.

"You did good…" Hiruzen exclaimed, nodding in praise to the boy before smiling gratifyingly up towards his team. "All of you."

"B-But, Hokage-sama," Koharu began to speak up, only to see Hiruzen lift his hand and stop them before they could mount a protest.

"Neither you or I was there, so do not try to argue against the decision I have passed. The only people who could possibly tell us what really transpired in Lady Kasumi's palace were those who were directly involved," the Third said, earning a withdrawn gaze from the woman and her companion. "Whether it was sheer luck or fate that prevented the flames of war from igniting I cannot say for certain. But the tension that had stood between the two completely separate worlds, now allies, has been skillfully unwound by the team of youngsters you see standing before you. They showed initiative, skill and strength worthy of a shinobi team, and should be praised for their efforts. So offer them your gratitude and allow them to reflect on whatever mistakes they may have made on a later date."

The council members relented and fell back into line. This left Team 10 air to breathe once again, with Naruto left staring up at the now smiling Kage gazing down at him in awe. The old man patted him on the head and chuckled at his bemused expression.

"You have one hell of a punch, Naruto-kun. Keep working on it," Hiruzen commented, lowering his hand back down and nodding at the headband in the boy's grip, "You can hang on to that for a little while longer. Just… try not to jump into something hair-raising like that again. Think it over a bit more carefully before taking action, and if you do that… I'm sure you'll make Chunin in no time." The old man winked.

Catching onto that last bit, Naruto's face lit up and he nodded enthusiastically. "Y-Yes… I will! Thank you, oji-san!" He immediately slipped his forehead protector back on, seconds before he was reunited with his teammates.

Shikamaru punched him good-humouredly in the arm, Hinata stood close and Asuma just ruffled his hair as he normally did. That was pretty much the signal telling everybody else that all was good and settled. Almost instantly, Naruto and his team were swamped by the rest of the rookies, where the Hyuuga was able to trade pleasantries with Shino and Kiba when they approached her, and the Nara shook hands with Choji after a long while since having last spoken with him.

The three straightened and separated when one of them was approached by a converging Team 7, with Sasuke at the front and the others gathering up behind him. The Jonin leaders gave them some space so that those in the same age group could convene comfortably without adults breathing down their necks. Heck, even the Hokage gave them a wide berth and decided to watch how things transpired for them from the sidelines.

"I saw you get your ass kicked on the television, Naruto," were the first words out of the Uchiha's mouth when the smug looking Genin stood before the blonde with his hands in his pockets. His greeting earned an immediate frown from the jinchuriki. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Naruto grinned cockily in a counter, "What… aside from the fact that I'm a lot stronger than I was before and that I picked up a couple more tricks on my trip? Nope. I'm afraid that's it."

"Positive?"

"Oh yeah." The blonde slammed his fist into his open palm, a gesture made double certain by his glare, "A hundred percent. Who knows, I might just surprise you if you're not too careful, dattebayo."

"Well, if you're so certain, then I take it you won't mind having a little spar with me over at your place to test drive your newly acquired abilities?" Sasuke asked, earning surprised glances from Sakura, Hinata, Shikamaru and a lot of the others standing nearby, "I'm sure you remember, don't you? You said to me back at the academy that if I was still interested in a month's time, I could find you and challenge you to a match." His hands clenched inside of his pockets as his smirk hardened, "It's high time I collect on that agreement."

Naruto looked back at him coolly. Just as he was gathering up his grin and the words to respond, Sasuke was suddenly nudged aside by Kiba stepping up to the plate. The boy's clawed fist was thrust right in front of the blonde's face, who lent away sharply at the unexpected abruptness of the motion.

"Don't forget about me!" Kiba snarled with a smug look. "I've still got my own score to settle with you. I had my name down on the list first anyway, so you can wait your turn, Sasuke."

The raven haired boy grunted indignantly at being pushed out of the spotlight, but maintained his composure in spite of the offense.

Things started getting much more interesting for those watching, Shikamaru and Hinata included, when all of a sudden Shino stepped up to join the pair facing the orange runt down. Still dressed in his usual attire consisting of a high collar jacket and shades, the bug user tipped his glasses further up his nose and nodded curtly to the Uzumaki.

"I believe I _too_ have a stake in this," the Aburame said in a monotone voice. "I wish to test my mettle against you, Naruto Uzumaki."

"Yeah?" Kiba exclaimed, elbowing the boy in the chest with a shove, "Well get in line. I'm first, Sasuke's second, and _you're_ third!"

"Shino too?" Sakura murmured questionably while pointing from one boy to the next. "Not only is puppy boy psyched to lock horns with him, but Mr. Quiet and Sasuke-kun? What's going on here?"

Ino shook her head while massaging her scalp, "Why is every guy formerly of our class determined to fight it out with Naruto all of a sudden? It makes no sense."

"Not me," Choji spoke up, pulling out a chocolate bar and peeling its wrapper open. "Unlike the rest of those guys, I'm aware of the danger that can come from butting heads with Naruto. Shikamaru knows it too." He nodded toward the usually passive Nara, where the two girls and the orange haired Akimichi saw the most perceptive of their group looking on with a bored expression on his face. "After seeing what he did to Kiba back at the academy, I'm pretty sure my buddy knows better than to start throwing punches at his teammate. It's the way he plays, after all."

"I can definitely agree with you there," Sakura sighed, seeing Naruto back away from Kiba and Shino as they started to bicker. It was three onto one, so the blonde was getting a little worried at the intensity of the argument starting the build between the strongest rookies, the issue of which being who got to fight him first. The pink haired kunoichi tilted her head at the spiky haired kid with whiskers, and smiled rather pleasantly when she drank in his new aura. "After seeing that fight his team got into on the television, I'm surprised that anyone would want to fight them now."

"He's gotten much stronger, that's for sure," Ino agreed with a smile of her own.

Choji hummed to himself while chewing on his candy-bar, _"And yet… this whole thing makes me wonder why everyone wants to have a piece of him when Naruto can clearly rip them to shreds with his bare hands."_ Things just made no sense.

The only logical explanation would have to be the usual 'alpha male pissing contest.' It was all about personal pride and who could hit the hardest with the fighting types. Naruto had had it out with pretty much all of them in the past, so it just made things even worse for him today. He'd been glaring and shouting at Sasuke since they met at the academy, had been a close 'delinquent' companion of Kiba's, and Shino probably felt some resentment for being disregarded by everybody else.

It just went to show that karma was a bitch and wanted nothing more than to have her way with the rest of the world.

Every rookie had some sort of bond or gripe with another person from the group. Crossing fists and chucking jutsu at one another in contest seemed like one of the only ways they were able to strengthen these bonds. It also supported the fact that conversation wasn't the one way two people could get to know each other. Their world was far from normal.

Only those with more common sense veered as far away from this kind of conflict as they possibly could. It was a black hole some wanted to avoid.

"It is not up to you on who decides the line-up," Shino retorted calmly as his and Kiba's argument drew into its closing stages. The boy's sunglasses flashed when he turned to the Inuzuka, "It is Naruto's decision as the center point for this disagreement."

"Whatever. It's not like him to back down from a challenge anyway," Kiba grinned, rounding on the jinchuriki staring between the three boys, "Am I right?"

"Sure, why not." The blonde shook his head exhaustedly, _"Damn… is this what being popular really feels like?"_ Naruto shrugged at the feeling before smiling agreeably. With so many familiar faces now crowding around him, it made him feel that much better about being himself, even if all their gathering was centered on a single purpose.

He was strong. The proof was in the quality of the substance stepping up to greet him in their characteristic manners.

"_I think I can roll with this. Looks like I'll be able to test myself to see how much further I've progressed."_

"It can't be helped," Naruto crossed his arms in resignation, counting the three with his eyes, "As long as you're all up to it, then I have no complaints with who gets to be my first opponent?" His attention then landed on Tenten.

The sight of the kunoichi standing right in front of him along with the other three boys had the boy in orange jump back in shock when he realized the girl in buns had actually joined the entourage of challengers on Shino's end. She smiled in his direction when he finally noticed her, which coaxed a double-take from the young shinobi before he was able to face the mob a lot more clearly.

"Yo!" Tenten smiled, waving at her friend.

"T-Tenten-chan… wha…?" Naruto looked from the boys and then to her. He then had both his hands drop to his sides when he realized what was happening now and grinned in amusement, "You too?"

"You know it!" Tenten stepped forward and jabbed out at him, only for the boy to catch her punch with his right. The thump that came from the impact had both of them smirk in response, with their eyes glancing down at the middle before meeting each other again along a direct line of sight. "If I recall correctly, I said to you that I was going to get my win back after you forfeited our last fight. I still think it was a pretty trivial admission of defeat."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because _I_ was using a sword and _you_ were using a broom. After it snapped in half, you were so afraid of hurting me with the broken ends that you forfeited on a technicality." The girl clicked her tongue and shook her head, "An offense like that simply can't go unpunished. It only makes sense that I have first dibs."

Just as Naruto was about to come up with some snappy come back to his close friends' challenge, one of the boys nearby decided to break up their little reunion by butting in face first.

He had good reason to protest.

"Hey!" Kiba shouted, stepping up to the kunoichi and poking her in the shoulder roughly. "I was the one who called him out first at the academy, so I've got priority! And who the hell are _you_?"

The girl flicked her bangs out of her face and smirked back at the barking Inuzuka, "I'm Tenten of _Team Gai_. What's it to you?"

Kiba ground his teeth angrily, "I've never seen you around the village before and that fact alone makes me suspicious." Akamaru's head popped out from his jacket. The young pup 'yipped' out in calling when the topic of 'scent' was thrown out onto the floor. Apparently he had his own little opinion to make, which his owner addressed with a pat to his head. "Not to mention you have no concept of patience or any idea of how things work around this group. Get in line like the rest of us."

Things started getting frisky. The Jonin felt it as well as those not trying to get involved as Tenten, Kiba, Shino and Sasuke formed a circle around the jinchuriki, with the former two turning to face each other down.

"You talk big, buddy. Why don't you save that energy for _your_ turn," the kunoichi shot back, before glancing at the Uzumaki and dropping her hand onto his shoulder. "My last fight with Naruto-chan was limited to an incredibly small space. I want this next one to be no-holds-barred in open field!"

"That makes two of us," Kiba smirked, cracking his neck, "But you're just gonna have to wait for your shot. It's like I said; _I'm_ the opening act!"

"Like hell you are," Tenten exclaimed, stepping closer to Naruto before wrapping her arms around his right. The jinchuriki jumped when he felt the girl hug his limb tightly to her and looked over to see the kunoichi leaning into him, all the while smirking across at the boys in front of them. "You want him? If so, then you guys are just going to have to wait." She stuck her tongue out at the Inuzuka. "As a lady, I believe it's customary that I have him first."

Unfortunately, her message didn't exactly get across the way she intended since all the boys in the circle were more than a bit surprised at her incredibly 'direct attack' on Naruto. This went double for the girls standing around.

Tenten just latched onto Naruto, which instantaneously set off a cluster of alarm bells. The Jonin chose not to say a word for their benefit and merely stared across at the pair huddled up against each other, one grinning and one looking a little bit thunderstruck. Hinata, still hanging back on the sidelines, had started spluttering under her breath the moment she saw _her_ Naruto suddenly get pulled into an affectionate arm embrace by a girl she'd never even met.

Shikamaru blinked, "Oh boy…"

Kiba leaned back a little in surprise, muttering an audible 'oh' before a snide grin suddenly formed across his face. He then moved forward swiftly and nudged the bewildered Naruto in the chest a few times. His egging gestures struck an unpleasant chord with the jinchuriki after a few, who pushed away his elbow in an effort to quell the teen's annoyance. "So it's like _that_ with you guys, huh?"

"What? What's 'like that'?" Naruto looked about at the bewildered looks on his companions' faces. He glanced next at Tenten to see her looking just as confused as he was, before turning toward his team inquisitively. "Hey? What do they mean 'like that'?"

Shikamaru yawned and turned away. No way was he touching this concoction. "Sorry pal. This is _your_ fight; not ours."

"Aww… come on!" the jinchuriki groaned, still shouldering the girl stuck to him, "Whatever happened to _teamwork_ and _well-oiled-machine_?"

"I'm afraid that stuff isn't going to help you out of this mess, kiddo," Asuma exclaimed, looking away just as Shikamaru had and biting down on the end of his cigarette. Hinata meanwhile, continued to remain quiet while staring back at the blonde haired boy with a very nerve-rattled expression befitting her character. "There are just some things you need to work out for yourself in this life. Managing your interests is one of them."

"_Dammit, come on! What the hell are they all talking about?"_ Naruto groaned in his head. _"Life is so much simpler if you don't speak while your mouth is covered."_

After she was done looking around puzzled and wordlessly asking questions that just weren't being answered since everybody else had withdrawn to the shadows, Tenten then grinned at the jinchuriki and hugged his arm even tighter. "What? I just said I had first dibs? What's wrong with that?"

Everybody seemed to have a problem with it… or were at least thinking about something else.

Naruto shrugged, "Don't know. Nothing I guess…"

Luckily their skills at reading between the lines were exactly the same… _zero_. Sakura and Ino stared at them, their inner selves shaking their heads at the entire scenario.

"_Are they seriously that dense?"_ the girl with pink hair thought.

"_Apparently they both originated from the same dimension…" _the blonde followed up, the pair noiselessly agreeing along the same track of thought.

Tenten wrapped an arm around her prize and gave him the thumbs-up. It was just when she was about to continue on with arrangements for a rematch with her willing quarry when all of a sudden the pair were set upon by a green blur that unexpectedly jumped right out in front of them. Startled, the pair leapt back when some kid with eyebrows the size of biscuits appeared right before them and began sparkling like morning dew.

"YOSH! Such beautiful companionship! Such energy! Such rivalry! Please, allow me to take part in this competition to reinvigorate my flames of youth!"

Shocked, Naruto looked over at an equally bewildered Tenten and pointed at the boy in tights. "Uhh… Do you know him?"

A sour face suddenly wiped across the kunoichi, "Yup. This bundle of energy wearing green spandex would be my teammate," Tenten answered. She then gestured toward the energetic boy, "Naruto, meet Rock Lee. Rock Lee, Naruto. Flesh and all. I believe I told you about him?"

"Oh yeah, that's right! SWEET!" Slamming his fist on top of his palm in a clear expression of 'eureka', Naruto then grinned back at the boy with round eyes and the glowing personality with equal enthusiasm laced into his expression. For some reason he felt a whole lot better, and all issues concerning everybody's strange beef with him and Tenten sank back into the abyss; forgotten for the time being. "So you're the taijutsu specialist I've been hearing so much about? You're a lot taller than I thought you were going to be…"

Rock Lee gasped and pointed at himself, "Y-You've heard of me?"

"Yes. From Ten-chan," Naruto said, taking his hand and shaking it firmly, "She told me you were good at fighting and using taijutsu. It's so awesome to finally meet you!" The kunoichi standing by shook her head in amusement, whereas everybody else either looked concerned for the mental health of everyone here or bewildered.

Upon touching gloves with the jinchuriki the most noteworthy member of Team Gai suddenly felt like leaping with joy.

Grin spreading from ear to ear, Lee bowed to the Genin with whiskers with exclamations of excitement ringing out in full volume and exuberance. "I'm also honored! Nice to meet you." Bolting up ramrod straight, the bushy browed teen flashed the kid in orange a thumbs-up with an ethereal glow radiating down upon him from above. "I saw you fight on the big screen back home. It was marvelous! Simply amazing! You were fantastic, my sun-haired-friend."

"Please… call me Naruto," the jinchuriki replied delightfully, "And thank you. I've been working real hard."

"Oh, a compatriot in passion! I've finally found a rival I can test my full strength against!" Lee exclaimed, suddenly wheeling about and grinning towards his instructor.

The entire young body of Team 10 discovered, much to their shock, a person who appeared to be not only the spitting image of the boy communicating with Naruto, but someone who appeared to be the thirty year old version of the boy communicating with Naruto. Weird, right?

Needless to say, it was quite a wakeup call.

"Gai-sensei, there really is another in this village who works just as hard as me! I can feel it in his hands! He radiates with magnificence and splendor, just like he did back when he was clashing fists with that other youthful warrior from over the horizon!"

"That's great, Lee! A most worthy opponent for you I am sure!" the Jonin spoke up, his grin flashing under the sun. The other teachers standing beside him leaned away when he too started to sparkle.

Brilliant… he was exactly like Lee, William, and Vincent when he's loaded up on coffee, and Meow. The latter was to an extent of course, which kind of made Naruto worry about the fabric of reality.

"Shine on, my brilliant student! Do not lose sight of this opportunity."

Kakashi sighed, _"Boisterous… as usual…"_

"Right!" Rock Lee rounded back on the blonde, astonishing the youngster at his almost spontaneous movements, "I would like to fight you too, Naruto-kun! You and me! Man to man! Shinobi to shinobi! It will do me great honor to battle with a person as powerful as you!"

His shouting had Naruto reeling, but the jinchuriki was able to recover from the shock quickly and grin back at the bushy-browed teenager. "I would like that very mu-"

"Hey pal!" Kiba shouted, shoving the second new guy in the shoulder and jabbing a thumb into his own chest. "Don't butt in! Weren't you listening to anything we were just saying? We've practically been shouting about who gets to fight the brat first for the past ten minutes!"

"And what a splendid twist in time this is," Lee exclaimed, also turning to the boy with a cheerful smile, "To think that we would all gather with the same purpose in mind."

"Don't look too into it. It's just purely _business_ between us and him; a matter of pride and a leveling of the playing field. We each have to take turns."

"Very well," Lee saluted obediently, yet managed to keep the fire burning in his eyes, "I shall wait for mine then!"

"The brunette has first priority to the fight, then Kiba, me… and Shino here," Sasuke groaned under his breath, massaging his scalp. _"This whole thing is giving me a headache."_

He may have gotten the order mixed up. How hard was it to get a fight with Naruto, the resident clown, ball of energy and noisemaker? Nobody had any problems like this a year ago? In fact… the Uchiha was pretty sure the situations were reversed back then.

While the group started bickering again, on the sidelines where Lee's teacher had lined up along with Kakashi and Kurenai, Tenten's other teammate with the gruff expression, beige outfit and brown hair was also glaring across at the blonde haired shinobi practically getting surrounded by fans from all walks of life. He looked both impatient and irritated, with a brow furrowing even more so as he set the jinchuriki in his sights.

His thoughts on the issue at hand and in regards to the Genin were entirely his alone to deal with. But the cold was all too evident.

"So… your place, right?" Kiba asked Naruto suddenly in order to ensure that the location for the showdown was correct.

This earned an immediate head nod from the jinchuriki, "Where else? I was going to head on home to change anyway."

"Okay then… it's settled. Let's get this show on the road!"

"Oh no you don't!" a girl's voice suddenly rang out, the shout reaching all ears and startling everyone standing under the shadow of the village's gate, "Stop right there!"

Easily tracing the voice back to its source, the scattered teams and company all turned around to the path Team 10 had walked down. The moment they did so, they all saw a cloud of dust slide to a halt several meters away and drift up into the air, revealing a person with short green hair and wearing white standing in a finishing pose right on the spot where she had grounded her feet into. The dust lifted, allowing the numerous confused faces of every person standing in the area to look back at the newcomer and make out every little detail of them.

With some sort of red thing slung onto her back, the newly arrived kunoichi rose from her epic finisher to face the crowd with a glare and a grin. She flipped her bangs over in a carefree head flick when she turned to face the center of the conflict, sweat from her run sparkling in the air, "You'd better make room at the front of that list for the first challenger, ladies and gentleman," the young girl exclaimed, "Because _**I'm**_ fighting that man first!"

She then held up a folded up letter in her left hand with _Challenge Notice_ stamped clear across it. It was drawn rather crudely, suggesting she'd written the note whilst on the flight over.

"Oh, great," Shikamaru groaned, rubbing his forehead and leaning his head back, "We've got another one? Seriously?"

"Just exactly how many people want to fight Naruto today?" Sakura asked to no one in particular. This whole day was becoming incredibly crowded to the point of asphyxiation. What kind of a messed up turnout was this?

"Just one!" Fu spoke up again before beginning her stride forward. Yes, she was out of breath from her sprint across the country and sweating a bit, but she was still fired up and raring to go. As per her character, she was completely unfazed by the number of people now staring at her, including her stunted would-be-opponent. "We only have time for a single event, so if it isn't too much trouble with the rest of you, I'd like the other names on that sheet to be postponed for another time."

Homura, standing behind the pokerfaced Hokage also staring at the girl, leaned in to pass on information he was probably missing out on. "That is Fu of _Takigakure_: student of the waterfall village leader and squad member to the Kage's son, Shibuki. We received a message from one of their hawks that she would be dropping by for a surprise visit."

"The letter also mentioned that she was in a big hurry," Koharu whispered, watching as the stranger stopped dead in front of Naruto when the kids in front of him parted slightly to make room for her, "Apparently, the young upstart left the safety of her home immediately after the signing ceremony had ended in order to meet with the boy she saw fighting in the tournament segment."

The Third nodded, "I see…"

It was glaringly obvious why she was here…

The object, the being, and the very trophy she had run all this way here for was standing right in front of her. Without a moment's hesitation or question the green haired kunoichi deposited the letter she was carrying into the boy's surprised hand and pushed it back into his chest. Naruto took a moment to look the covers over, as did everybody else crowding around him, particularly those submitting their interests in fighting said individual.

"Uhh… what exactly is this?" Naruto asked, waving the piece of paper.

"What?" Fu giggled, placing her hands on her hips and coming to stand clearly in front of the youngster a comfortable distance away, "You should know. Aren't you familiar with how exams and private competitions are organized between shinobi villages?"

"I may have overlooked the fine print on that one," the blonde replied with a lop-sided grin. This was the first time this'd happened to him, not to mention he had no idea who the hell this person was. "C-Could you help me out?"

"Sure, no problem," Fu replied, brushing her hair aside. "It is customary for people in competition to write an official notice sighting that they've agreed to the contest's terms and agreements. By extension, it can also function as an invitation…"

"An invitation to what, exactly?" the blonde asked.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and tapped Naruto's shoulder, getting his attention, "To a fight, dobe. What else?" Normally the raven haired teen didn't express his impatience physically, let alone vocally. However, this whole round-a-bout, seven-way discussion was starting to get on his nerves, particularly since a request to a duel was going into overtime.

Naruto looked at the words written on the front and tilted his head at the words, "Oh… right. It says so here." Breathing out a sigh, the blonde Genin then looked back at the girl waiting eagerly in front of him. She had her hands in front of her and was bouncing on her toes with a sunny smile on her face. He noticed her headband wrapped around her arm and blinked, taking note of the symbol, "You're from _Takigakure_?"

"That's right!" the kunoichi exclaimed while jamming a thumb into her chest, "The name's Fu! And you're Naruto I take it?"

"Yes but… how did you know my name?"

"Great!" Fu cheered, ignoring his question and breathing a sigh of relief. "I'm glad I caught the right man then!" Pointing at the youngster, she stepped a little closer to him, "I saw your fight on the broadcast from _Dusk_! It was breathtaking."

"R-Really?" Naruto chuckled, rubbing the back of his head with a bit of a blush. "Well I… I don't normally get complimented for beating up on people but… thanks?"

"Don't mention it," the girl replied while leaning forward, "I love guys who know how to throw punches and kicks properly. It means that they can pull their weight around the place and push back when the world starts to get rough on them."

"Well… shit happens, I guess. Things just seem to work out better if you're able to throw your opponent's weight back at them and not get hit yourself. It's also funny to see them when they stumble."

"Damn straight," Fu exclaimed, tilting her head at the boy in orange. She sniffed the air, looking the youngster from bottom to top while he continued to stand where he was still clutching her letter. She then leaned in with a more thoughtful look and took in his face, "You know; you looked a lot taller on the television screen. But I guess it makes sense that you're this short, being light footed and all that. It's good for a shinobi. You're choice of clothing is also questionable for someone with your skill set."

"Huh? H-Hey… wha-!"

"But you're cuter than I thought you were going to be as well," Fu said with an admirable smile, staring the boy in the eyes with a captivated expression. "You're not that hard to look at either, so I guess those two things balance each other out."

At that comment, people started to respond a little more appropriately to their conversation and took that much more of an interest in the scene. Asuma nearly swallowed his cigarette when he heard what the girl said about his student. The Hokage had to catch his pipe from falling, Kakashi and Gai stood flabbergasted with jaws dropping, Kurenai looked mildly surprised, and all the other kids had a mix of shock, disbelief, and unease between them.

"Oh, brother," Kiba groaned, rubbing his nose annoyingly and tapping Shino in the chest. The boy in glasses looked at him when the Inuzuka gestured toward the embarrassed blonde and his admirer/challenger. "Can you believe this guy? He's got girls coming to him even from other villages."

"It must be his shining personality," the bug boy suggested. "That or he's wearing new cologne."

"That's laughable. I've seen people with cleaner slates end up in a dog kennel faster than him, but this idiot seems to be climbing with no signs of stopping." The feral boy huffed and shoved his hands away, at the same time glowering at the communing pair. "Geez, what's with this world? I just want to fight the brat, beat his ass and be done with it. Why am I watching this character development crap?"

"Well…" Shino nodded with directness, "Looks like we'll have to wait a little bit longer for that opportunity."

"Tsk. It seems that way…"

Tenten, who had been listening in to the pair talking closely, looked back at Naruto with a very anxious glow in her expression. She rubbed her hands together nervously, not out of concern for the boy's wellbeing due to him communing with a shinobi from another village. Oh no. It was something more bothersome then that.

It was something so poignant that it literally made her heart sink, her body shake, and her spirit quiver. She looked toward her friend with all these feelings of apprehension flooding through her, yet she didn't know why or what she was feeling.

Did it have something to do with the new girl complimenting him… getting close to him?

"You throw a proper good punch, Naruto-kun," Fu grinned, holding up her left fist and sending a feint hook at his face, which he dodged out of reflex, "That's a good arm you've got there. I could tell just from watching you on the TV that your speed, strength, timing, and technique are all perfect. What you did back in _Dusk_ was amazing."

"Th-Thanks," Naruto chuckled again, now feeling even more embarrassed. "I was _kind o_f fighting for my life… so I don't have any excuses for getting beaten on so much and fighting as sloppy as I did at the beginning. Nai-kun was _really_ strong."

"Well, if that's the case, I only hope that I can measure up," Fu said, nodding to the letter in his hand. "I want to have a shot at you too and see what you're made of."

Naruto took that time to open the letter and take a glance at what was written on it. As he expected, the hand writing was all poor, since he figured the girl had jotted all of this down while running. Nevertheless, he was able to clearly make out all the formalities and nonsense, which all led to the one end. At the very beginning the purpose of this document was immediately addressed, clearly stating, _'The shinobi from the Village Hidden in the Waterfall Fu challenges you to a one-on-one bout.'_

Then there was that other stuff saying, 'we thank you for taking this challenge into consideration' and 'have a nice day'… such and such.

Raising an eyebrow, Naruto looked back up at the girl still gazing patiently at him, "So… you came all this way from your village to challenge me to a duel?"

Fu extended a hand to him, "An honor I hope you will grant me while I'm here, Naruto-kun."

Drawn to the gesture, the boy hesitated for a moment. However, after moving between both her pleasant smile and her kind official greeting, the jinchuriki was quick to arrive to a decision and acted upon it. What the hell? There was nothing wrong with making a lot of other friends outside of your home village, and you earn points for being polite. I mean, it wasn't like _his_ world was completely closed off.

A friendly match with another village's shinobi would be a great change of pace for him.

Returning her smile, the boy reached out and took her hand in his.

However, the moment his hand made contact with hers Fu's eyes shot wide open and her hand flew out of his in a heartbeat. The girl staggered back in shock, her breathing suddenly coming out in rapid pants and her heart hammering away at her chest. Her action had Naruto and his friends look at her in utter bewilderment.

It was almost like an electric shock had run through her system; the response to making contact with him had been _that_ potent. Managing to shake off the numbness though, Fu looked down at her palm to make sure it was okay.

After seeing that it wasn't burnt or anything, she then realized that it was no physical reaction that had caused her to recoil back in alarm. No, it was something else entirely…

"_This feeling… I know it…"_ Fu thought, looking up at the jinchuriki to see him glancing down at his own hand in confusion. It didn't take her long to figure out exactly what the sensation had been and where she'd felt it before. And so, putting two and two together, the kunoichi was eventually able to figure out exactly what it had been and who this boy really was.

She didn't know this from watching his fight, but now that she was able to shake hands with him everything finally made sense to her.

"_He… He's… a jinchuriki as well?"_

Just as everyone was starting to scratch heads at the unexpected phenomenon and began wallowing about in a river of questions, Fu decided to break the awkward silence and approached the boy once more. This time however, instead of withdrawing in horror, she took his still raised hand in hers and held him to her tightly. She also stepped in close, so close that it not only had Tenten's hair on the back of her neck stand on end but it had Hinata visibly bristle as well. Shikamaru jumped a little when he felt a sudden cold breeze drift over him from the kunoichi standing to his left, which had the Nara step a little further back from the eye of the storm beginning to form.

Naruto and Fu stood at the center of it.

"You're one of them, aren't you?" the girl asked with a grin, her eyes sparkling.

"Huh? One of what?" Naruto blinked.

The girl let out a laugh and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, pulling her head next to his so that they butted. From the guys' point of view, it looked as though the two of them had suddenly become the best of buds, but from the girls' point of view… well…

Let's just say Tenten and Hinata were now glowering with flushed cheeks and clenched fists.

"_**That girl…"**_ they both thought irritably.

"You and me, Naruto-kun," Fu exclaimed, wrapping her other around him and hanging off of his shoulders like a second bag, "We're going to have a whole lot of fun together. I know it."

Asuma, scratching his head, breathed out a sigh as he looked between Naruto and the girls now glaring at the pair nearby. You didn't need a degree to figure out what was going on between them, but the other kids did.

"_Oh dear…"_

OOO

**An hour later…**

**Naruto's home…**

The blonde haired jinchuriki groaned as he leaned against the entrance of his own house, glancing disagreeably over his shoulder at the crowd of shinobi that had followed him here. Though he was grateful that the Hokage, his staff and the Jonin had decided to head up to the office to make their reports and what not, unfortunately he still found his shadow trailed by the Genin that had met up with him and his team at the front gates. Among them included Fu, who was permitted entry into the village by Hiruzen himself after the situation was explained to him.

Obviously, nobody saw the harm of the kunoichi popping in to hang out with the blonde haired prankster, I mean…

What kind of trouble could the two of them get into anyway?

Speaking of which, Fu was currently standing behind the boy patiently, looking over his lovely home in the rice fields and making notes of its splendid architecture. Right behind her stood Shikamaru and Hinata, with Tenten and Lee standing right behind them, the former of which was currently staring with annoyance up at the new girl with green hair. The rest of the teams stood comfortably on the footpath leading up to the home, all of those who had patience using it and those with cold personality disorders acting their usual selves, and standing away from the masses.

Naruto's eye twitched when he saw the pleasant gazes from his companions closest looking back at him, "You know… not all of you had to tag along…"

"Yes we did," Tenten said firmly, folding her arms.

"We're all friends here," Choji spoke up from the back.

"YES! WE'RE ALL COMPANIONS UNDER THE SAME BANNER!" Lee shouted, standing bolt upright with his characteristic salute pointed skywards. "It only makes sense that we keep you company, Naruto-kun, especially after watching you go through such a trying period. We need to make sure you get home safe and sound!"

"Not to mention we were all curious as to where you now live after hearing about what happened to your apartment," Shikamaru exclaimed, looking up at the house with an impressed nod. "Not bad. I figured you'd be hiding out in a place like this. It suits you."

"What? Because I make everyone's lives miserable back in the residential districts?" Naruto asked with an agitated crinkle in his nose.

"Damn right!" Kiba yelled suddenly, pointing up at the blonde leaning against the door, "I still remember that fungal infection you bastard! Not to mention that fucking flea circus you positioned in the middle of our damn compound, complete with orchestra and trapeze!"

"Wait… that was your doing, Naruto?" Ino asked, at first looking taken aback before suddenly looking thoroughly amused. "Oh, now that was a good one."

Sakura also giggled when she remembered the day that Kiba came into school covered in gauze and what every person in the world knew as a flea collar wrapped securely around his neck. The fact that Akamaru wore one as well made the whole scene even more hilarious. In fact, the memory was so recognized it had both the pinkette and her blonde haired companion bowling over with laughter, with Sasuke snorting under his breath.

Their chorus of cheerful chortles resulted in Kiba looking more irritated, the grinding of his teeth filling the air.

"Ooh, I'm so going to get you for that," the Inuzuka hissed up at the jinchuriki, who was still looking exhausted at the high number of his company.

"Whatever," the blonde muttered and turned around to knock on the door, knowing that either Yim or Ran would open it up for him. However, realizing he had the key himself he quickly dismissed that task and fumbled about his pocket for it, "Come on… where is it?"

Fu murmured approvingly as she looked the porch over, hands on her hips and eyes gleaming, "So… this is the home of Naruto Uzumaki; the strongest Genin in the elemental nations? I must say, it is a fine nest."

"Hmph, strongest?" Sasuke murmured questionably when his ears picked up on her comment.

"I beg to differ," Neji also spoke up with a disapproving scowl, perhaps the first thing he'd said all day. Apparently Shikamaru and Hinata heard him, both of them looking back at the stoic Genin a little bit worryingly.

Why did they get the feeling that he also had a score to settle with Naruto, even when he only met him today?

Anyway, just as the jinchuriki was prepared to start rummaging through his backpack, he was suddenly interrupted from his task by the sound of music coming from his backyard just around the corner. He identified the source of the disturbance as his radio, prompting him to quickly disengage from his search for the keys to his home and go off to investigate. It would be some time before everyone realized he'd gone around the side of the house and followed suit.

The noise became clearer once everyone made it around to the back, where they saw Naruto's house guest Yim Wing-chun sitting on the porch drinking tea and playing shogi with Ran, both of whom were watching another girl out on the lawn. Most of those in the group had no idea who the third one was, as all they saw was a person around their age with long, raven black hair tied into a high ponytail, wearing grey pants, blue sandals, and a dark green midriff V-neck top, shadow sparring on the spot.

She had a radio playing music nearby and seemed to be dancing to the rhythm, when she was in fact _sparring_ to the rhythm.

Naruto smiled when he recognized Kin training, the girl having followed up on his helping hand and words from earlier that month about practice. Apparently Meow and the others had also been aiding her in establishing a good fighting form for herself, which the jinchuriki noted to have changed rather drastically since he last saw her.

She was using a style and rhythm he'd never seen before.

"Oh, Naruto-kun! You're back!" Yim exclaimed, waving when she spotted the boy and his friends standing at the far side of the yard. "How was your trip? Did everything go alright?"

"Hey, Yim-chan! Everything went great!" Naruto replied, rushing over to meet with her and Ran to give them a proper hello. When he came in close though, he backtracked suddenly when events from earlier suddenly came flying right past his face. "Wait… didn't you watch the broadcast?"

"We sure did," Ran answered from her spot, shuffling one of her shogi pieces forward before smiling in her student's direction when he stopped beside them, "You did well for your first life and death fight outside of the village, especially against a Muay Thai practitioner. Well done."

"We saw the whole thing," Yim stated. "Your opponent was a brawler and a hardcore in-fighter: a very difficult person for anyone to bring down. You especially, since he was physically stronger than you and hit harder than any opponent you're bound to come across."

Naruto plopped his bag down on the porch, "So I noticed."

"You handled yourself brilliantly against his corkscrew punch and his feints in the second half, and used what you were taught to turn the tables well. But this is just from my point of view. How do you think _you_ went, Naruto-kun?"

The blonde sighed and rubbed the back of his head, "Well, after I fought with him, I could see that I have a whole lot more to learn if I'm going to make it as a taijutsu user and a shinobi in this world. The guy tore through me like I was nothing, so I know now that I need to up my physical strength and power if things are going to get rough for me in the future. My counters weren't working on him at all until I loosened his defenses… and he had a technique that could prevent attacks and returns from the outside. I was forced to take him on head to head, which ended with me nearly getting beaten to a bloody pulp."

Yim's smile faded slightly and she nodded toward him, "A _Bloody Cross_ anti-counter. It's something you don't see very often in martial arts because people only think of a one-way return shot in a head-to-head fight. It just showed you that _that_ boy was incredibly intelligent and versatile for a flat-footed kick boxer, but you were able to hold it together well. Though I admit I was a little bit scared when I saw you get knocked down after that anti-counter, you did well in getting back up." Breathing out a sigh, the woman smiled at him when the boy began rubbing his neck uneasily. "We'll work on improving your power tomorrow. For now… you can rest."

"Thanks, Yim-chan," Naruto smiled. He then noticed the two women were looking over his shoulder. Remembering that he had company, the jinchuriki grinned and turned away so that there was more viewing room, and gestured to the groups of kids standing off to the side, looking over at them curiously. "I don't think you've met any of these guys. They're my classmates and friends…"

The blonde waved the entourage over, spending the next few minutes afterwards introducing everyone while Kin continued training with her back turned to them. The raven haired girl obviously didn't even realize the home owner had returned.

This gave Naruto plenty of time to make his connections.

The first people the jinchuriki wanted his teachers to meet were, of course, his teammates and longest running comrades thus far. Shikamaru and Hinata shook hands with the two masters, both of whom were incredibly pleased at finally being able to meet Naruto's most renowned companions. Both sides expressed their delight at meeting each other, with the elders praising the youngsters for their own battles. They had practically been the headlines that made the broadcast the biggest thing since the creation of jutsu, with three of the four contestants that had won standing in their presence. It made the two travelers more than a little bit pleased to make their acquaintances.

As usual, Hinata blushed and stammered with much gratitude to be sputtered, whereas Shikamaru smiled pleasantly and tried to shrug their congratulations off by calling things 'troublesome.'

After that, Naruto introduced Tenten and Lee, with the latter expressing great enthusiasm in acquainting himself with his rival's life. Though the former had been friendly and polite in her approach, her teammate was both delightful and in-your-face, which sort of mortified Ran at the revelation that there was a third person out there exactly like Meow. Sakura, Ino and Choji were next, followed by Kiba, Shino, and then a reluctant Sasuke and Neji, both of whom said barely a word but nevertheless nodded curtly so as to not appear rude.

While everyone made their impressions with the grand masters and full-time travelers, Naruto took his time in making his way over to where Kin was. It was the ruckus that everyone had started together that distracted the kunoichi from her session, causing her to turn around sharply upon losing her timing and glare to see what was going on. She got quite a start when she came face to face with the blonde haired boy that had so kindly offered a place for her in his home.

"Hey Kin-chan! Working hard?"

"Holy-!" Kin jumped back in shock, taking a defensive fighting stance with her face heating up a bit at the sight of him. "N-N-Naruto?! You're back?"

The blonde looked down at his body, padding his chest a few times before grinning, "Apparently. I take it Yim-chan and the others are training you hard?"

"Y-Yeah…" On that note, the kunoichi took a glance down at her own attire. The music was still playing, she was sweating, and she was also wearing quite a tight top. It was a new look she had adorned specifically for practicing, but for some reason the exposure she unexpectedly found herself in had her cross her arms over her front and turn way from the boy in a eye bat the moment she fully realized his presence. "What the hell?! You should have told us you were coming home! The least you could have done was mail us!"

"What? It was just a two day trip. Wouldn't that have been kind of bothersome organizing a hawk to fly out a letter at the end of such a short assignment?"

"You were gone for at least two weeks!"

Naruto shrugged, "A mission is a mission. You can't blame us if things suddenly go into overtime." He gazed at her kindly, his piercing stare causing the girl's face to blush more and have her turn away coyly, "The least I can do is apologize for dropping in so unexpectedly. Sorry about that."

"Uhh… t-that's okay," the raven haired girl murmured, brushing a few stray locks of hair behind her ear before turning back around. She traded a few very furtive glances with the boy, but continued to look away under his intense gaze. Though it didn't appear as something unusual to the blonde from the get go, since he'd been hanging out with Hinata an awful lot, something must have happened over his time of absence from the village that was making Kin act the way she was.

She was twitching and shuffling on the spot like his teammate did, but at least she still had that aggressive bite in her words Naruto knew her well for and could easily identify her in a crowd.

Rolling her shoulders, Kin looked up at the jinchuriki with a small smile, "Umm… w-what did you think?"

"Hmm?"

"About my fighting style, did you like it?" Kin asked, looking the boy in the eye and drawing in air, "I've been training really hard since you left. Since it's been so boring around here without you, I had to distract myself with something constructive."

"Oh yeah?" Naruto grinned, nodding his head affirmatively, "Well… I think it's great… your fighting style I mean. You were pacing on the spot and leaping in time to the music, right; to get the rhythm into your footwork, flourishes and follow-throughs?"

Kin gazed at the boy happily when he was able to work out her exercise on his own and nodded her head quickly. "Meow has been teaching me _Duan Quan_. She's been a terrific help, despite how scary she can be." The girl breathed out, "Damn… her training is harsh as hell."

"Tell me about it."

The girl leapt towards him, smiling even wider with peach red in her cheeks and her eyes glistening. "Do you think we can train together later on, Naruto-ku-… I-I mean…" Kin backed up a little and cleared her throat, giving the boy a cockier smirk and a steely look, with her fists clenched and placed on her hips. "If you aren't too busy, I would like to get some training in alongside you. You know… on the days that you're free."

"That would be awesome," Naruto grinned, pumping a fist, "I've always wanted a training partner in my lessons."

"Well, it's your lucky day, pal," Kin said firmly and moved even closer so that she came within a foot of him. Anyone could easily see the eagerness and affection in her eyes when she locked her stare with his, "Because you've got me."

Naruto smiled, _"Wow… people really do change when you leave town for a while. What exactly has Meow, Ran and Yim-chan been doing with Kin? She's so cool now…"_

More than cool, which he would later find out when his arm was suddenly grabbed by Fu latching onto him excitedly. The girl glomped him at the opportunity presented and beamed at the raven haired girl he was speaking with, "So who's this, Naruto-kun? A neighbor? Your sister? A fellow training companion?"

"Hey! Don't jump on me whenever you feel like it! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Naruto shouted, having not expected to be ambushed.

"Sorry," the girl giggled, sticking her tongue out at him, "It's a habit. I'm a people person."

"No kidding. Geez…"

"What? Am I making you uncomfortable?" the girl asked teasingly, pressing her chest further into him.

Feeling the telltale signs of future trouble for him, a chill ran up Naruto's spine before his cheeks suddenly flushed bright red when the sensation reached his face, "YES! YOU ARE! GET OFF!"

Kin blinked in shock when she was suddenly confronted by what she first thought was a creature from another planet. After a few moments of thought gathering though, the stranger turned out to be another girl, which had the raven haired kunoichi glare enviously as she watched the newbie snuggle up against the baffled blonde. This did not sit well with the former Sound Nin.

Glaring at the girl with shockingly orange eyes now hugging the boy's arm WAY too affectionately for her liking, Kin glared across at the blonde stammering all sorts of nonsense, "Naruto… who the hell is this?"

Sputtering, the boy waved a hand in front of him defensively before pointing at the persistent Taki Genin, "Th-This is Fu… a visitor from out of town."

Withdrawing a little, Kin started to feel even more negativity fill her up as she looked the stranger up and down. Though she didn't know why exactly, but she suddenly viewed this person as dangerous competition to her. She did after all have really nice skin, a pretty face and a good build, which immediately set off alarm bells inside the former Sound Nin's head. This, in turn, activated her defensive genes, which kicked in decisively.

"Well, what is a _visitor_ from out of town doing here?"

"Visiting of course," Fu answered, dragging Naruto in a full circle while still latched onto him, making him stumble. "I saw this boy fight on the big screen and I expressed an immediate interest in him."

"Really?"

"Yes."

Kin glared at the boy in response to the answer, which earned her a fearful expression from him and a nervous grin, "I hope you don't intend to add another addition to the household. It's crowded enough as it is."

"Well," Naruto chuckled and scratched his head thoughtfully, "It's a pretty big place. I'm sure I could squeeze in a few more people… maybe even five whole teams if we make good use of the living room. I'd just need to find some extra sleeping bags and futons."

Though this would have normally been good business talk, it didn't exactly work too well with Kin who bristled at his reply and stomped towards him. The boy backed up in panic, "Don't even think about it! Just the five of us and the pets are enough!"

"Hang on," Fu grinned; cutting in abruptly and looking across at the flustered girl venting her disapproval out on her housemate. "I think I know exactly what's going on here with you guys." When the raven haired kunoichi looked at her, the girl with green locks smirked slyly and pointed at the attacker, "You and Naruto… the two of you… _you_ in particular…" Her grin widened ever more, "You're undoubtedly harboring deep, longing, feel-"

Before she could finish, Kin's face suddenly lit up like a bulb before she unexpectedly jumped at the girl with a good punch, which the target dodged and laughed. "SHUT YOUR TRAP! DON'T YOU DARE END THAT SENTENCE YOU INTERLOPING COW!" A merry chase then began between the blushing red Sound Nin and the visiting Taki kunoichi, both of them utilizing Naruto's body and the space around him like a totem pole and pursued each other relentlessly.

Tenten, drawn to the scene of the disturbance, also flashed her disapproving gaze when she caught sight of a second girl. Clenching her jaw tightly, she stormed forward and came to a rolling stop right behind the jinchuriki. She tapped his shoulder to get him to wheel about and face her. This had Naruto look even more worried than he had been seconds before.

"And who is this girl, Naruto? I don't think you ever told me about another person aside from your teachers living at your place!"

"L-Listen," Naruto chuckled hurriedly, waving his hands between them, "I… I can explain… you see…"

"You'd better," the shuriken user huffed while flipping her hair out of her face, "Otherwise I just might have to work out the answers to this myself, and believe me… it's never pretty whenever I get directly involved in something I find very suspicious."

"Right, I-I trust you on that," Naruto gulped with a nervous laugh.

The squabbling continued of course, with Tenten tapping her foot at her stammering blonde haired target while Kin continued pursuing Fu in circles with a vengeance. They started such a racket that every person congregated on the back porch and engaged in friendly conversation was drawn to the scene, where they could see the merry-go-round that was Naruto and the three girls along for the ride. It took a moment, but all faces in the vicinity were able to pick up on the problem, with those carrying high hopes for the jinchuriki smiling mischievously, those who knew him best shaking their heads with pity, and those in the 'other' category frowning in distaste at the scene.

"A love square?" Sakura asked Ino suggestively, her arms folding.

"More like a pentagon," Ino replied, drawing a line in the air, "And the points all seem to converge on him."

"What an idiot," the pink haired girl whispered, "But… I guess that's Naruto for you in a nutshell."

"Yup!" The Yamanka formed a banner in the air above her with her hands, "Naruto Uzumaki: strong, courageous, tough, determined… magnet for trouble and dense as hell."

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Team 10 will begin its journey to the _Land of Wave_ in the next chapter.

I figured a brief intermission in between is a good thing, since it allows me to introduce another important plot point for the villain to show exactly how he's operating at the moment, and learn a bit more about him. It's also a chance for Fu to make her introduction.

She ran across an entire country to meet someone to fight them. I think that speaks a lot about her personality.

She won't be staying with Naruto though. She just popped in to visit to try and get a fight with him, it's not like she's guaranteed one.

What I found very off about the canon series though is the Godly powerful characters that nobody can do jack about no matter how hard they try, chief among which are Tobi and Madara, and are wandering around during the time Naruto and the others were kids and weak. I figured if there were shinobi as powerful as that, they'd be making more appearances.

I also came around to the idea that there would be people as powerful as Madara around _his_ time, so I thought that maybe I could introduce others that have practically 'dropped off the grid' but have still managed to make their way into the history books, and are still remembered by those knowledgeable members of society today. Madara practically came from a time when legendary shinobi were regarded as the greatest or Gods, including Senju Hashirama. The villain I've introduced comes from an old Japanese tale, the name of whom I'm withholding for the time being, and also originated from the Great Sage's time.

It will give more scope to the series and give Naruto that chance to genuinely become the strongest shinobi in the world. Throughout the series, characters have constantly talked about the new generation surpassing the other. The fact that Madara is still so strong in contrast to other Kages just dumps manure on the whole concept of that so I figured what the hell and decided to make my own change.

He's got beef with the shinobi world and is plotting to take it over. Right now he's gathering strength in the shadows, but has already made his mark on the world by attacking the Western world to spark war. The measure of his strength is already shown how he's able to slip in and out of the most secure prison in the shinobi nations without sounding any alarms, before leaving without a trace. It shows he can move about as freely as he pleases.

In this chapter I've also introduced the girls-interest-in-Naruto conflict. Tenten regards Naruto as a really close friend, and is already showing signs of jealousy toward other girls hanging around him. Hinata's disapproval in the backdrop is understandable since she already has strong feelings for him. Fu suddenly jumping in all friendly like puts the other girls on edge and Kin is gradually starting to fall for Naruto too, which is having her snap at anyone else trying to advance on him.

And now, a little history lesson for all of you readers with the next historic character:

_**Fuma Kotaro**_ – (Edo Period: ? – 1603) – Fuma Kotaro was the name given to the leader of the ninja Fuma clan during the Sengoku period of Japan. According to some records, he was originally named Kazama. He was the fifth and best known leader of the Fuma clan, and became notorious as the leader of a band of 200 Rappa 'battle disrupters', which were divided into four groups: brigands, pirates, burglars and thieves. His biggest achievement came in 1580, when the Fūma ninja infiltrated and attacked a camp of the Takeda clan forces under Takeda Katsuyori at night, causing chaos amongst the clansmen.

In popular culture, Fuma Kotaro is often depicted as the arch-rival and nemesis of Hanzo Hattori, one of the most famous ninja in history. This rivalry originated from a famous story set in 1596 when it was said Fuma Kotaro decisively defeated and killed Hanzo Hattori and his forces in an ambush in the Inland Sea, where he lured the enemy forces into a small channel and set them alight using the oil they'd poured into the water.

Fuma literally means 'wind demon.' As such, his depiction is frequently flamboyant, fantastical, and sometimes demonic in appearance.

In this Naruto fic, _**Fuma Kotaro**_ is a woman, and was once the rival and enemy of _**Hanzo of the Salamander**_ (who was based off of the original Hanzo Hattori). She is given the title _Demon of the Shadow Windmill_, which is fitting since the Fuma clan is said to have created the massive shuriken often seen and used in the series by other shinobi. It was her creation and is her primary weapon in battle. As explained by the samurai, Kotaro is best known as the only shinobi to have ever defeated Hanzo of the Salamander in his prime, the very man who defeated Orochimaru, Tsunade and Jiraiya single-handedly, and allowed him to live, which gives explanation to Hanzo's sudden focus on self-preservation later in life.

While Hanzo of the Salamander's speed is unsurpassed in water, Fuma Kotaro's speed is unsurpassed in the air, which explains her being stuck in solitary underground.

In the Naruto series there are two Fuma clans: one in the _Land of Sound_ which Sasame is a part of, and the other where the Fuma ninja Jiraiya fought originated from and later became one of Pain's bodies. In this fic, both clans are linked as branches of the same clan, but have since dispersed after the disappearance of their leader, who is in prison chilling out.

Hope you guys are looking forward to the next chapter. Ciao!


	25. Wave Arc: The Worst Possible Scenario

**NARUTO**

**The Art of Appropriation**

_The Worst Possible Scenario_

After managing to break up the girls from their little scuffle and burn up all the excess fuel from the heat he was catching because of some odd score all of these people had with him, Naruto was finally able to catch a breath of much needed air and sit himself on the back porch. Since getting home it had not been as quiet and peaceful as he was hoping for it to be. He wanted his home time dammit!

Unfortunately, the world had other plans in store for him, which pretty much involved the blonde sitting awkwardly in the most uncomfortable spot imaginable between a still peeved looking Tenten and Kin, and a smiling Fu sitting directly in front of him like a child in class. To make matters worse Naruto could also feel the intense glares from a whole bunch of other people, including an impatient Kiba, an ever inert Shino, a scowling Sasuke and a glowing Rock Lee, all of them standing off to his left in full session.

The jinchuriki had attracted quite a crowd from those keen to interact with him right now. All those outside of the equation however kept their distance. On that note, Sakura and Ino had decided to pull themselves away from the show and had situated themselves around a table kindly set up by the ever gracious Ran on the porch; the three of them kneeling around it, sharing a pot of tea and trading small talk to pass the time.

While Shikamaru had wisely chosen to keep away as well and was lying back on the deck a little ways further down the line along with Choji, the pair unfortunately found themselves unable to ignore the ice-cold breeze they could feel coming off of Hinata sitting beside them. The girl had apparently tagged along with them to reacquaint herself with her usual spying distance safely away from prying eyes.

Using the Akimichi as a sort of barricade, Hinata spent the time that was given to her staring across at the girls flocking around her Naruto-kun with a powerful aura of jealousy wafting off of her timid form.

It was making Shikamaru incredibly nervous.

"Why does Naruto have a knack for attracting a lot of trouble? Is he like a human magnet for that kind of mojo or something?" Choji asked.

"Who knows," Shikamaru murmured. "Ever since I joined the team I've been trying to figure out the answer to that question myself. It's been driving me nuts."

"Well, that's funny. You never have any problems with solving mysteries as palpable as that," his friend exclaimed, pulling a burger out of his pocket and unwrapping it. "I figured that by this time you would have cracked it already."

"Unfortunately this is not a mystery I can solve so easily on my own. This is something that will take a lot of time, effort, and years of graying hair to try and at least gain a certain understanding of," the Nara groaned, trying to push away the throbbing waves of negativity still coming off of the blue haired mouse sitting on the other side of him. The napping teen cracked an eye and glanced uneasily up at the girl, "Uhh… could you let up on the fumes a little, Hinata? You're kind of freaking me out…"

The Hyuuga glanced down at the boy, the waves of killing intent seemingly evaporating the moment her mind was taken off of the path of competition, "W-What do you mean, Shikamaru-kun?"

Once again encountering the unstable and unpredictable character of the female mind, Shikamaru let out a tired sigh and judiciously decided to close his eyes again, "Nothing at all, Hinata."

Broken from her hypnotic trance, the girl went back to staring across at Naruto and the gang. Though her glare had shrunk back into the shadows, the shrewd boy beside her wasn't counting out the possibility that her inner self would start acting up again soon. No matter how much she appeared timid and delicate, Hinata did have a certain way of conveying her other, less physically seen emotions. It's what made her so good at playing the part of deception in periods unexpected.

Clearing his throat uneasily, Naruto smiled and looked up at the people sitting around him, "So do… any of you guys want some tea and biscuits? Yim-chan is cooking up a fresh batch if you would like any"

All he got was silence from the girls, grunts from the boys and white noise from everything else. The only ones who did manage to respond and break the awkwardness of his situation were Lee and Fu, both of them raising their hands straight into the air in a sort of affirmative salute.

"I would like some!" the green haired girl chirped.

"Yes please!" the boy dressed in spandex exclaimed.

This only seemed to make Naruto feel that much more uncomfortable when he heard Tenten and Kin grumble. Shuffling in his seat nervously, the blonde teen chuckled and looked up at the boys. As of right now, he felt like he didn't really want to deal with two potentially dangerous females and decided to focus on somebody who would probably give him a more dignified response then a fist or a kunai. Though Sasuke and Shino didn't really make for good conversation, he was sure Kiba did.

"Hey, did any of you guys take any interesting missions while we were gone?" Naruto asked, hoping for something other than more silence. "I bet the workload was stacked!"

The Uchiha huffed, "Other than that mangy feline that keeps running away from its owner… not really…"

"That Tora has some serious issues," Shino inputted in monotone, earning a nod of agreement from his raven haired companion.

"Although… there was that one mission where we had to escort this ostrich back to his homeland," Sasuke added in at the end while rubbing the back of his head at that particularly painful memory. "That was an excruciatingly annoying job…"

Picking up on the gist of what the Uchiha was saying, the blonde smirked and shook his head, "Just stick a seed bell on your head next time and you'll be fine."

"Wouldn't that just encourage the problem?"

"It all depends on the bait. Sure, it might get the attention of a lot of the other birds out there, but at least they'll focus on the food and not your cranium…"

Sasuke grunted indignantly and folded his arms. Seeing that he wasn't going to be getting anything else out of the supposed coolest cat from the academy, the resident boy in orange decided to pick on the other known animal and that was Kiba. The kid was still scowling unpleasantly much like a couple of the others, which Naruto failed to comprehend completely in his follow-up question.

"What about you, Kiba? Anything interesting happen to-"

"Are we going to fight or not?!" the Inuzuka suddenly barked, cutting off Naruto mid-inquiry. "What the hell are we all standing around for?"

"Well… uhh," Naruto murmured, before deflating both mentally and physically.

And here we go; the topic he had been trying to avoid with both the girls and, to an even lesser extent, the boys. Naruto could deal with the brunt force, blood and sweat exerted by the guys and regulars from his class, but dealing with the girls? That was just plain scary and most likely to lead to suicide, no matter how he tried to face the problem.

"We didn't come all this way just to stand around and chat," Kiba stated, with his companion Akamaru barking in agreement. He slammed a clawed fist into his open palm, "We followed you all the way out here to settle business and I for one won't be satisfied with just a meager promise made. You have to live up to it. Put your gloves on, Naruto!"

"Do you… really want to do this, like… right now?" the blonde asked with a groan.

"YES!"

"Ugh… alright then, since you're so fired up," Naruto said while rising to his feet, looking around at the scattered cast. The tense atmosphere he could feel clouding around him all due to Tenten and Kin glowering at each other respectively started to lift. For the first time in the last half-hour, the boy could finally breathe easy again, "Which one of you guys am I taking on first? I kind of lost track with all the shouting and crowding…"

"That would be me!" Fu hopped to her feet from directly underneath the boy's shadow, startling him when her nose brushed up against his. While Tenten and Kin bristled, the green haired girl brought up her right fist and shook it right in front of her fellow jinchuriki's face, "Let's get this over with."

"Oh no you don't!" Kiba shouted, grabbing the kunoichi by the shoulder and yanking her around so that the Inuzuka was glaring directly at her. "You threw your name in last, so it's only fair that those who submitted first fight the kid first!"

Fu smirked at him, "What's the matter; afraid that I might soften him up too much for yah?" This earned a bit of a nervous laugh from Naruto, who simply stood by and watched the pair resolve the dispute of first come, first serve. "If you're so set on fighting Naruto-kun, then show me how badly you want to get your ass kicked."

"Are you saying that I might lose?" Kiba snarled impatiently.

"Oh no. I'm not just saying you might lose; I know for a fact that you _will_ lose; period," Fu exclaimed. "Your fangs are dull and your claws are blunt. It's like you're going out into battle armed with a spoon. It just… _doesn't_ work."

The one currently being assaulted in their banter raised his hand and bared his primary weapons to the world. His nails flashed dangerously under the light when his fingers flexed, "I can rip through solid rock with these? Want a demonstration?"

"Now that would just be a waste of valuable energy, wouldn't it?"

"Scared?"

Fu waved a hand toward her mug, "Do you see any fear on this face, Inuzuka? Please… my insight is ten times better than your nose. You don't have a hope in hell against me, let alone Naruto-kun."

"You know… I'm getting the strong impression that you have a bone to pick with me," the feral teenager exclaimed with a cocky smirk forming across his lips. "If so, then bring it. Let's see if you can dance with the top dog."

"I wouldn't even have to break a sweat against you."

"I'm not afraid to hit a girl…"

"The feeling is mutual," Fu grinned, earning an irate smirk from Kiba in kind. "You're just a pup. You're no threat to me."

"Then put your game face on. Let's go a few rounds," Kiba shot back, cracking his knuckles one after the other. "Don't try to pet the same dog whose tail you just stepped on. I'll bite your fingers clean off."

"If that's the case, then I hope you brushed your teeth this morning."

The bickering went on, which had Naruto looking uneasily between the visitor and the upstart of the village ready to start lashing at each other's throats. As much as he'd like to see who was the stronger in order to get the best challenger out of this, he didn't want to see anyone get sent to the hospital. Sasuke and Shino backed up a little just as the jinchuriki did when they saw electricity begin shooting between the two pissed off Genin.

The verbal jabs flying through the air also caught the attention of Sakura and the others in their corner, and Shikamaru and his small band over on their side. Those closest were able to get a full reception of the trade-off, with the heat of the sparks flying through the air threatening to start a raging fire.

It wouldn't be long now, since Akamaru had started to growl at the cocky girl threatening his partner…

"Enough!"

The source of the blaze had water unexpectedly dumped right on top of it, with Kiba and Fu breaking off sharply from their argument and turning to see one Neji Hyuuga marching up to them. Sasuke and Lee parted to allow the fearsome looking boy through, all words of question and war effectively being silenced by his presence alone.

Hell, even Ran took an interest in the new kid when he suddenly pushed his way into the fray and glared across at the ones responsible for disturbing the peace in the first place.

"You people," the boy with brown hair and hollow, glass-like eyes opened up with a calm yet piercing speech, "You're all just petty, violent and unruly thugs who have no concept of proper social conduct or carry even a shred of awareness of their own shortcomings. Only weaklings behave in this typical, vicious manner; making as much noise as possible to draw attention to themselves."

Blinking, Kiba frowned at the young man who had rudely interrupted their back-and-forth, and turned on him in response, "Would you mind repeating that, pal? I don't think everyone here was able to hear you through the shit in your mouth."

Rock Lee glowered deeply as Neji coolly incised his person into the center of the dispute, while Tenten looked on with an increase of concern in her expression. Naruto took careful note of the changes in their looks, yet maintained his own frame of innocent curiosity so as to not rouse awareness to his observations.

"_So… this is the Neji Hyuuga Ten-chan told me about before. She was right on the money about him being a stuck-up prick,"_ the jinchuriki thought, before looking up considerately, _"Or was that me who said that back then? I can't really remember."_

"Pathetic, disorderly, and annoying. Though it is not my place to meddle in the affairs of slackers, this pointless squabble the lot of you are having is starting to get on my nerves," Neji stated, looking between an even more irritated looking Inuzuka and the girl whom he'd been having it out with, now looking across at the older boy intriguingly. "Honestly; all of this bickering is over the right to fight _him_?" The party crasher turned his gaze and focused it on a perplexed Naruto, who was the cause of all of this nonsense.

"You think yourself special because of a single act that just happened to impress a collection of shortsighted individuals? If that's really the case, then you're even lower in class than these trivial upstarts you view as companions," Neji spoke, furrowing his brow at the blonde. His words hit home with Naruto, who immediately glared back at him when he fully realized that the teenager was addressing him directly. "My teammate told me all about you and where you come from, Naruto Uzumaki…"

"Neji, don't!" Tenten spoke, rising to her feet while the Hyuuga continued to glare across at the blonde.

"A failure in the academy, a troublemaker and a loner with a less than reputable history of treading about in the gutters, dreaming of one day becoming the Leaf Village's Hokage," Neji said, smirking in mockery at that bit of trifle. "That's rich coming from a bottom-feeder. Failures don't make Hokage; only those chosen with the right and experience ever become Hokage. From my point of view, you look nothing like village leader material. Through these eyes, you're just another generic hooligan with no desirable qualities whatsoever."

Naruto's expression darkened as he faced down the antagonist. His knuckles popped when his fingers twitched into fists while the inner animal inside of him screamed for him to sock this boy a new one. His friends standing around noticed the heat suddenly starting to rise off of him, with Ran grabbing the handle of her sword and rising from her kneeling position on the deck. Sakura and Ino sat startled at the samurai's sudden jump.

"The world makes people what they are. You can't fight what has already been set in motion and that's the undeniable truth. You were born a loser and you will part from this life as a loser. Why any of these insects want to bother with someone like you is beyond me…"

Shino, catching onto that insult, drew his hands out from his pockets and prepared to step toward the offender. He was stopped from doing anything rash however by the timely actions of one Sasuke Uchiha grabbing him by the shoulder and holding him back. When the Aburame looked over at his teammate, he saw the Uchiha shake his head and visibly tell his comrade to keep out of this. So from there on, trusting the judgment of his friend, the stoic boy in sunglasses calmed and backed down, leaving Naruto and the others to glare at the Hyuuga.

Even Lee and Tenten were looking at their teammate with disgust.

"_Bastard…"_ Tenten thought, preparing to move forward to physically put an end to this downpour of negativity.

However, before she could confront her fearsome teammate, she too found herself stopped by Naruto thrusting his arm out and moving into the spotlight. This surprised the kunoichi and the others greatly, as the boy stomped so close to the offender that all that remained between them was only a couple of feet of distance. At this point in time, everyone was looking across at Neji distastefully, but only one of them had the confidence and will to stand up to him.

"Leave them out of this," Naruto said, his voice steady and brow furrowing even more at the Hyuuga. The two of them appeared so collected and composed. It was almost poetic. Yet in spite of the performance, it surprised Sasuke and all those who knew Naruto most that the boy could remain so self-possessed. Even Ran was astonished at how well her apprentice was holding his patience. "If you have something to say to me, then say it to my face. Don't look at me like I'm not here."

"Hmph," Neji grunted, his own eyes narrowing on the blonde cockily, "Why should I acknowledge you like you matter? I'm nothing like these common curs groveling at your feet. They may view you as something of a measuring stick for their own hopes and dreams for the future, but the reality is that you're nothing spe-"

"I beg to differ," Naruto smirked, tilting his head at Neji when the blonde finally decided to push back against the man testing his defenses, "People can view you as anything from a failure, to a troublemaker, to a villain, to a winner, hell, to even the motherfucking God of keeping it real in this world for all I care. But that's just their opinion. What really matters is how you view _yourself_ as a person and whether you can live with yourself for who _you_ are. In the end, it shows just how strong you can really be on your own. So when you're up against a wall with death staring you in the face and nowhere to run, and there's no one there to bail you out, all you have is yourself to rely on."

Jaws dropped. Hell, even Tenten and Lee's jaws dropped.

No one has ever stood up to Neji like this before. God damn it, the few who even tried got their asses beat. Did Naruto have a death wish or something?

Neji scowled. "Penniless hopes of a person born a failure, destined for failure…"

"But destiny can be changed," Naruto stated firmly, while shaking his head pitifully at the Hyuuga. "Even stone can be worn away over time. I'd have thought that a person as smart as you, Mr. Genius, would know something like that. If you think that there's only one road you can take in this life than I'm right in believing that _you're_ the one who is wrong. In fact, I think _you're_ the one who's the failure for thinking that in the first place… not me."

"Excuse me?"

"You viciously attack my friends. You attempt to belittle them, think yourself above them and treat them like trash… well… I think that's just _you_ making a lot of noise, covering up your own sense of smallness and failings," Naruto said with a smile, throwing his words back at the baffled boy before pointing squarely at him. "You've given up on life, my friend. It's as simple as that."

With those words, Naruto swore the atmosphere around him just got even colder than before. Not only that, but he actually had to perform a double-take on the once calm boy standing before him when he thought he saw the teen's eyes flicker with the Byakugan. But all that turned out to be was Neji's gaze hardening and his pupils flashing with anger, "Do you desire to have your heart stopped prematurely?"

"Not really. I have big plans for the future, you see," Naruto exclaimed with a grin, folding his arms. "Just cut the verbal crap and deal with the problem head on, pal. And try eating some soap to clean out that mouth of yours. The song you're singing is starting to get real old…"

"I'm bound by the rules of fate that compel me to do what I must to succeed," Neji stated with a tight jaw.

Naruto chuckled playfully while waving a finger at him, "Me gets the feeling that you also want in on this gig. Why don't you toss your name into the pot and see if your fate theory comes out on top, Neji-kun?"

"If it will stop this useless jabbering, then I will comply," Neji replied firmly, stepping closer.

Naruto grinned. "Alright then, twinkle toes, name your terms."

The blonde's comebacks seemed to lift the spirits of everybody else in the area. Those who were or had been on the receiving end of Neji's abuse in the past had started to smile once more, particularly Lee and Kiba. Tenten actually chuckled and rubbed her forehead in relief, feeling both amused and terrified for Naruto's wellbeing.

The kid really did know how to pick em', which verified Shikamaru's suspicions that his teammate did indeed have a knack for attracting a lot of unwanted attention. He was practically trouble personified.

"_Such boldness… that's so like him,"_ Tenten thought with a sigh.

Ran smiled as well and eased back a little. She was interested to see up close just how much her student had improved. Since Yim was in the kitchen still making batches of tea and cakes, well… the long-distance traveler might just have to wait a little bit longer to see how much her Naruto had improved in the last two weeks.

However, just before Neji could start speaking again, Fu leapt in between the two boys and smirked at the Hyuuga. Her instantaneous appearance made both Genin jump back a little in surprise, while the green haired kunoichi leaned towards the aggravator with a cocky grin in play.

"Sorry Naruto-kun, but seeing as that _I'm_ the only official challenger here, only _I_ have the right to fight you now," Fu replied, giving the Hyuuga a daring glare that had him scowl back at her in kind. "However, since this guy is so hard up on screwing with everyone here and is interfering with my match-up against you, it's my job to clear up the board a little so that I can have a clear shot against you." She looked over her shoulder and winked at the blonde, "Perhaps if I show you what I can actually do you'll be more inclined to make me your first priority."

Seeing that she wanted to give him a show in order to coax his favor, Naruto smiled back and nodded. As much as he wanted to beat this Neji guy black-and-blue just so that he could teach him a lesson about not running that poisonous mouth of his, the jinchuriki was also eager to see what this visitor to his village could do. This effect seemed to filter out to everybody else, with a mixture of intrigue and fear flooding everybody's faces.

Those enthusiastic and all for it included Sasuke, Kiba, Lee, Naruto and Shino. Those less then eager to see blood flying were Tenten, Shikamaru and Hinata.

Let's just say they all had their reasons to be as concerned as they were.

"Don't do it," Tenten warned, glaring across at the girl to see her gaze fall on her. The shuriken user warned the Taki Genin of the potential danger of locking horns with the genius, glancing repeatedly and wearily in the above mentioned teen's direction, "Neji is probably the strongest Genin in our village if not the most merciless. It'll be suicide if you try to-"

"Oh, I'm not worried," Fu replied with a dismissive wave, placing her right on her hip and raising her left. "I need to warm up my jab anyway. My triceps have been feeling a little stiff and I need to wear them out every once in a while to keep them in good condition. Besides, it's just a friendly fight between shinobi. It'll be fine."

Tenten frowned, "That's what I'm afraid of."

Lee had had many spars with Neji in the past and so had she. In fact, both of them had squared off against the boy many times, but even as a twosome the pair didn't stand a chance. This was months ago, and though they jousted with each other one on one nowadays, the Hyuuga still held full authority in matches. Hell, he even impressed Gai with his level of talent, and that said everything.

Fu grinned and looked back at her would-be foe. "On your go then."

Neji smirked, "As you wish…" He turned heel and marched out onto the lawn, closely followed by a still grinning Fu, who turned back and gave the blonde watching her a thumbs up. She seemed pretty cool about this, which made everybody wonder what kind of tricks she had hidden up her sleeves.

The crowd backed up onto the porch, using it as a temporary stand while they watched as the Taki kunoichi faced off against Konohagakure's resident genius and prodigy of last year. Though Sasuke was eager to see how this supposed pillar of strength looking down on the rest of the world would fair against the stranger from another village, he couldn't get rid of this sinking feeling that it was in fact the visitor that was making everybody else feel on edge.

Around this time, Yim finally reemerged from inside the house and when she saw the new girl and boy facing off on the lawn, she blinked questioningly before approaching Naruto and Kin standing side-by-side on the porch observantly.

"What's going on here?"

"Oh, that Neji fellow pissed off Naruto and the others by calling them failures. They had a bit of an argument, so the green haired weirdo decided to step in and challenge him to a fight," the former Sound Genin replied.

"Really? I thought she wanted to fight with Naruto-kun."

"She was damn insistent on an opening act. She also jumped in unexpectedly so I didn't really have time to say no," Naruto stated with a shrug.

Yim settled on that answer without a fuss and, after laying the tea and cakes down on the table where a now attentive Sakura and Ino were sitting and watching, she too turned to monitor the fight. The girl had spunk like her Naruto-kun. Perhaps the character of her fighting style would be exactly the same as his. Who knows? Either way, this was bound to be a good match.

Shikamaru and Choji looked on from their end with varying levels of interest, while Hinata pressed her fingers together uneasily and stared out at her cousin.

It had been a while since she'd seen her relative fight. Perhaps now she could see how much he'd improved since last. After all, Hinata wanted to know whether or not she would be able to measure up to her cousin's ridiculously high expectations.

A tense silence fell as the pair glared across at one another. Fu was still grinning excitedly with a bounce in her toes, whereas Neji was frowning deeply, holding a tint of displeasure and smugness in his eyes. There was no doubt in his mind that he was looking forward to a good fight, but what he felt burning above this sensation right now was satisfying his urge to punish the one responsible for making a mockery of his outlook. Since Naruto was being substituted with this equally vulgar and irritating kunoichi, the Hyuuga supposed that she would just have to suffice.

His posture and stance remained unshaken. All signs said he was ready and waiting.

"I trust you have no regrets," he said with a smirk. "This might be your last day as a kunoichi, little girl. Savor your remaining time well."

"Don't get so conceited, Hyuuga. We haven't even started yet," Fu stated, her eyes shimmering. She nodded towards the boy while stretching her arms out and rolling her left over several times to loosen her joints. "I'm all set. Show me what you can do."

Lowering his head, Neji slid his left foot forward and brought his left hand up, extending it with the palm facing his target. His right was also brought closer to his chest and rotated to face his opponent. Naruto, Hinata and Shikamaru immediately recognized it as the Hyuuga Clan's _Gentle Fist_ style, and both Yim and Ran's expressions turned serious.

Neji's wide stance allowed him an excellent lunging start while also providing a solid, defensive base in order to perform quick rotations. His form looked good.

Everyone went quiet.

After several seconds of waiting and watching, those looking on became a little bit surprised when they saw a once cheerful looking Fu suddenly become a lot quieter. Smile disappearing and gaze hardening, the girl hopped about in place several times to warm up before suddenly dropping into an offensive stance of her own. Though her smoothness did not mimic Neji's, it was all her own. She continued bobbing on her toes, bringing her left fist up and out a little and her right fist close to her cheek in a guard. Her height matched Neji's and she held an equally versatile and impressive stance.

This failed to surprise people at first. However, it did manage to catch Naruto's eyes on sight and draw him in to the most glaring aspect of her stance, and that was that he recognized the form quite well.

"_Academy Style?"_ He had to shake his head to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, _"She's starting off using the basics of textbook taijutsu?"_

He would know. After all, he'd practiced it for weeks and weeks in order to polish it up and ready himself for a completely different level of combat. This was all before he'd even met Yim. Honestly, he'd almost completely forgotten about this style after getting so used to making _Spring Chant_ the foundation blocks of the martial arts he had already accumulated into his person. Seeing someone outside of the village assume the most common of fighting stances against a dangerous one like the Hyuuga's baffled him.

"_Not only that, but it seems like she's modified her guard a little. She's tucked her elbows in closer to her body to make her attacks more compact,"_ Naruto also noted, analyzing the individual positions of her hands and joints. Her defense looked quite solid._ "Her right arm protects the side of her body and her left arm protects her stomach and center from low blows and kicks. It looks like she's made some changes to the original hand positions as well. That's interesting…"_

Neji, activating his Byakugan, smirked confidently. _"Idiot. You want to fight a Hyuuga up close and personal?"_ He had to suppress a laugh, even though he never did. Laughing didn't exist in his vocabulary. _"If that's your choice, then this match is as good as mine. I'll make this as quick and painless as possible."_ Without warning, the brown haired teen suddenly sprang forward, his feet exploding off of the grass and sending dust into the air.

His dash was straight and true, his right hand pulled back and his left ready to lead off. Fu tracked his movement with her eyes, leaning back sharply when her opponent lunged in with a left, open-palmed strike. It was fast and precise, cutting through the air with barely a disturbance in his footwork. What followed after that was a superb display of attacks, which Neji flowed through like he was gliding on air. He drove in with straight palm strikes and hooks, unleashing a terrifying display of combinations.

Sasuke blinked in surprise as he watched Fu quickly back down and evade the attacks flying at her. It wasn't that he was surprised at her ability to evade such high speed attacks; he was really caught off guard by Neji's swiftness. "Wow… he's quick."

"He's not only blindingly fast; he's also got descent leading force behind his attacks. You can feel the wind being cut from those strikes," Kiba also said, shaking his head in disbelief, _"Damn, and this guy was picking on us not too long ago. I can see why he can gush out insults so freely with a straight face. He's good."_

Akamaru whimpered when he got a descent whiff of the Hyuuga's skills. He hid further inside of his master's coat shivering, letting the teen know just how much of a threat this genius really was. The master petted the pup's head, calming him down yet feeling suddenly anxious himself from what his companion was able to smell.

Gritting his teeth, Kiba looked up, _"So… this Neji guy is really that dangerous?"_

Naruto blinked in surprise while scratching his chin thoughtfully, watching Fu move about as Neji pursued her. He was as relentless as he was light-footed, _"He's seriously good at moving in with quick shots and maintaining his rhythm. His __**Gentle Fist**__ style is superb and his attacks are razor sharp. Not bad."_ He then smiled, watching the genius close in on his opponent quickly and with every step-in attempt to land a hit. _"Still, Hinata-chan is much faster than him. I know from sparring with her in the past few weeks that she can keep up with aggressiveness of that level no problem."_

He wondered if his teammates were thinking the exact same thing he was.

Neji grunted out as he unleashed another barrage of swift combinations, spinning on the spot gracefully and chucking kicks at the girl as extra reinforcement for his assault while she backed away step by step. It was certainly a hair-raising situation to be on the receiving end of such an assault. The girl could literally feel the air in front of her nose getting sliced from the sharpness of his palm strikes. However, while this would have terrified any other opponent trying to avoid the deadly blows of a Hyuuga, Fu was surprisingly calm in spite of facing down attacks with the potential to sever all bodily control.

She paced circles around him, avoiding his long reaching shots and head-slipping around the ones aimed for her face. While dodging, the kunoichi smiled briefly when she saw his left fully extend in an effort to strike at her chest, which she elbowed aside in a smooth redirection.

"_So he's a straight hitter? Just as I expected from a Hyuuga,"_ Fu thought, stepping back and moving around when the Hyuuga dove in with a sweeping hook aimed for her body. She twisted around his attack, her feet carrying her. _"They use pin-point precision and fleetness to overcome their opponents, and bring them to heel by attacking their organs and vitals areas. An incredibly dangerous adversary indeed…"_

…

...

"_However…"_

Fu evaded again, backing away when Neji came after her once again. Those seated on the sidelines awed at her ability to keep pace with such a fast and aggressive foe, especially Lee and Tenten. From their experience, they could say with absolute confidence that he was no easy prey. In fact, he was impossible to beat. Even two on one, Neji destroyed them. This was probably because the two of them were as direct in their approaches as they could possibly be, particularly Lee with his finely-tuned _Hard Fist_ style. When up against someone who could turn that blunt force against you and shut down your body with several, well-placed taps, the Hyuuga was practically unbeatable.

The title of genius wasn't just for show; Neji deserved it. Even though his character said otherwise…

Seeing Fu swivel around again, avoiding his straights, Lee blinked in shock. "Amazing. She can handle those quick moves?"

"She's quite agile herself. Fu's choosing to avoid blocking his attacks and is dodging them rather than facing them head on. That's smart," Tenten said, placing her chin in her hand. "The way she's backing away from him though is quite peculiar. Her speed is clearly on the same level as Neji's, yet her evasive nature is more comparable to that of Naruto's." On that note, she looked over at the blonde, whom she could see was completely engrossed in the battle taking place. Thinking it over a little, she then turned back and focused, making note to stop the fight should things get too dangerous for Neji's opponent._ "Let's hope her luck for getting out of trouble is the same as well…"_

After dancing around for a while and getting a feel for her opponent's speed, Fu then fired off a barrage of swift lefts at her opponent. Her jabs lashed out at her target with a quick snap and follow-through, yet were blocked and redirected by Neji, who then slid right into her range. His feet pushing him, the boy corked his right palm back before swinging in with it. The wind twisted around his hand as it closed in like a bullet, his Byakugan marking his target at her waist.

"_There!"_

His palm exploded with a burst of chakra. Nevertheless, it failed to make contact, as Fu had managed to lean back at the last second and avoid. Once she did, she fired off another left aimed for his head, which the Hyuuga dodged with a surprised glint in his eyes. He backed away, avoiding another jab and a left upper.

Fu's attacks seemed quite heavy, as evident by the loud whooshing sounds they made when they attempted to strike their target, but missed. Regardless, the kunoichi was able to reset the distance and soon enough, the pair was hovering within arm's reach of one another. The visitor continued to pace on the spot, bobbing about on her toes, while her opponent remained planted a safe distance away, palms up and eyes keeping a close eye on her hand positions.

The attacker aiming for a body shot had attempted to use his chakra to close off her nodes in her waist or at least take her out at the kidney. If he had managed to land a blow there, the fight would have been over before it could get rolling. However, Fu was proving to be a really slippery customer and was not going to go down so easily. Once again, Neji began to attack, lashing out at her with a flurry of palm strikes and kicks.

His opponent fired off another left, trying to ward and deter him from a direct assault. Neji however was able to block as he did before and advanced with a lightning quick step-in, driving into the girl's stomach with punishing palm and finger strikes. Fu brought both her arms down into a cross-arm block, taking the teen's pin-point blows yet still feeling the terrible sting of his Juken as the points all along her arms were shut down. After which, the Hyuuga backed off, regaining his distance.

Successful in forcing her to defend, Neji smirked, _"I'll cut off your ability to use chakra completely. Once I do that, I'll win."_ He moved his palms back around, reassuming an offensive _Gentle Fist_ stance while watching his opponent recover. Fu's glare locked onto him once more and she went back to pacing about on the spot, hopping on her toes with her fists going back to their previous positions. If anything, her courage was astonishing.

Sakura blinked, "Sh-She got hit."

"Was it bad?" Ino asked, looking up at Ran standing behind them to see her looking on at the fight seriously. "That looked like it hurt."

"She managed to guard, but she had the nodes in her arms cut by his attacks. Those energy bursts are really quite troublesome," the samurai replied, continuing to watch the girl move about. Even though she had taken the attacks she seemed fine.

The vagrant figured that after seeing what the boy's intentions were she would change her strategy and start using some long-range techniques, or even start flinging some jutsu at him to fend him off.

But for some strange reason, Fu continued riding the pace she had been using since the beginning of the match.

That made Ran worry a little on whether she had a plan or not. _"How will you deal with someone like him?"_

"I'm surprised," Shikamaru thought, Choji and Hinata glancing at the boy when he spoke. "Neji's timing in getting in close is flawless. He switched from long range to middle range in a snap after getting a feel for the distance between them, and attempted to cut off her footwork. But he aimed for her arms instead and shut off her ability to mold chakra using her hands."

"His abilities are really scary," Choji pointed, looking back at the battlefield to see Fu evade another onslaught of palm strikes. "I heard the Hyuuga have the fiercest and most dangerous taijutsu in the village from my dad. He said that the entire clan uses it as their main means to do battle and that all of its members are incredibly proficient at it. They don't need long range attacks to get at targets when they can just get in close and take out their ability to use jutsu."

Hinata murmured uneasily as she watched her cousin, seeing the fury and aggression reflected in his movements. Though she knew she would be able to keep up with that speed, she was still weary of his ferocity and confidence. This was something she still needed to work on, "N-Nii-san."

Just as Neji was moving back from his latest offensive to reconvene over his strategy, Fu then decided right then and there to finally spring into action.

In a show of speed that no one knew she possessed, the girl unexpectedly dashed at the boy while he was analyzing her defenses. She brought both her hands up into a 'pensador' defense and rushed at him low when he swung in with a right palm strike. She ducked right under it and plowed her shoulder and elbow right into the Hyuuga's body, slamming into him and knocking him off of his feet. While her sudden change in guard positions surprised Yim, Ran and Naruto, Neji got the full brunt of the shock when he had the wind knocked out of him.

His enemy rammed into him at break-neck speed, staggering him at the power behind her tackle.

Managing to make landfall, Neji responded to his opponent's body slam by lashing out with a hook the moment he felt the floor at his toes, but Fu leant away sharply and avoided his return just in time. Upon establishing hitting space once again, she then began pouring on combinations of swift jabs, straights and kicks.

The onslaught was quick and carried just as much ferocity as the Hyuuga's from before. Her opponent was forced to back off.

The boy carefully redirected her blows with parries and the occasional burst of chakra. However, the counters Neji aimed to her arms in an effort to disable them were nullified by the quick snapping actions of her straights. The moment she attacked, she withdrew, showing that her hand speed was not to be trifled with.

Not only that; but the tempo she had now found only started to increase as her offense drew on.

Fu was actually getting faster, a fact that Naruto and Sasuke became aware of at the same time Yim and Ran did.

"Fu's quite bold herself," an observing Kin pointed, to which Yim nodded in agreement.

"She should already know of the danger there is in getting close to Neji. Yet she's not concerned," the martial artist informed, her brow furrowing. _"She's putting more and more pressure on him by the second. The fact that her attacks are more compact then his long reaching palm strikes and that her feet aren't planted like his means that she can not only build up more speed, but attack continuously without pause."_

The flourishes in the _Gentle Fist_ style are perhaps the form's most glaring opening. Even though the users could emit chakra from their pours to repel attackers from blind spots, anyone elusive enough could still get lucky. If a clever fighter could exert the right amount of force on a Hyuuga, they could get to them no problem.

Vincent proved this in his fight against Hinata with the piercing power of his lance.

Seizing the momentum, Fu feinted with her left while rushing in, forcing him to parry unnecessarily before plowing into the boy with her right. It slammed into Neji's block and sent him flying; his back crashing into one of Naruto's training posts with a loud thud. The boy grunted in pain when he collided with the solid fixture, seconds before Fu was once again upon him. The girl mercilessly drove several nail like body shots into his stomach before sending an uppercut to his face, which he guarded against yet, even with the defense, the force and speed the kunoichi was able to throw the blow with enabled her to knock the boy upright and begin laying on the punishment.

She began hammering him with straights and swings that began knocking the boy around like a training dummy. Neji had both his arms up and was acting defensively on instinct, gritting his teeth as his upper body was hammered around by the girl attempting to get through to his head. The punches thudded against his arms, battering him about against the training post which rattled violently with every individual blow.

"_Damn it!"_ the boy cursed, trying to shake off the damage beginning to pile on, _"Get away from me!"_

Deciding to hang on, the Hyuuga attempted to wait out the assault and find an opening in her patterns to counter and pull the pace of the fight back into his favor. But as hard as he tried, even through the increased insight of his Byakugan, the genius could not find a clear pause. The girl's attacks had picked up speed again and soon enough, her combinations had blurred together to form a single chain of nonstop attacks that kept coming at him from all directions.

Neji let loose a blast of chakra from his arms in an effort to throw her off, but the girl pulled back the moment the energy exploded off of him and kept him rooted against the post with a quick one-two combo before falling back into the process of pummeling away at his guard.

For the first time since forming the team, Tenten and Lee could see their teammate literally start getting dominated in combat. The sight had their jaws drop.

"N-Neji-kun is trapped!" the boy in green exclaimed.

The kunoichi next to him blinked in astonishment, "I don't believe it. He's actually cornered."

Kiba winced when he saw the arrogant genius take several more jabs to the face behind the guard, which in turn had the Inuzuka move forward in frustration, "Dude? What the hell happened? You were running circles around her before and now you're curling up? Get out of there!"

Sasuke frowned at him, "Weren't you pissed at the guy just a few seconds ago? What's your problem?"

Shaking his head, the feral teen gestured shockingly to the battle while continuing to listen to the painful thuds echoing all around, "No shit I was, but that's just bogus! How can he go from keeping the pace and winning to suddenly getting the snot beaten out of him? He has to step in closer if he wants to avoid those things."

"No… he can't," Naruto replied, catching the two boys' attention and drawing their eyes toward him. When they did, Sasuke and Kiba saw the jinchuriki's expression turn grave and his glare harden on the duel taking place, "Fu-chan's speed is steadily increasing. At this rate, she'll get even faster."

The two rookies listening in suddenly turned in shock.

"Are you kidding me?" Sasuke asked, looking back to see the girl's fists moving in blurs and being fired off at such speeds that there was absolutely no room to move. Neji was getting hit repeatedly now whether he liked it or not.

"She hasn't even stopped moving yet. How can she keep attacking at that pace? I can't even see her combinations anymore," Kiba also shouted.

It was the truth. While there was definitely some sort of an arrangement of attacks being thrown by Fu, her speed had picked up so much that not only had her attacks started to blur together into a single stream of punches, but they were also seemingly being fired off at virtually the same time. Her stamina was insane.

Neji was being hammered all over the guard from low to high, the attacks not only getting to him through his arms but were just daring him to try and respond.

The rain went on and threatened to rip into him completely. Fu wasn't giving him full power punches though. That would only mess up her rhythm. Instead, she continued to ride out her repertoire, which meant that her mishmash of blows continued to land uncontested. Neji was grunting and wincing under the sheer pressure of the storm, gritting his teeth and glaring through his weakening defenses at the girl who had not even stopped to take a breath.

She was swarming him.

Normally the Hyuuga would have been able to fend off an onslaught like this from his teammates, Lee especially. However, this girl was not only ridiculously quick and agile, but she was also deceptively clever. She had spent the entire first minute of their fight dancing around him, getting a feel for his timing, speed, and even his power when he managed to land that handful of body strikes from before into her guard. At first Neji thought he'd be able to take the lead from there.

However, just as he was beginning to fall into a comfortable pace, the girl suddenly revved up her idling engine and began returning his attacks with her own at full pelt. Soon enough, not only was she able to reverse their roles of attacker and defender, but she was also able to take the lead completely.

That was the other thing. This Fu girl was keeping them at out-fighting distance at around middle-range, a zone that Neji was pretty much a master at fighting at. The only problem was that while he would have been able to fend off conventional opponents with parries, returns and chakra bursts, this girl's fighting style was absurdly versatile, graceful and efficient. The kunoichi could take pot shots with snapping jabs and pull back before he had a chance to respond, avoiding any counters he threw and dodging the chakra bursts he was able to give off that would normally damage his opponent or stagger them. She was able to step out of reach of his juken defenses before moving straight back in a second later.

Once she was able to time each of his countermeasures effectively, she was then free to attack him as much as she wished. She was now assaulting his guard so quickly he couldn't even parry properly, let alone concentrate. His body was going numb.

"_That's it. You've taken this game far enough,"_ Neji grunted, feeling the barrage continue as his body was driven further into the post. Shaking his head, he bit his teeth together tightly when he felt two more punches reach in through his arms protecting his face and smack his jaw._ "You irritated me with your cat and mouse play. But now that you're going all out, you leave me no choice! I'm ending this!"_ When the girl stepped back and slammed a heel kick into his stomach as a follow-up, keeping him pinned and driving the hammer that was her offense further in, the Hyuuga then decided that he'd had enough.

Growling in frustration, Neji felt several more punches rattle him. Spotting a left coming with his Byakugan, the boy parried it compactly. Once it was redirected, he leapt at his chance, "Enough!" he shouted, stepping-in at speed till he was in range. He ducked, avoiding a right straight that barely grazed his head, which he then prepared to return with his own palm strike to the girl's body. His glare hardened as he locked onto his over-reaching foe.

"This match is over-"

Yim looked on in alarm when she saw Fu's glare fix onto her opponent lunging at her from below. Time slowed from her point of view.

In that instant, the moment Neji ducked in to avoid his opponent's straight, the martial artist stepped forward with wide eyes and panic lacing her voice.

"YOU IDIOT! SHE BAITED YOU!"

But it was too late.

Before Neji could even begin to uncork his counter on the girl, Fu dropped the biggest bomb in his lap anyone could ever think of. The moment he came into her circle, she slammed a left uppercut right into his exposed chin.

He didn't even notice her left fist drop to her waist.

It wasn't an ordinary uppercut either. It was a smooth, sharp, quick and simple short-motion uppercut, which stopped him in his tracks and snapped his head upwards. It came as such a surprise that not only did everybody else jump, but Naruto yelled out in shock and stared in utter horror at what he witnessed next.

With Neji floating in front of her, stunned, Fu opened up with her finisher. Moving in her own realm of speed, which appeared instantaneous through everybody else's eyes, the girl cocked back her right fist before opening up with what Naruto could only describe as the fastest chain of punches he had ever seen in his life. The girl rushed in with a barrage of straights thrown from both hands, all her fists cutting through the air directly towards the hapless Hyuuga.

Neji didn't stand a chance.

"_Shit …"_

The moment he was able to bring his focus back onto his target, all he saw coming towards him was a wall of fists numbering in their hundreds flying at him. He didn't even have time to gasp when the barrier of punches filling his blurred vision crashed into him and began raining hell upon his body one sharp blow after the other. The attacks were so lightning fast and consistent that the punches all felt like they were battering him at exactly the same time.

Fu's final attack was, in actuality, an unbroken string of straights that slammed repeatedly into Neji's face at warp speed, battering his body, hammering his stomach, rattling his bones and driving him like a railway spike into the post behind him. The sight was almost reminiscent of Chun Li attacking a falling opponent with her _Hyakuretsukyaku_ (Lightning Kick), only in this version it was a string of punches doing the job. Her combination of attacks rammed into him so hard, so fast with such ferocity that he was literally lifted several inches off the ground, and remained suspended throughout the assault.

It lasted only seven seconds, but from Neji's point of view it seemed like an eternity passed him by. So, when the whole thing eventually did come to an end and the dust started to settle on the close, the catastrophic results revealed themselves in all their bloody glory.

When his feet floated back down to the grass Neji felt nothing but sweet, liberating relief flood into him.

In fact, he was pretty sure he could barely feel anything at all, since he had been knocked unconscious. Additionally, his body was stuck ramrod straight, his head was cocked skywards, and not only was his body completely battered from head to waist, but his face had swollen up like a balloon so that his eyes were squeezed shut. He was bleeding from the mouth and his nose was also caved in.

Summing up all the damage inflicted upon him, Neji was an absolute wreck.

After hanging there for about five seconds, the Hyuuga keeled over. He fell flat onto Fu's shoulder and went limp where he landed. The kunoichi held him there for several moments with a happy smile in play, patting the boy on the shoulder several times in gratitude for a good fight, before allowing him to topple to the ground with a casual shrug. Neji hit the earth with a loud, echoing thud, which was amplified by the shock filling the area.

It was there he remained.

Silence fell as everybody gazed in disbelief at the slaughter that had just taken place before their very eyes. At first the whole thing appeared to them as just another one-sided bout and even in its closing stages it did in fact turn out to be a one-sided bout. The only difference from the opening was that the situations had been reversed. Now that it was all over, the audience was given a clear view of the winner, effectively concluding whose convictions were the most powerful.

Fu stood triumphantly over her fallen foe and gazed down at him with a smirk.

"Thanks for the great warm up. It was a very educational experience," the girl bowed, "I learned a lot from this." After a moment of silence, the kunoichi then stood bolt upright and clapped her hands together, rubbing them eagerly before grinning towards the crowd, "So! Who's next?"

At that question, everyone standing in sight took a long step backwards, all except for Naruto who was left staring gob smacked at the battlefield. At the sight of her fellow jinchuriki taking to the plate, Fu smiled pleasantly and placed her hands on her hips.

"Holy… shit," Kiba muttered while gazing down at Neji's bloated face and broken body. He looked over at Sasuke, "Hey… did you get all that? How many punches did she throw in that last shot?"

The Uchiha shook his head silently, his own eyes wide in alarm, "I don't know. I lost count even before she had him pinned up against the post."

Nobody could really tell what Shino was thinking right now. Judging from the beads of sweat running down the side of his head, he was probably just as astonished as everybody else. Lee and Tenten especially, who had yet to even move from their spot or even consider going to the aid of their fallen comrade. They were just so stunned and so overwhelmed, that their bodies refused to move. That grand finale had blown them all away.

The boy with the bushy eyebrows blinked, "Her hand speed… is even greater than mine… when opening the Gates." That said a lot; because his speed in those modes was multiplied to the point that even Jonin level shinobi had a considerable amount of trouble keeping up with him. His teacher could vouch for that himself.

"_Incredible,"_ Tenten shook her head, _"I haven't seen anyone move that quickly or use such lightning fast movements since Gai-sensei. Is she… some kind of genius?"_ It was a high possibility. The girl displayed the instincts and movements of a naturally gifted individual, and her reflexes and strategies were incredibly sharp. Her timing was spot on and so was her accuracy. The entire fight had unfolded almost like a play; a spot on performance with a talented cast.

It was otherworldly.

While Hinata and Choji were staring with their jaws dropped, Shikamaru had pretty much figured the whole thing out in his head the moment the fight had ended. However, that didn't mean he wasn't surprised. In fact, he was still trying to get over the fact that Fu was actually able to pull off such a well choreographed strategy which led to her awe-inspiring victory. It was brilliant.

"_That girl is on a whole other level,"_ Shikamaru frowned, breaking out into a cold sweat with his hands locked tightly together. He sized up the kunoichi, watching her laugh and giggle excitedly from the results of her battle. _"She kept her opponent at a distance, leading him into believing that he was in control of the fight. Though it appeared that Neji was chasing her down throughout the first half of the fight, in reality he was really dancing to __**her**__ music. She manipulated him into following her pace. Naturally that would drain his stamina, but she finished it before he could even get tired. After getting a feel for his speed, strength and timing, she then forced him into a corner and pressured him until he snapped. That was when she pounced…"_

The whole thing was troublesome. Though he was able to get the theory of her tactics down, it was still a real bitch to deal with. Looking in Naruto's direction, Shikamaru began having his doubts about whether his teammate and closest friend would be able to beat someone like this without taking more than his fair share of bruises.

In fact, there was a high possibility that right now, Naruto didn't even stand a chance against her.

Not only did Shikamaru feel it, but so did the jinchuriki and his teachers.

Nevertheless, while everybody was standing around still looking slack-jawed, the boy in orange managed to shake himself out of his reverie and smirk back at the girl. Even though he had sweat dripping down his face and his fists were trembling with what looked like fear…

It wasn't fear that was overcoming him…

It was excitement!

"_Oh yeah,"_ the blonde chuckled, lowering his head, _"I am going to have a LOT of fun with her…"_

OOO

After managing to drag Neji's body into the house, Tenten and Lee laid him out on the couch and covered his face with a damp cloth. If anything it would help with the swelling. In the meantime, Sakura and Ino sat around the table nearby flipping through channels on the T.V, with Choji accompanying them. Kin had taken a spot on another couch, petting a dozing Taiga and watching over a sleeping Mr. Woo perched on the chair's arm rest. She used the time she had to gather her thoughts and contemplate on the issue concerning the 'new girls'.

Shino was standing over by Naruto's potted plant and was just staring at it like it was the most fascinating thing in the world, most probably because it had a beetle sitting on it. Local residents always made for great conversation.

And finally, Sasuke was brooding over by the corner in deep thought, Kiba was playing tug-of-war with Akamaru over a chew toy, and Yim and Ran were over in the kitchen chatting. Shikamaru and Hinata had joined them and were listening intently to what was going on. After the performance they had just witnessed, there was plenty to talk about.

There were also a lot of questions needing to be answered, like whether or not Neji Hyuuga was going to be alright.

"You know what," Shikamaru exclaimed, looking into the lounge room to see Lee fanning his unconscious teammate with a magazine, "I've seen spars and throw downs here in this village many times in the past. Not just between my clan members but the Akimichi and even the Yamanaka clans. Hell, I've been in one hell of a cluster fuck with you and Naruto. But damn it; I've never seen a fight like the one _we_ just saw."

"Not even Naruto-kun pulled off anything like that during his training," Hinata whispered, twiddling her thumbs. She shook her head fitfully, "Sh-She was incredible."

"She wasn't just incredible, she was _unbelievable_," Shikamaru replied, looking towards the kunoichi sitting next to him. His fingers tapped the board of the table nervously, "That wasn't just something instinctive… the way Fu fought… she learned those moves through solid practice."

"S-So… is she someone who works just as hard as Naruto-kun?"

"Without a doubt. It's not something a genius can do on their own," the Nara replied with an affirmative nod, "No, she's better than your everyday genius like Sasuke and Neji. That girl is someone who's sharpened her blades to the point of perfection. Her tactics are well rounded, her speed is out of this world, and her attacks are piercing."

"What's more, she's also someone who firmly believes in having a strong body above everything else," Yim suddenly spoke, drawing the pair's attention to her. "Unlike a lot of you other kids, she doesn't rely on big moves like jutsu or chakra prowess to win her battles. No. She's more of an old-fashioned kind of warrior."

"She fights using the basic of the basics and isn't afraid to look her opponents in the eye," Ran also added with a smile. "We're talking about a person who's engraved into her mind that you can be strong enough without possessing abilities like being able to spit fire from your mouth, create thousands of clones, or have the perfect vision that can trap people in time. She can defeat her opponents without possessing any of these qualities."

"Well… she sure showed us," Shikamaru chuckled, looking over at the unconscious Hyuuga. "Even with his clan's abilities and superb chakra control, it just wasn't enough for Neji."

Yim smiled, looking down at the Nara to see him still scratching his head, "How many punches do you think she managed to land before she stopped?" When the two kids at the table looked up at her, her expression became a little bit more serious. "In seven seconds, she managed to land a hundred and twenty seven."

"A hundred and t-twenty seven?" Hinata gasped.

There was no laughing from the two masters though. In spite of the smiles on their faces, they were both thinking about that final combination the girl was able to pull.

"Those were the punches that _didn't_ miss their target," Ran exclaimed.

"Even the ones she missed with weren't wasted attacks," Yim stated, folding her arms and turning to look out the kitchen window, "She used her incredibly high speed to create a kind of screen on both sides of her opponent, framing him, cornering him, and making sure that the attacks she was meant to hit him with made their mark."

"That's… really incredible," Shikamaru murmured, propping his head on his hand. "She knows her limits well… and her aim is biblical." Furrowing his brow agitatedly, he then looked across at Hinata to meet the girls' gaze, "Come to think of it, her fighting style and nature is very similar to Naruto's."

"R-Really?"

"Yeah. Her footwork is similar, her evasive maneuvers, her way of thinking, her reflexes, and even her power. If you ask me, the weapons she's forged into her body may have been crafted in the same manner as our teammate's; through hard work and grit."

"Not only that, but her hand speed is even greater than Naruto-kun's," Yim said, closing her eyes thoughtfully. "Punch for punch, without any alterations made to her body through use of chakra or any other means, Fu may have the fastest combination time on this entire continent. Even with damage inflicted to her chakra network she was not deterred in the least. Her speed and reflexes are on a level so high that it's almost animalistic in nature, and her sense of timing may actually place her at Jonin level from what I've seen."

"It's almost unfair, but it is how it is," Ran exclaimed, quelling any objections the two kids may be willing to voice. "She's a strong one."

Rubbing the side of his head, Shikamaru breathed out a sigh and looked up, "Naruto has a _Chain Punch_ combination that is intimidating as hell; an onslaught of uncorked, bolt like punches launched directly from a guard position capable of precise, accurate and damaging blows to the body and head. If that wasn't enough _this_ girl comes along with a technique comprising of consecutive quick and powerful middle-ranged punches with blindingly fast speed and good range. When you try to step in close to throw off her pattern, short uppercuts will stop you and sets you up perfectly for her finisher. If both of them were to pit their fastest techniques against one another, head to head… then…"

"Fu would win," Yim answered, looking across at the pair to see them look back at her gloomily. "But only by a thin margin. Her speed is above that of Naruto's at this point, but I'm sure that with a little more ground work… he'll be able to fight toe to toe with her in the future."

Shikamaru chuckled, whereas Hinata smiled in relief.

"If anyone could pull it off, Naruto would be able to," the Nara exclaimed.

The blue haired Hyuuga nodded enthusiastically and looked over at her teammate, "I'm sure th-that if he was to fight against someone with no weaknesses and was pressed up against the ropes, N-Naruto-kun would most certainly win. He never gives up. Never!"

They were certain. Hell, even his teachers were positive that they could push their student to fight on that level.

While Fu showed that she had absolutely no weaknesses in terms of speed and tactics, they were certain that given the right amount of training and time, Naruto would be able to bring down that armor of hers. As daunting as the sight was, no one was unbeatable. Everyone in that room felt determined to prove that, and so the kung fu practitioner and the samurai began mentally comprising a list of new training regiments they could begin putting Naruto through.

"Neji is lucky to be alive," Shikamaru stated, nodding towards the still unconscious boy. "If he manages to regain consciousness, I would like to ask him exactly what he saw facing down that girl's attacks head on."

"Trying to think up a strategy to overcome it?" Yim asked.

"What? A storm of unending punches that looks like a wall coming right at you at break-neck speed? Hell yeah I want to figure out how to stop something like that," the Nara replied while scratching his head. "With her footwork and almost instantaneous directional changes, it would take me forever to trap her with my shadow. Actually, there is a good chance she could dance around me until I run out of chakra."

"Difficult fighting someone who knows what they're doing, isn't it?" Ran asked with a smile.

"Yeah, but it's not something impossible to overcome," Shikamaru groaned, feeling a little disheartened, "I'm sure I can come up with something. Naruto too…"

Hinata looked up suddenly when she was brought about to that subject, "W-Where is Naruto-kun anyway?"

"Oh, he went on a walk around the rice fields with his newfound friend. I think he said something about wanting to show her the area in this part of the village and to have a bit of a talk with her," Yim said, breathing out a sigh as she gazed absentmindedly out the window. "Isn't it romantic?"

The Hyuuga sitting close by stiffened at the last word uttered, her expression becoming more downcast as she turned her gaze towards the table. The sight of her sudden change in emotions had her teammate look in her direction with concern, seconds before he was suddenly drawn across the room to where he saw Tenten looking straight ahead of her with an uncomfortable scowl. Right on cue, Kin also responded to the martial artists' comment with due haste, rising from the couch and, with her posture uncharacteristically straightened, went marching out of the room.

This confirmed the perceptive Nara's suspicions about one thing, which had him glare up at Naruto's teacher distastefully, "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

Yim giggled and rubbed the side of her face, looking coyly toward the teenagers, "Whatever do you mean?"

While it was tempting to jab at her attempts to feign ignorance, Shikamaru voted against it. Instead, his questions were answered by the timely mumblings of Ran, to which both he and Hinata focused their attention on.

The woman was counting on her fingers while looking up towards the ceiling in bewilderment, "So that's… three girls, not counting the new one as a possibility? Wow, Naruto-kun's doing really well for himself."

Overhearing this, Hinata blushed and looked away, whereas Shikamaru felt like ramming his head into the table. Instead, he rubbed his tired eyes and tried to think of something else.

In the meantime, while the gang in the kitchen used up the silence provided wallowing about in despair, counting up the interests Naruto had accumulated most recently and considering the potential encounters he was bound to have in the foreseeable future, Neji used that moment of intermission to make his grand revival to the land of the living. Gasping in shock, the genius sat bolt upright from the couch and raised both his palms, striking out at the air desperately before he was suddenly stopped by Lee grabbing his shoulder.

"Whoa! Whoa! Neji-kun! It's alright," the boy in green exclaimed, watching as his teammate looked around his still cloth-covered world in paranoia. "It's finished. Your youthful duel with fate is over!"

"D-Duel… of fate," Neji mumbled absently, the damp cloth covering his eyes sliding down his face and falling free. When he looked towards his teammates sitting on the floor beside him in bewilderment, he was slowly welcomed back to this reality by both Lee and Tenten's cheeks puffing up and their hands being thrown over their mouths, seconds before both of them bent over into fits of laughter.

Those sitting nearby, including Sakura, Ino, Choji and Kiba also burst out laughing when they saw the state the proud Hyuuga was in.

Though the damp cloth had done well in suppressing some of the swelling from the beating he'd taken, Neji was still quite bloated. His face resembled one of those odd abstract paintings where every single shape used in it was a circle. The overall shape of his head resembled a tomato.

"Y-Y-You…" Tenten hollered out while grabbing her sides, wiping away tears cornering her eyes as she continued giggling uncontrollably, "You look… ridiculous… N-Neji! HAHAHA!"

"I-It is most unbecoming of you… m-my eternal rival," Lee also laughed out.

Blinking in confusion, Neji groaned and raised a hand to his face. When he touched it, he hissed painfully and grabbed his hair instead. Amidst the laughter, he attempted to regain his bearings, "W-What happened?"

Managing to calm her breathing, Tenten patted the bewildered boy on the shoulder, "You got your ass beat. That's what happened."

"I was… defeated?" Neji murmured, looking across at his teammates. "How? That… isn't… possible."

Once all the laughter and chuckles in the room ebbed, his companions were finally able to look at him seriously again and answer the questions he was now sputtering out amidst his delirious state. "You underestimated her. You were so zealous in your ability to defeat any opposition presented to you that you didn't even consider the possibility that your opponent could be a genius like you or stronger. I guess you can say that your shortsightedness was your Achilles heel today."

"Neji-kun was most unyouthful in his first impression with the visitor!" Lee exclaimed, giving a characteristic twinkle, "You must be reprimanded; one-hundred pushups!"

"Later, Lee," Tenten chuckled, calming her teammate down with a pat on the back. "Point is; you messed up…"

"Big time, I should say!" Kiba called out.

"Try to be more considerate about the feelings of the people you're interacting with. If you look down on every person you meet, you're just asking for trouble. To be frank, most of the time your speeches are really uncalled for," the kunoichi concluded without missing a beat.

"The next time you want to make nice, a simple 'hello' would be infinitely better than 'petty and violent thugs' or 'you're born to fail'," Ino commented in his voice to try and add a little more syrup to the conversation. She wanted to help out, since the boy seemed like he could use it.

His teammates could agree wholeheartedly on that one. A douche bag will always be viewed as a douche bag unless you can change the way you approach certain situations and make yourself look more presentable. Unless he changed the way he viewed the world and the way he spoke with people soon, he wouldn't be able to make any friends. The only people he could look to for support now was Lee and Tenten.

And they were perhaps the only two besides their teacher.

However, whether the beating Fu had given had managed to knock some sense back into his head and changed his outlook or not was uncertain. The only thing that was clear right now was that he was badly bruised and still trying to pick up where he'd left off. So, after taking in everything that he was told, the boy went back to looking down at the floor and holding his sore head.

Tenten scoffed when she got another good look at his face, "Bloody hell, I think you need to see a doctor about that swelling. You look like a pumpkin…"

The Hyuuga scowled up at her, "Please, Tenten. I'm still having trouble discerning up from down…"

OOO

**Meanwhile…**

Flipping a rock up in the air and catching it, Naruto tossed it across the pond and watched it skip eighteen times before ending in a big splash. He grinned and fist pumped, stepping back and seeing Fu step up to have her turn. Flipping the pebble with her thumb, she then rotated in and flicked it across the water. It bounced an equal number of times before coming to a splashing halt. The distances in their tosses were roughly around the same.

"You are exactly the kind of man I expected you to be," the green haired kunoichi exclaimed, returning Naruto's enthusiastic grin with one of her own, "An amazing shinobi with a very sundry lifestyle."

"Ah, I'm nothing special," the blonde replied with a dismissive wave, "I'm just a guy who lives in a house on the edge of the village and lives every day to its fullest. You can only keep moving for so long, so I'm cramming as many things into my schedule as I can."

"So you're okay with wasting time with a weirdo like me?" Fu asked, poking herself in the chest. "I only hope I'm not inconveniencing you. My teammates say I can be a bit of a bother."

Naruto shrugged, "After seeing what you're capable of, you can say that my interests in you as a person and as a shinobi have skyrocketed." He made a gesture emphasizing the amount he was talking about, which had his other half giggle with amusement. "You're amazing. Just… _amazing_, Fu-chan."

"I'm glad," the kunoichi replied, looking slightly abashed. "I had a very similar reaction to you when I saw you perform live on television, so I guess you can say we're in the same boat. What with it being broadcasted across the same channel this year's _Chunin Exams_ are going to be on, maybe I'm not the only one out there you've managed to astound with your powers."

This had the boy laugh, "What? So you're saying I'm bound to be getting a few more unexpected visitors over the next few weeks demanding a fight with the spiky-haired punching bag from _Konohagakure_?"

Fu shrugged, "Perhaps. You never know." She then flicked him in the nose at his sincerely bestowed title upon himself. "Give yourself a little more credited for your abilities, why don't you. You're a lot stronger than you think you are and I'm willing to bet that I'm not the only one who believes that."

After rubbing his nose, Naruto jabbed her playfully in the shoulder and grinned, "Thanks a lot."

"Don't mention it."

The two of them strolled on, enjoying the other person's company while also looking out across the rice fields laid out before them, where they saw a flock of cranes glide across the treetops before coming to soft landing in a pond a whole valley over. With that natural soundtrack playing in the background and the smell of fresh dew hanging in the air, it was an enchanting sight befitting any fantasy. Sure, any normal person would have picked up on the romantic hints, but Naruto and Fu weren't ordinary people.

They were as dense as bricks and just as hard, which was why they were able to converse the way they were able to like they were the best of friends rather than shakily exchanging small talk like crushes.

Sometimes it was awesome being thick-headed. It was a good world.

Naruto gazed across at Fu, "By the way, where did you learn that punching technique you used to knock out Ten-chan's teammate? It was awesome."

"Hmm? You mean my _**Gatling**_?" the girl asked while looking over.

The blonde smiled, "So that's what it's called? Gatling? Yeah… it was pretty amazing."

"Really? Thanks," the kunoichi chirped while throwing her hands up behind her head. "I learned it after watching a colony of bees fight off a hungry bear digging through their hive to get at their food stocks. I was on a farming mission that day with my team and the forest just happened to be sitting downwind from the insect nests. By attacking all at once, the hive was able to drive off an animal several hundred times their size. I thought that if I could replicate that with my own body, I would be able to defeat not just an opponent many times larger than myself, but also several times my strength, speed and numbers."

"Wow. Now that's really cool."

"Stop it," Fu chuckled, pushing him in the arm, "You're making me blush. That technique is all just part of a bigger plan I have set for the future anyway, so it's no big deal…"

"Plan?"

"Oh yeah," the kunoichi exclaimed while smirking across at the blonde. When her eyes met his, her tone became notably more excited, "Do you have a dream, Naruto-kun? Something you would work yourself to the bone to make a reality?"

The Genin nodded, his curiosity escalating by the second.

"What is it?"

Rubbing the back of his head, Naruto only needed to think on the question for a second to formulate an answer. His words carried both certainty and confidence, just as they always had throughout all his years in the academy, "My dream is to become Hokage… the _greatest_ Hokage, one that surpasses every other in history."

"Even greater than Hashirama Senju?"

"Oh yeah! Definitely," Naruto replied, bringing his hand up and forming a tight fist in front of him.

He remembered how he'd let that guy's name slip from him a few months ago before the final exams in the academy. After catching up on his reading and digging further into the history of his own clan, Naruto was able to figure out where he'd heard that name before and why it sounded so familiar to him. His class had practically been drilled in his teachings a hundred times over. It was the previous owner of his clone jutsu book and perhaps one of the greatest shinobi in world history. Hashirama was one of his many sources of inspiration. He'd only ever referred to him as 'The First' for all these years, so much so that the title had managed to engrave itself into his head as the guy's actual name. It was more than just a designation after all.

"I did say the greatest Hokage, didn't I?! If it means becoming the strongest in the world, then I will do my best and work even harder to get there! Believe it!"

Fu grinned, bringing her own fist up and tapping it against his, the two of them stopping in the middle of the road, "Sounds awesome! That's a great dream to pursue. Don't you ever give up on it, alright?"

"Right. But what about yours, Fu-chan?" Naruto asked, tilting his head at the kunoichi, "What is your dream?"

"Mine? Well…" Her expression intensified all the more. The seriousness in her face and the way the atmosphere suddenly became heavy with anticipation told the blonde that what she had to say next, she meant. She spoke with a grin and a sparkle, "My dream is to become stronger than Madara Uchiha."

"Madara Uchiha?" Naruto repeated slowly. He blinked twice while waving the finger of his free hand in the air several times, "Isn't that the first guy? You know… the old leader of Sasuke's clan? That guy?" He received a firm nod from the girl for his answer.

"He was considered an equal to Senju if not his second. I want to become stronger than him because there's a really dangerous man out there whose skills are very similar to his that I might just end up facing one of these days," Fu replied. Her smile disappeared, at the same time the two lowered their hands back down to their sides. "Do you know a shinobi by the name of Itachi Uchiha?"

Rubbing his chin, Naruto looked away briefly to consult his memory banks, "It rings a bell. Wasn't he the one responsible for murdering his entire clan?" The blonde snapped his fingers and looked back up sharply, "That's right! He's Sasuke's brother! The teme didn't come to school for five whole weeks after what that punk did to his family." His eyes landed back on the kunoichi's, where his expression became withdrawn and curious once again. "You… want to fight Itachi Uchiha?"

"Not just fight… _beat_!" Fu stated while turning her glare back to the path ahead of them. "The news about him was always big in our village. Whenever reports on forces outside of our borders came in, even the ones where Itachi was suspected of involvement, they always said stuff about how entire fortresses were wiped out in a single night, platoons of shinobi just up and vanished without a trace, and power hungry lords of smaller nations suddenly wound up in some backwater slave town chained up and blabbering all sorts of nonsense. The bingo book, hell, even our library texts says that the guy is a genius level shinobi, one of the best and most gifted to ever come out of the _Uchiha Clan_. By my reckoning, his skills are closer to Madara's than anyone else's, so one of the last steps I need to take in surpassing the original Uchiha's level is to defeat _this_ man!"

"That's a pretty well thought out plan you have," Naruto smiled, placing his hands on his hips. "How do you think he will fight? A person who was able to wipe out his entire clan and then some won't be an easy one to beat."

"I'm already a third of the way there," Fu replied, taking a stance and throwing a couple of punches followed by a kick. The speed of which she was able to execute those attacks had the jinchuriki lean back in surprise, "Itachi Uchiha is said by many to have the fastest hand seal speed of any shinobi on record. Witnesses to his battles have described his movements to be so well refined that his use of jutsu appeared instantaneous. Even his taijutsu is on a ridiculously high level. However," the kunoichi smirked and glanced back at her puzzled audience, "My hand speed is _also_ impossibly high, even by Jonin standards. I'm only going to get faster the harder I train so that in time, even the sharpest of doejutsu users won't be able to keep up with me. Today's test of my abilities against a Hyuuga was proof enough."

"That's true. You beat the living snot out of Hinata's cousin," Naruto chuckled, earning a bigger grin from Fu._ "No doubt, we all saw something incredible. I can't imagine what Neji saw before he was smacked about like a training dummy."_

"Heck, with a little more practice I'll soon be fast enough to stop enemies from weaving hand seals altogether," Fu stated proudly, thumbing her chest, "You don't need big, flashy jutsu to beat your opponents. All you need is your trusted left and right!" She held both fists out in front, before looking down at her feet and wiggling her toes. Naruto absentmindedly looked down at them too, suddenly finding her appendages quite fascinating. "Oh, and let's not forget about these guys."

Her fellow jinchuriki laughed.

If there was ever a person in this world Naruto could really be himself around, it was with this person. This Fu girl had the same interests and skills as him. She was friendly, had a good sense of humor, she was willing to play around and 'hang'. Hell, she was tough as nails too, not giving an inch even in the hairiest of situations. She was the whole damn package. Where'd she been all his life?

In _Taki_ obviously, but that was a rhetorical question.

Laughing out loud, Naruto also held up his fists and knocked them against Fu's before turning her around so that they could continue walking.

"You're really something else," Naruto chuckled.

"So are you, and that's precisely why I'm here," Fu replied, leaning in closer to him so that her face hovered just an inch from his, "I hope we can have our fight soon. I've been dying for a real challenge for days! I'm itching to go!"

The boy laughed again, moving away while poking her in the arm, "Tell yah what; why don't we… put our duel on hold for now?"

"Huh?" Fu carted to a stop, dragging Naruto along with her so that they could both face each other. The girl appeared to him both stunned and downcast when her gaze met his again, "W-Why?"

She had really been looking forward to a fight. It was all said in her current expression. However, not one to leave people disappointed, the blonde jinchuriki grinned and placed a hand on her shoulder, rubbing it so that she didn't jump off the handle while he was in mid-reply, "You mentioned that the _Chunin Exams_ were coming up, right?"

"Y-Yeah…"

"Well… if we're lucky enough, Asuma-sensei might be putting my team up for it this year. It's going to be a big ass party. You did say it was going to be broadcasted all across the shinobi nations, right?"

Realizing where he was going with this, Fu sprouted a smile and nodded. "The exams are set to be held in _Kusagakure_; the biggest one in history. Not to mention _every_ shinobi nation interested will be participating in it."

"Well… why don't we meet and have our match there? I read from one of the old programs Shiho-chan leant to me that all teams who managed to make it to the third stage battled each other in a tournament like setup, one-on-one. Maybe we can face each other in the finals and decide who the best out of the two of us is. The gap between then and now will give us a chance to train so that when we _do_ meet, we'll be able to fight in our best conditions… at our strongest," Naruto tilted his head, raising an eyebrow to give his offer further effect. "Interested?

Rocking an excited grin, Fu nodded her head enthusiastically and pushed him away, placing her hands on her hips. Giving him a once over, she then breathed out and thrust her hand towards him. Recognizing the gesture, Naruto wasted no time in taking her hand in his and shaking it firmly.

"What the hell; I'm in!" Fu exclaimed, lowering her head towards the equally energized kid, "I'll be looking forward to it, Naruto-kun."

"Same here," the blonde replied, smirking from ear to ear. "Train hard, because I can promise you that I will! Dattebayo!"

And just like with Nai, Naruto had once again committed himself to another engagement for the future. But even though it was a fight between two different shinobi from two different villages, this time he was positive it wouldn't be a battle that decided the fate of two worlds. This wasn't going to be a duel for the freedom of one country or the independence of another, this time he was certain that it was going to be a match between two friends.

Promise made, the pair disengaged from their handshake and continued on walking. Before they could pick up the pace though, Fu latched onto Naruto's arm with a playful giggle. Shaking his head, the boy kept walking while the kunoichi stuck to him, literally.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the two jinchuriki, further back down the trail that Naruto and Fu had already covered and hiding behind a tree, Kin stood silent and watchful. Peering around the large trunk, the raven haired girl had listened to the whole conversation the two of them had been sharing. While she had indeed been comfortable learning that it was just an exchange of words between friends and rivals based on the subject alone, she was unfortunately unable to contain the feelings of frustration that overcame her when she suddenly saw the green haired visitor 'glomp' her blonde haired companion.

She gritted her teeth and clenched her fist against the wood of the cherry blossom tree. The frustration she felt in that instant caused her to rip the bark off of it without her knowing. Hell, she even dug into the wood at how tight her grip became.

"_That stupid, bouncy, annoying little…"_ Sensing danger with those coming thoughts, Kin shook her head furiously and went back to glaring at the two now further off in the distance, _"Wait! Why am I acting like this over Naruto-kun and some girl? What's wrong with me?"_

Her cheeks felt a little warmish. What was that all about?

XXX

Naruto and Fu congregated out on the meadows for the rest of that afternoon till it was time to go home to grab a bite to eat. Not to sound romantic or anything but that was exactly what happened. Calm down fan boys and girls, nothing dirty transpired in that time.

Anyhow, after kicking off their shoes and walking in through the front door, the pair found themselves greeted by every able bodied member of the Rookie Nine plus three. Neji's face had remained quite swollen throughout the time that the host and his visitor had been out, and while most of the damage had managed to settle, it was still quite noticeable.

Once they had pushed the laughter out of the way and were able to mingle in amongst each other, everyone then took their discussions to the kitchen and sat down around the table for a good spot of tea. Hell, everyone stayed, even those that had social problems 'cough-Shino-cough'. Sasuke, Ino, Tenten, Sakura and everybody else enjoyed a serving of Yakisoba, fried rice and barbeque pork, all kindly provided by Yim Wing-chun.

Meow had gone off on an errand that afternoon to rack in some more cash for the temporary family to use, which answered Naruto's question as to the absence of his most exuberant guest. This was only a minor chink in the rest of the evening to follow though, where Team 10 was able to entertain everyone by telling them all about their first Jonin level mission, leaving out no details of the tale such as their time spent at the castle, the banquets, the job, and the end fight. It was the end conflict that had guys like Lee, Fu, Kiba, Tenten and Sasuke incredibly absorbed.

Naruto went out of his way to tell his friends about Nai and how he was probably the toughest opponent he will ever end up facing.

Unsurprisingly, Neji remained quiet for a majority of that evening. He spent the period of that gathering eating slowly, while glancing in Naruto and Fu's direction several times.

As annoyed as he had been before, you could say he had been quite literally put in his place thanks to the beating from a 'bottom feeder'. It was almost laughable, but his silence right now could be interpreted as _him_ sulking. Tenten and Lee did their best to cheer him up, but after a while they thought it best to leave him to his thoughts.

After serving drinks to his comrades and listening to more of their stories in the two weeks Team 10 had been out of the village, it then came the time where everyone had to excuse themselves from his home. They all bade farewell to Naruto one after the other and returned to the village as a whole, leaving the owner, Yim, Ran, Kin, Fu, later Meow, and amusingly enough, Tenten, all seeing the teams off from the front porch.

In the end, Naruto found himself staring across rather awkwardly at the brown haired girl sitting in his living room smirking back at him with her arms folded.

"What? You think I'm going to leave you here all alone with a bunch of girls sleeping right next door to you, unguarded?" the kunoichi exclaimed with a firm voice. She chuckled when she saw his hopeful expression briefly reflected on his face, "Well, think again buster. I hope you have another room available because I'm also staying the night."

The jinchuriki chuckled nervously and shrank in his seat. Unfortunately for him, both Fu and Kin were sitting on either side of him on the same couch, like monoliths threatening to topple over, which made him feel incredibly conscious of his physical health.

"O-Of course, T-Ten-chan…" A shock of electricity suddenly ran up his spine, a response which came from Kin's glare hardening on him just inches away from his face. Naruto gulped when her intensity increased in the pause to follow, "I… I'll set one up for you right away."

Tenten was insistent. Her foot was down and everything, so there was absolutely no way the jinchuriki could argue his way out of this. The Sound Nin he was already sharing a corridor with expressed her resentment physically through killing intent and painful jabs to his side with her elbow, gestures which did not go on unnoticed by the other two sitting nearby. This whole scenario provided great after-dinner entertainment for Yim, Ran and Meow over in the kitchen looking in.

Since her village was so far away Fu also had no other choice but to stay for the night. She had no money on her, having practically left the village without dropping by her place to pick up any supplies. While her motives were purely within reason of course, Tenten's reasons for staying however were highly suspicious, particularly to Kin. The latter of the three also had a good reason for staying and that was because she was under house-arrest, and couldn't do jack about it. Naruto had informed the kunoichi of Team Gai of this scenario, and while she did mount a bit of a protest against this the quick on his toes blonde was able to win her over.

Still, this did little to rid the house of its tense atmosphere.

Managing to squeeze his way out of his deadlock, Naruto found a room for Fu across from his to share along with Tenten, resulting in the pair sleeping in futons side by side. Neither of them put up a fuss over the conditions and just went along with their friend's arrangements. Kin had her own room next to his so the overall solution to his guest problem was quickly formulated. He was able to quell any murderous intent from the girls by removing himself from the equation and confining himself to his quarters. Eventually, after a tiring day of travel, an exhausting reunion, a fantastic showdown, a delightful dinner, and an intense standoff, everyone was finally in their beds and snoring away quietly.

For the time being Naruto was spared from the clutches of death…

XXX

**That next morning…**

Getting up bright and early, Naruto was able to help Yim out in her task of making a delicious and healthy breakfast for all of the guests staying in the house. Though it took some time since all of the girls had decided to sleep in today, the job was nevertheless completed and the food distributed once everyone had managed to pull themselves out from under the covers. The menu consisted of porridge and scrambled eggs with a side of orange juice, a perfect peace offering. Thankfully, the mood had become infinitely more bearable now that the issue of the sleepover had come and gone, yet Naruto still acted as though he was treading on hot water.

With so many strong girls around him, he was being extra cautious not to set off anymore fuses.

Of course, once they'd finished up and the dishes were all sent to the cleaners, the host was then able to escort his newfound friend back over to the village's gates so that she could head on home. Better early in the day when the sun was bright than in the pitch black or dimness of evening, right? Though it seemed like Naruto was trying to get some of the heat off of him with this act of gentlemanliness, the reality was that Fu was being firm on an early departure.

After all, she wanted to get back into her training as soon as possible.

The trip across the village to the Northern gate allowed the pair time to talk. Telling each other about their respective villages and companions brought on more than its share of laughs and chatter, a good time which was then brought to a premature end when Fu was soon standing outside the village on the other side of the line drawn between her and Naruto standing inside the border marking _Konohagakure_.

The green haired kunoichi gave the boy a warm hug, something which surprised the recipient but nonetheless appreciated and returned in kind, "Thanks for letting me stay over."

"Don't mention it," Naruto exclaimed, the girl releasing her hold of him and stepping back. "Be careful on the road home. I hear the path gets a little bumpy further up North."

"You don't need to worry about me, friend," Fu chirped while thumping her chest proudly before slipping her hands behind her childishly, "If I were you, I'd be more worried about myself. You'd better train hard in the next few months, because if you don't and you come to the exams unprepared, you're gonna regret it." She stuck her tongue out at him.

Naruto grinned back, "Oh, I'll work hard. Believe it!"

"I can't wait to see what new techniques you'll be able to come up with between now and then. So get at it and don't disappoint me," Fu saluted before spinning around with a wave. "Be seein' yah soon, Naruto-kun!"

"Same here!" Naruto waved back. "Good luck, Fu-chan!"

Taking a few steps forward, the kunoichi was about to break into a run, stance lowered and both hands pulled back into a launch. However, just feet away from her break-off point, the girl suddenly stopped in her tracks and turned back to face the blonde, "Oh… and by the way." Her switch puzzled Naruto for a moment, but after a few seconds of waiting Fu grinned at him and winked, "The Seven Tails says hi!"

With that final word spoken, kunoichi then turned tail and dashed off. She was gone from sight several moments later, leaving a baffled Naruto far behind.

The blonde scratched his head, "Huh? 'The Seven Tails says hi'? What does she mean by- wait?!"

It took him a bit of inquiry, but the tingling sensation in his gut eventually brought him around to the understanding of those words' true meaning.

In spite of being known all around the village as one of the densest men born into this world, Naruto did indeed have his moments. They were few in numbers and quite uncommon, but he did in fact have them. Figuring out Fu's parting sentences turned out to be one of his brightest if not most astonishing, his face taking on that deer-caught-in-the-headlights look before his arms and posture pretty much dropped from a sudden increase in gravity upon his person.

Naruto gawked towards the horizon line Fu had just been in plain sight upon seconds before.

"She… is a jinchuriki?"

Boy, was this a real slap to the face.

OOO

Fu couldn't stop laughing to herself as she felt the village of _Konohagakure_ disappearing over the hills far behind her. Even at this distance and not having her eyes set on target the girl could see the look of astonishment crossing over Naruto's face. As much as she hated leaving him on a note like that, she knew that it had to be said. At least she knew now that she wasn't the only one out there and the container of the Nine Tails knew it too.

This was a meeting destined to happen.

So now, with a new goal in hand and her next flight of steps laid out before her and ready to be conquered, Fu set her sights on the _Chunin Exams_.

The future was bright and full of promise. She couldn't wait. It was a feeling that remained with her all the way down the road and beyond the fork in the road which she came across about an hour later. The two branching paths forced the girl to a premature stop, with Fu spending the next few seconds getting her bearings right and figuring out which one she needed to take in order to get back to her home village.

Puzzled, the girl placed her chin in her hand and looked from left to right several times, taking stock of her options.

"Let's see… _Takigakure_ is…" Raising her right arm and pointing skywards, she then dropped it left with a triumphant smile, deciding to leave this up to chance, "THAT WAY!"

Not wanting to burn anymore daylight then she already had, Fu dropped low and sprinted off, leaving a cloud of dust hanging in the air in the wake of her abrupt exit from the scene.

Quite literally, the second her trail managed to settle, leaving not a single trace that the kunoichi had even been there, who should come strolling down the other road to the right, but two shady individuals dressed in black cloaks with red cloud patterns on it.

They stopped directly in the center of the crossroad and looked down through the paper streamers hanging from their straw hats at the map being held up by the shorter of the two, telling them which way they were headed. Unfortunately though, the functional pair found themselves utterly perplexed by the directions drawn for them by a 'helpful' local they had passed further back along the track, which had the two of them scratching heads for the next few minutes.

"Got any ideas?" Kisame asked curiously as Itachi rotated the map several times.

The Uchiha squinted through his Sharingan, his fingers feeling the edges skeptically, "Perhaps…" He looked up and pointed down the path Fu came from with his sharp gaze, "_That_ way. We'll cut across west and head south. We should arrive at our destination by mid-day tomorrow if we stop for the night. I feel like taking a breather anyway."

The shark faced man blinked as he looked down at his usually silent partner, having noticed his glare harden in his evaluation of the paper. After several moments of careful consideration, the roguish man then smirked devilishly and raised his nose, "Want to have those checked out?"

Picking up on the teasing jab Itachi folded the map shut and firmly sleeved it, "They're working just fine. Thank you for asking." Tipping his hat further over his face, the Uchiha marched on, followed closely by his companion. "No need to fret over something so trivial. As long as there is an objective laid out before me, I will see it completed, through light or dark."

"Hey, no need to play the Hamlet card on me, Itachi. I'm just looking out for my best pal, is all," Kisame chuckled, placing a hand on the man's shoulder and patting it reassuringly. "Got to make sure everything's working right with you. Don't want my partner going out prematurely. I mean, where's the fun in that?"

Itachi fingers twitched warningly, "Remove the hand."

The taller Nin did as instructed with a hasty withdrawal, "Sorry."

* * *

><p><strong>Four weeks later…<strong>

**Konohagakure, Mission Office…**

Shikamaru groaned in annoyance as he nursed at the bloody scratches crisscrossing his face recently given to him by that damn cat Tora, who was thankfully now back in the arms of her owner Madam Shijimi. His teammates also had their share of battle scars from the ordeal, wounds sustained in the midst of a fray thanks to the blunder made on behalf of their 'insightful' instructor's meddling.

Unfortunately for them, Asuma had made the mistake of trying to pet the little critter behind the ear when he misinterpreted its foul mood for one that could be easily quelled. He got bit, which naturally resulted in a lot of screaming and gnawing from the whole group as they attempted to grab at the animal scrambling all over them and trying to get away.

It had been a spectacular battle. Heck, even Asuma had scratches made to his face from trying to restrain the beast. In the end though the four of them managed to complete the mission and return Tora back to her rightful owner. The cat squealed out in horror and dismay as she was woman-handled by the overly affectionate wife of the Fire Daimyo.

"This repeat 'job' is getting _waa-ay_ too troublesome," Shikamaru commented, watching as their client paid for the mission over at the administration desk where a pleasantly smiling Iruka was sitting and organizing fees from customers. "I swear that that _cat_ is getting better at hiding with every escape attempt."

"E-Even I had trouble finding her with my Byakugan," Hinata agreed, bringing her hands up to her chest in her usual timid manner. "She's really quick."

"The Daimyo seriously needs to consider putting that thing on a leash," Naruto said, watching as the woman waddled out of the room before turning his gaze towards Asuma. "Thanks a lot, by the way."

"What? What did I do?" the bearded man scoffed, unwittingly picking at one of the sores on his cheek.

"You made our task of handling the little mauler infinitely more difficult," Shikamaru accused in place of his teammate. "Wasn't it blindingly obvious that it wasn't a good idea to pet the thing when it was hissing at you?"

"I thought I could calm it down. What? Did you want to bring it back to the office in full-on rage mode and risk it getting away a third time?" Asuma argued back.

"Well, yeah! Maybe then the client would be able to see what kind of stress she's putting the poor cat under, instead of handling it when it's pretty much given up all hope of ever escaping again."

"It's a shinobi's job to take the heat and the weight of the mission on their shoulders. Why do you think I have that massive bounty hanging over my head? I didn't get that from pulling carts and accusing customers, you know," the Jonin grinned while rubbing his knuckles against his vest and blowing on them, "BTW, it just went over thirty-five recently."

"What are you, the stock market? Having a big, fat dollar sign slapped across my chest isn't something I would want to be proud of as a shinobi, sensei."

"You're just jealous because you don't have an awesome vest like me," Asuma shot back while tugging on his collar.

"I could get one if I wanted," Shikamaru replied with a stretch, "It's just too troublesome."

"Nope. You're only eligible for one until you've passed the _Chunin Exams_," Asuma stated while bringing his hands back down to his sides. "Sorry to say, you're out of luck there." He grinned triumphantly.

"You _could_ get a different one, you know; one with more pockets and a clip-on holster. Maybe something for your field kit," Naruto butted in with a helpful shrug.

Shikamaru gestured to his blonde teammate pointedly, while looking between him and their smirking teacher. "And _you_ said he doesn't have any useful suggestions. Well there you go."

"Little brats. Using teamwork to your advantage," Asuma chuckled, ruffling both boys on the head. They attempted to swat his hands away, but ended up failing and having their mops restyled into lopsided ones, "Good on yah."

Shikamaru redid his ponytail, while Naruto didn't bother with his crown and just went with it.

It had become a thing for the young males of the group to bicker with their teacher over particularly stupid jobs. This only ever happened when the instructor got himself directly involved with them and meddled a little too much.

At least he was making an effort to put a foot and thumb into their work, unlike that Kakashi whom they'd seen on occasion just sitting up in a nearby tree reading his familiar, orange book while watching his team do all the work. Their instructor actually butted in whenever the situation called for it. They could probably give him points for trying in previous missions but today… it just didn't work out as well.

A desk hand on the far right split the bill of the assignment into the teams' accounts, giving a majority of the funds to those who had been directly involved. Asuma got a tip's worth, which didn't bother him as much since he made more than enough on the occasional S and A-ranked jobs he got. He just stood patiently and watched as his teams were marked for yet another successful completion of a mission.

"So that makes: forty-one D-Rank missions, one C-Rank, and one A-Rank mission completed for each of you," the Hokage exclaimed while smiling across at the Genin now looking back at the elder sitting behind the mission assignment desk. "You've got a perfect streak going. Well done. You three are really moving up in the world."

Naruto blinked, "Wait… one A-Ranked mission?" The three kids looked up at their teacher.

"W-What was that for?" Hinata asked.

Asuma chuckled and winked at the three, "That was for the additional assignment we pulled in the _Land of Dusk_. Bodyguard work can range from C to S-Ranked depending on the client, and serving Princess Kasumi was valued at A-Ranked."

"Awesome!" Naruto cheered, pumping a fist. "Take that, Sasuke!"

Shikamaru sighed and rubbed the back of his head, feeling a little disappointed, "After that muck-up at the ceremony… I kind of feel that that job should be ranked even higher. We stopped a war from breaking out, didn't we? Where're the medals?"

"You know… I kind of figured that Naruto would be the one complaining about this, not you," the Jonin exclaimed while glancing down at the cheering blonde, who was currently leaping circles around Hinata also looking happy for their success. "I'm surprised Shikamaru."

"We went through all that trouble, so it makes me kind of suspicious," the Nara replied, gazing up at the man. "Why is it A-Ranked, exactly?"

"Unfortunately, that incident in the square was only a small bump in the road we had to get over. Believe me; I'm just as disappointed in the classification of it as you are, brat," Asuma shrugged with a half smile, "Our opponents gave us a lot of trouble. Sorry about that. Maybe next time."

"Brilliant," the Nara replied while rolling his eyes. _"What? Does one of us need to die to have a mission bumped up to S-Ranked? If that's the case then; no thank you."_

"Who knows… maybe you'll get lucky on this next one," Asuma said while looking back up at the desk hopefully.

Once everyone had calmed down enough and Naruto had stopped jumping about like a fool, Hiruzen was able to continue delivering his report to them. As pleased as he was for their numerous successes and collective excitement, there were still jobs needing to be completed and he had a lot of them.

With Team 10's current track record and the amount of recognition they had gained from the public for their recent world-wide performance, which has led to a massive influx of jobs requesting the four of them personally, the elder felt extreme confidence in this particular team's ability to handle any D-Ranked mission given to them.

It was this exact thought that plagued his mind and gave him inclination to reevaluate his line-up, which then led on to this…

Looking back down at the scroll pulled between his fingers, the elder rolled his pipe around between his lips before settling it in the corner of his mouth.

A smile brimming, the Third Hokage looked at each of the youngsters' faces before settling on Naruto's, "Are you guys up for another C-Ranked mission?"

"Wha? Really?" the jinchuriki asked in surprise, a grin quickly forming.

Sensing the energy in his apprentices climb at hearing that question, as indicated by their surprised looks transforming into smiles all around, Asuma also smirked, "Is that okay with you, pops? Tossing them into the deep end again?"

"Hey, if _I_ have no qualms against it then it _has_ to be okay," Sarutobi replied with a chuckle, puffing out a plume of smoke, "Nineteen D-Ranked mission scrolls sighted with ten assignments apiece in a span of four weeks. Such commitment warrants some sort of a reward."

"A higher ranked mission? Seriously? Can't we just get a raise?" Shikamaru asked miserably, before getting elbowed in the gut by Naruto. "Ow."

"Think of it as adding more medals to your tunic," Hiruzen stated with an amused smile. "Higher ranked missions look much better on your profile and can bring you that much closer to a promotion. Why not take the opportunity to dress your portfolios up a little? I figured you three would be thrilled at the prospects of advancement and would accept this right on the spot."

"Define 'thrilled'," the ever moaning Shikamaru said under his breath.

"We'll take it!" Naruto exclaimed with a hand in the air, not wanting to deal with the mope. If any decision was going to be made on their part, better in favor of a high ranking mission than a whole day's worth of agonizing D-Ranked missions, right?

They'd practically been forcing smiles from door to door. Naruto's cheeks were starting to feel tender.

"Y-Yes! We'll gladly accept the job, H-Hokage-sama!" Hinata also said, falling in line with her blonde haired companion and smiling along with him.

While they and Asuma looked relatively pleased at the vote count, Shikamaru was left not only as the odd one out, but with this nagging feeling at the back of his mind that something bad was going to happen to them. Once again, he was forced to play this one by ear with his only hope being that it didn't cost them anything precious, _"Please… whoever is managing the universe at this time… don't screw with us. I beg you."_

"Cheer up, Shika-kun!" Naruto laughed, slapping the glum looking kid on the back several times, bruising him, "It'll be fun! Just like the last one! Believe it!"

"Are you for real?" the Nara asked while looking at the boy in astonishment, "If that was your idea of a good time then I'd hate to think what your idea of disastrous is."

"Well… the fight was a gripping side-track, but the delivery mission," the blonde exclaimed while giving a thumbs-up, "That was the bomb! Will we get to stop at the hot springs on the way back?"

When he put it like that, Shikamaru figured that maybe he wouldn't have much to get sore over on another period of absence from the village after all.

With the possibility of yet another pleasant check-point dropped into the suggestion box, the three Genin all looked towards their teacher at once and gave him looks of deep inquiry. Feeling their stare on him, Asuma chuckled and rubbed his beard thoughtfully, "Now don't go jumping to any conclusions yet. Let's just see what the specs on the assignment are before organizing any detours."

That being said, they all returned their attention to the patiently waiting Kage currently weighing their mission scroll in hand right in front of him.

Naruto grinned, "So? So? What's the mission, Hokage-jiji?! Another delivery? An escort job? What? What? Tell us!"

"Calm down. It's an escort job," Hiruzen chuckled, lowering the piece back down to the desk before waving towards the door behind the group, where two Chunin were standing guard. His gesture was all the instructions they needed for one of the guards to respond, opening up the door and calling in the next customer. "As for the client well, I'm about to introduce you to him. I trust there are no objections?"

"Absolutely none!" Naruto said excitedly.

"N-None here," Hinata replied while raising her hand.

"Just to be safe, I'll say _none_," Shikamaru breathed before smiling.

"Here too," Asuma spoke up.

"Very well. It's your call," the Third replied while glancing up towards the door.

That was a cue that everyone in the hall pretty much followed, all eyes landing on the main entrance to see the Chunin pull his head back in and return to attention.

A few seconds later, after a long, suspenseful silence, the door opened up completely to admit the next mission. What Team 10 and its instructor wound up staring at was an old bespectacled gentleman with grey hair, a large beard, a beer belly, wearing brown clothes, an obi, a pointed straw hat, wooden sandals, and a large backpack slung over his shoulder.

What drifted into their midst following his grand entrance to the hall, which the team picked up on moments later, was the telltale stench of sake. The Genins' noses wrinkled distastefully as they watched the old man lean against the door frame before taking a swig of a large bottle of alcohol he also happened to have on him.

"What's with all the kids? Don't tell me you're _it_," the man spoke up in a gruff tone. Judging from the size of his drink, his voice should have sounded a little more slurred than that. Surprisingly enough, he was holding it together quite well. "A bunch of snot-nosed brats… ugh…"

Right there, the moment the old drunk uttered those words Naruto, Shikamaru and Hinata's collective expressions all went from intrigue and surprise, to utter gloom and dejection. It was almost like somebody dumped a bucket of cold water on top of them.

In perfect sync, the trio glared over their shoulders at the Third Hokage, who was waiting with a carefree smile. He shrugged their way when their scowls intensified, "You did say you had no objections."

Sticking his nose in the air, Naruto folded his arms and glared back at the old man downing sake like his mouth was a drainpipe, "I… _will not_… let this… _mission_… be my swan song," he said slowly. "It is a thousand years too early for that!"

"You may be pushing the limiter on that one, Naruto. Even so, I agree with you wholeheartedly," Shikamaru also spoke up while looking back at their 'assignment'.

Hinata murmured insecurely, pressing her fingers together in the usual manner and turning back to face the music that was their reality, along with her companions. Behind their backs, Hiruzen was smiling with a rather devilish shadow over his eyes, the assistants were laughing under their breaths, and Iruka was shaking his head in pity at his former students' luck for the day. Perhaps now he will see justice dealt in the least painful way possible, and that was seeing Naruto put up with someone who was bound to be a lot more trouble than he appeared.

"Alright then, old man," Naruto breathed out while glaring across at the elder enjoying his liquor way too much on a weekday, "Where is it that you need to go?" His friends donated an ear to his query, requiring the same information as everybody else that was involved.

Downing another mouthful, the old man in spectacles glared back at the line of kids. "Well… you may not look like the right stuff to me, but I guess you four will have to do. You get what you pay for, I guess," he grumbled while tipping his hat up with the neck of his bottle, "I'm the master bridge builder Tazuna. I want you lot to provide me with extra protection back to my home country and to watch my back until I finish off my latest project."

At that, Asuma clapped his hands together excitedly and smiled down at his chipper group, "Alright guys! Let's do our best and get this one done!"

The three glared up at their teacher with tick marks in their hair. _**"You're not helping!"**_ they all said at once.

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Man that was intense. Hope you all liked it.

The chapter basically establishes another event to come further in the story, and that is the Chunin Exams. It also allowed an opportunity for Fu to showcase her skills and what they are in contrast to everybody else's.

Fu is stronger than Neji, clearly. She's also one of the fastest Genin in the world, with speed and reflexes even greater than Lee's when using the Eight Gates. While using the Eight Gates, Lee is constantly pouring out chakra. In contrast, Fu is able to control the same amount of energy she exerts by placing it where it counts.

Being the Seven Tails' jinchuriki, she also has massive amounts of stamina. She may have genius like tendencies, but it was all homegrown.

Now, her fighting styles:

Fu's fighting style consists of basic taijutsu, mixed in with _**Keysei Fighting Method**_ and _**Kenpo**_. Her style is very similar to Naruto's, but her _**Gatling Punch**_ is more inspired off of Luffy's from One Piece.

She's stronger than Naruto now, but the boy will keep on training in preparation for a fight against her. Hope you'll all be looking forward to it.

And now, the journey to Wave! The next chapter should be exciting!


	26. Wave Arc: A Bridge Too Far

**NARUTO**

**The Art of Appropriation**

_A Bridge Too Far_

**Midday…**

**Konohagakure, South Gate…**

"Hey, you know those bed sores you get from lying down for too long when you try to wait out the entire day?" Shikamaru asked his teammates while readjusting his pack's slings.

"Yeah. I hate those things. They can really spoil your morning," Naruto replied while rubbing the back of his neck, showing mild interest towards the topic currently on the floor. All he wanted to do was get this convoy rolling and the sun moving!

The clamp on his excitement was unbearable.

The Nara cocked his head to the side and breathed out an exhausted sigh, "Well, as it turns out, _I_ don't get those."

"Lucky you. It must be because of your clan adapting to the art of sleep over a period of a thousand years," the blonde commented, rolling his eyes with an amused smirk.

"Now _that's_ an over exaggeration of actual fact, Naruto…"

"But you're not denying it. Am I wrong?"

"I can't say for certain. Maybe my clan is just more used to dozing off and sleeping for longer hours than most people."

"That or you're all descended from sloths."

"That too. But I'm leaning more towards the former. However, now that you've brought it up, I am genuinely curious as to how far my ancestry does go back," Shikamaru murmured, rubbing his chin and looking off thoughtfully. He glanced down to see Hinata also perk up inquisitively. "Our village's clans have been around for quite some time, even before the formation of the hidden leaf and the five great nations. Mine and Hinata's clans are perhaps a couple of the oldest ones out there."

"Do you have any idea where your clan originally came from though?"

"Well, I do know we have our own land and forest several clicks out of _Konohagakure_. Perhaps our clan learned its jutsu and techniques in those very woods hundreds of years ago, before coming here and settling down."

"Maybe it was in those trees where your family learned how to be lazy too," Naruto grinned jokingly, earning a lazy swat over the back of his head from his unmotivated compatriot.

"You're such a bother sometimes," Shikamaru grumbled, watching the blonde stand back up from the hit and smile.

"I'm only kidding. Come on, Shikamaru. If you really _did_ come from that area, then you must have tons of history locked away in your clan's vault room. Maybe you've got stuff on the first discovery of the bed or the invention of the midday nap," Naruto laughed, shielding his face from another jab and shove before coming back around. Hands placed comfortably behind his head, the Genin straightened up and made himself look presentable, so as to convey his next thought with sincerity, "But really, I guess hiding out in the shadows, learning tactics, forming strategies and ambushing your enemies really is the 'Shikamaru' way. It makes a lot of sense that maybe your family really did come from the woodlands, if you think about it."

"Hmph, you have a point," Shikamaru said with a shrug, stretching his neck before smiling over at Hinata, who gazed back with a twinkle in her eyes, "Maybe I'll ask dad more about it after the mission. He'd probably know."

"Y-Yes. That would be the best thing to do," the kunoichi nodded in agreement.

Just as the trio were about to continue along the lines of clan discussion, in which their next inquiries would be directed towards the Hyuuga clan, they were suddenly interrupted by the arrival of their teacher and client. The two older men marched up to them through the main gate, under watch by the ever vigilant Kotetsu and Izumo lying back in their box of sanctuary. The two Chunin observed as the younger members of the team formed an orderly line before their Jonin sensei.

"Are you kids still going at it?" Asuma asked with a look of amazement, seeing the kids tug on the slings of their backpacks. "Geez, why don't you save some of that energy for the road ahead? We haven't even started yet."

Naruto blew on his tongue and waved a hand at his teacher's suggestion, "Come on, Asuma-sensei! It's not like talking wastes energy."

"Actually, it does," Shikamaru pointed, glancing over at his friend standing in the middle of their formation. "Even though you're not aware of how much energy you waste talking, your body does. That's why people tell you to stop jabbering and to just catch your breath whenever you're exhausted."

The blonde looked towards him oddly, "Since when?"

"Since it was discovered mankind actually had to breathe to keep from asphyxiating themselves," the Nara replied casually with evidence of humor in his voice. "Besides, I don't think _you_ need to worry about something as trivial as _energy wasting_. Your stamina is pretty much expendable income anyway."

Naruto grinned, "Oh? Okay."

"But that doesn't mean you can get carried away!" Shikamaru quickly said, abruptly stopping his friend from making any random exclamations, "Just saying!"

"That's mean, Shikamaru-kun," a now downcast Uzumaki groaned out, rubbing his arm.

"Hey, it's for your own benefit."

"**Anyway**!" Asuma interrupted loudly, cutting into the running chain so as to force a break-up. Clearing his throat, the team leader then directed the trio's attention to the bridge builder. Speaking of which, the client was presently looking down at the kids with a peculiar expression in play, an eyebrow raised and concerns for his wellbeing starting to take shape. "As you already know, our job for the coming week is to escort Tazuna here back to his home country in the _Land of Waves_, and to guard him until he finishes construction of his bridge."

"I-Is it far?" Hinata asked curiously, "The _Land of Waves_?"

Asuma shook his head, "Not really. It's a lot closer to home than _Dusk_. We should be able to make it to our destination by the end of the day, depending on traffic conditions."

"We could have made it to Dusk in one day as well," Naruto informed, nudging his kunoichi teammate in the arm and smiling at her. "We only stopped for the night to make the trip a little more worth our while."

"And what a worthwhile trip it was," Asuma sung, popping a cigarette between his lips before turning his attention back to the ever perplexed Tazuna. He roused the man out of his stupor with a quick wave and a nod, "So Mr. Tazuna, the team's all packed and assembled. We can leave whenever you're ready."

The bridge builder grunted and pulled his hat further over his face, concealing his doubt-filled expression, "Just get me there quickly. The longer we dawdle, the more anxious I become, so let's get moving."

"Very well then. You're the boss," Asuma nodded in understanding, turning back to his team and signaling them to move, "Triangle formation four. Naruto will spearhead the group, Hinata and Shikamaru will flank him. I'll head up the rear and provide support. Got it!?"

"_**Yes, sensei!"**_ the team replied.

"Good. Now move out."

And with that, the long journey to the island nation began.

Moving Tazuna to the center of their ranks the group pulled away from the village gates. The old man had provided them with a map and details on the quickest route back to his country up in administration, which Asuma was now putting to good use. Organizing his team into a textbook defensive formation, the squad started out on what would become known as their second official C-Ranked mission outside of the village. Hopefully, this one would go much smoother than the last one did, where it unintentionally transformed into a conceptual nightmare part way through.

Each and every one of them had high expectations on this one.

Little did they know however, as the group started to move away from the village with their baggage in tow, they failed to notice the two sets of sinister eyes looking down at them from the shadows of a nearby tree.

OOO

**Two hours later…**

It was a pretty straight and easy route down South, maybe because there were so fewer obstacles and opposing forces in that direction then there were towards the North. From what the young members of Team 10 had heard, Leaf shinobi rarely saw conflict in these parts of the country, mostly because the main highways connecting all of the larger countries sat clustered around the borders of the smaller nations. Down this way though, the most likely obstructions shinobi aligned to the _Land of Fire_ were expected to come across were common thugs, mercenaries and to a lesser extent, rogue shinobi.

Kiri ninja often ventured onto the mainland as scouts in this area, but _Konohagakure_ had no quarrel with their sea-going counterparts. Though the two sides mostly kept to themselves, at least they had somewhat of a friendly relationship going, unlike with the twins Iwa and Kumo. Those guys had beef…

Regardless of the grander situation however, the conflicts and disagreements of the other nations remained far outside of the minds of the Genin of Team 10, who continued following the main highway down towards the _Land of Waves. _

During their quiet and peaceful expedition, Asuma filled them in on all the little fine points concerning the small island nation that they were heading towards, ensuring that they were all well informed.

"The _Land of Waves_ doesn't have its own hidden village. It instead relies on the protection of its coastlines, as well as on the nations who do have shinobi at their disposal that they can hire out for the occasional odd job," Asuma explained to an ever curious Naruto and Hinata, who were both listening intently to their teacher as they strolled along. "Because of the climate there, it carries a vast assortment of natural defenses."

"L-Like what, sensei?" Hinata asked.

"Oh… the usual stuff you'd expect around an isolated community; storm systems, waves, whirlpools, but mostly the unpredictable mists that can cover the entire region," Asuma explained, happy to answer his students' queries. "If you remember from your geography lessons back in the academy the mists that appear around the _Land of Waves_ can become so thick that not even birds can penetrate the shroud."

"Wow," Hinata murmured, unable to fathom the idea that a bit of perspiration in the air could stop live animals in their tracks. "Isn't that d-dangerous?"

"It may seem hazardous, but they are ideal deterrents for a country of their position in this world. Because it's officially recognized as a neutral state, the island has established itself as the perfect shipping checkpoint and trade spot for businesses. Thousands of tons of cargo pass through their ports day in and day out. You can imagine it's an incredibly prosperous village."

"So it's very much like the _Land of Dusk_, right?" Naruto asked.

"We saw a lot of ships passing through on our v-visit there," Hinata said with a smile, recalling the good times they actually had over in that coastal town and glancing towards her blonde haired teammate. "Kasumi-sama said that they were receiving a lot of goods even before B-Britannia's arrival."

"Yeah, but the _Land of Dusk_ is one of a select few. There's only a handful of ports surrounding the _Land of Fire_ that allow for international trade, as well as free trade between the other shinobi nations," Asuma stated, looking over at Tazuna striding along close by. "If you want a more updated or detail oriented report regarding the village, then you could ask our client here. I'm sure he'll be glad to tell you guys about his homeland."

The Jonin smiled at the old man, noticing for a moment the look of worry etched across his face. However, the instant Tazuna realized he was being singled out he quickly shook himself out of his reverie and looked up. Though Asuma appeared to dismiss the expression he previously wore as a mere trick of the light, the Jonin still kept a guarded eye on the bridge builder who looked ahead at the three kids glancing over their shoulders.

"Well uhh," Tazuna cleared his throat and scratched his cheek hesitantly, "It is indeed a gorgeous place. The sea air around the island is fresh, the inlands are filled with exotic plant life, and the main village is known all around the southern countries for its fishing and large intake of ships. A vast number of travelers and tradesmen alike pass through our ports."

"Must be an incredibly diverse society," Shikamaru murmured to himself while gazing upwards in contemplation, "It makes me wonder what a bridge linking the mainland to the island could do for you guys."

"It can do more for us than you can imagine," Tazuna whispered gravely, hoping that they wouldn't hear him.

The team however did, Naruto subtly glancing back at the old man whereas Asuma and the other two kept their gazes locked. They didn't want to scare-off their client with their stares. It was better for all of them that they figured this thing out with Tazuna comfortably in time rather than force a response. People tended to word their reasons and confessions better when not under pressure.

Deciding to switch topics, Shikamaru turned to Naruto, a curious gaze replacing his usually tired glare. "By the way, how's that new technique you're working on going? Have you made any more progress?"

Catching onto the switch, Naruto grinned at his friend, "Oh yeah. It's been going great. I just need some more time till it's perfected. It shouldn't be too long." He then elbowed the Nara in the arm, "Thanks for the help, by the way."

"No problem. We're a team," Shikamaru smiled, "We work, fight, eat and train together… or so I imagine. Right, Hinata?"

"Oh, y-yes," the girl squeaked, smiling back at the two boys now looking across at her. She pressed her fingers together and stepped towards them. "You've all been so much help to me. I'm getting much, much stronger thanks to you and N-Naruto-kun being there."

"You're not sore from yesterday's training, are you?" Naruto asked, seeing as that they had shifted the questions onto her.

The blue haired girl shook her head, "I'm used to the level of e-exercise now. But I still need a little more practice if I'm going to make my new techniques work p-perfectly for me."

"All three of us do, apparently," Shikamaru breathed, swinging his right arm around a couple of times, as if testing the weight and feel of it. The three pulled back into formation again, just so that they could give the impression to anybody watching that they were all well coordinated and focused. "I can split my shadow into multiple strands at distance now, but I need to up my stamina if I intend to keep the technique active for extended periods."

"That creepy jutsu really takes it out of you, doesn't it?" Naruto chuckled with a tilt to his head.

"It feels like trying to lift an anvil and holding it over my head each and every time I use it. It's _hard_ work."

"Heh. And you would know all about that, wouldn't you?" the blonde teased.

Shikamaru gave a careless shrug and massaged the shoulder of the arm he had been rotating. "It's troublesome either way."

Unlike their kunoichi teammate, _he_ could still feel the strain from yesterday's training.

Ever since getting back from their mission in the _Land of Dusk_, the group had been pushing themselves into their training regiments even harder than usual, albeit a few complaints from their bone-idle squad mate.

By his word, Naruto had immediately dived right back into his daily routines. Wanting to strengthen his core, legs, power and speed in preparation for his promised battle with Fu and everybody else, he was driven by his teachers at his request through every painstaking session imaginable.

Yim got him doing foundation workouts, timing exercises, endurance runs, stamina training and the usual technique drills. Among her list of unusual gimmicks, she also had him squat-hopping in the mud, lap kicking in shallow water in the tuna farm nearby, rock tossing at him to simulate Fu's _**Gatling Punch**_ combination to work on his dodging and upper body responses, and more hardcore spars. There was also a period of time she spent working more weapons training into him, among which included the Long Pole and Butterfly swords.

Naruto was also tossed around by Ran teaching him jujitsu, had sword wielding sessions in the usual kendo manner, and was ran the shit out of in the valleys surrounding his home's area, dragging stones and the God-damn wagon behind him. Meow got into this little game of theirs too, pushing the boy into working more on his step-in speed, directional changes, timing, and power.

Oh yeah, _power_! There wasn't a day with her Naruto didn't think there wasn't a power exercise on the list. His hands and feet were swollen after every session.

These periods he had every early morning and afternoon. This left a good eight hours of gap time during the weekdays.

Other then the fun excursions with his teachers, Naruto also trained with Kin a lot. The girl stuck close to him in their training under Meow and had taijutsu spars with one another. The former kunoichi had definitely improved since their first match, but the jinchuriki was still ahead of her by several hundred hours of lessons. Nevertheless, the girl was persistent and was not even close to giving up on this new goal she'd set for herself. Kin swore to him that she wanted to keep training until she was as strong and as good as him.

Naruto loved her company. Their times together were some of the most enjoyable he remembered ever having with someone in his own home, playing cards, watching television, bantering, all the good stuff. He never did have that many friends his own age over, so it was a welcome change of pace. Hell, they both had a great time; something that didn't go overlooked by the ever 'wicked' trio Meow, Ran and Yim spying on them from behind every corner.

Oddly enough, Tenten had also started coming to his place more often and was insisting on hanging out with the boy, even to train with him. Though Naruto wasn't bothered by her unexpected trips over and enjoyed spending time with her as well, he still felt the life-threatening chills whenever she and Kin interacted. A couple of their encounters had the boy reevaluating the potential danger of each situation before high-tailing it out of there and getting Ran to take him out for their afternoon sprints.

Outside of his home life in the mornings and afternoons during the weekdays, Naruto trained with his squad. As per their teacher's vision for their future, Asuma had them doing missions flat out, as well as spending the days when they were not on missions beating the crap out of them in their training periods with him. As it turned out, with their rapid development and being wise to his 'nefarious' plots, it was getting harder and harder for the Jonin to run them down with every day that came and went, and that was saying something about their increasing abilities.

Hell, they even had him on the ropes an even amount of times, even overwhelming him at one stage. It was mind-boggling.

When Asuma wasn't ganging up on them, he was also coaching them, watching them work on their brainstorming as a unit and practice as a group. This clearly said that when it was team time, it was team time. Nothing more.

Shikamaru and Hinata were also put through their paces during their off days.

When they weren't biting the dust and working as a squad, they were each getting their basics in order. Surprisingly enough, Shikamaru had started getting more into his team's attitude towards work ethic and had started his own little programs back home. Determined not to get crushed or asphyxiated by a physically superior foe again, especially one who could be more versatile and smarter than William, the Nara had been training as hard as he could to strengthen his own body and use of his shadows. Though this seemed a bit out of character, he was adamant.

People had the habit of changing drastically when following in the footsteps of Naruto Uzumaki. Enough said.

At the risk of his sanity and personal wellbeing, Shikamaru had convinced his mum to put him through some of _her_ training regiments, which worked quite well and earned him yet another collection of memories he would sooner forget with old age. But that was all part of the package unfortunately.

Nevertheless, over the next four weeks, thanks to the efforts of his teammates and parents, Shikamaru's shadow had gotten much faster, he could execute it quicker than before, it could stretch much further, could break into multiple strands, and could even form shapes. He still had a ways to go in perfecting his practice, but it was a right good start. His physical speed and strength had also jumped thanks to Asuma and Naruto's work on him, and his style had developed greater form and insight thanks to Hinata. Things were moving swimmingly for him.

The Hyuuga meanwhile had been pushing herself just as hard as Naruto. The two of them together worked on toe and leg strengthening exercises with weights to reinforce the muscles that they couldn't through conventional workouts. They also worked on agility, sparring barefooted, weaving through falling logs at high speed, fighting multiple targets made up of clones provided by the jinchuriki, and the usual upper body strength routines. The lower body however was the one that Hinata focused on the most, since her style revolved a lot around open palm strikes, finger jabs, straights and hooks. Form and grace was vital, sure, but she needed more speed and piercing power to handle resilient foes like Vincent and William. Her team helped her greatly in that area.

She had also added another interesting feature to her arsenal of techniques. It had certainly pushed her offensive capabilities to a more satisfying level, but more on that later…

In summary, the team had worked themselves to the bone.

"Man, I'm exhausted," Shikamaru yawned. "A long walk isn't exactly what I had planned for today."

"You're always exhausted, Shikamaru-kun," Hinata said with a light giggle, her hands held to her chest.

"Same old song as always. Tell us something we don't know already," the blonde jabbed from up ahead.

The current whiner rolled his head about on its stump. "Well… my feet are sore and I've got an annoying kink in my back," the Nara added while paying no mind to the verbal pokes his squad mates were giving him. "Satisfied?"

"Oh boo-hoo," Naruto snickered, sticking his tongue out at him. "I've got blisters the size of pebbles on the soles of my feet. That's not even counting the calluses I already have."

"You're different. People like me and Hinata, we're more delicate than you are," Shikamaru replied. Unfortunately for him, it was sort of the wrong thing to say when in the presence of someone like Naruto, who just loved capitalizing on the smallest of weaknesses. The Nara pointed at him warningly, "Now, what I really meant to say was…"

"I should get you a thong for your birthday?"

"No. Screw you. What I meant to say was that guys like us don't have infinite amounts of durability and stamina like you."

"I heard what you said the first time, fairy princess. Now, about that thong…"

Naruto was about to make some smart ass follow-up on his teasing when his right hand suddenly came to life all on its own and slapped him across the face. Blinking in shock, the blonde's mouth hung open in a silent yelp of pain before he spun around and glared at the team behind him, which had stopped in their tracks several feet back. He could see the cocky smirk across Shikamaru's face, Asuma choking on laughter and the cigarette he nearly wound up swallowing, Tazuna's cheeks bloated and hands clamping his mouth shut, and Hinata giggling with both hands holding her sides as if being bent over in agony.

Glaring at each of them for a moment, he then looked down to see Shikamaru's shadow slinking back to its rightful place beneath his feet. It didn't take a genius to figure out what just happened.

Naruto forced a smile, "You're going to pay for that, Shikamaru-kun." He spun around and began marching towards his next target. Rolling back his sleeves, the kid prepared to dish out the ass-kicking of a lifetime, "Any last words?"

Too bad he was once again stopped by Shikamaru's shadow in mid-stride. In his fury, Naruto completely ignored the dark patches stringing the ground and wound up frozen in place again, still glaring ahead of him with a smirk directed towards an equally cocky Nara. Though the Uzumaki was known as the most resilient of types, able to plow through anything thrown at him, his teammate had also been practicing quite a lot recently. That meant that all the jinchuriki was able to accomplish in his current, petrified state was tremble on the spot, while continuing to battle against the forces keeping him in place.

Breaking into a sweat, Naruto chuckled, "You've gotten stronger. I used to be able to force my way through this thing without even trying. Even Hinata was able to get out of your binds with effort… but now…."

"You stepped into it on purpose, didn't you?" the Nara asked with a laugh, "Testing me?"

"Sure… if that's what you like to call it…"

"Alright, enough bickering you two," Asuma spoke up once he'd finished coughing up ash and tobacco. He petted his apprentice on the shoulder to get him to let up on the paralysis technique, which he did. "We don't have time to start slapping each other in the face." A snort from him and a glare from a relinquished Naruto later, and the Jonin was back to herding his youngsters along, "Go on. Go on. Daylight's burning and I'd prefer arriving at our destination while the sun's still up. We should be in sight of the coast in about an hour so… quick march."

Moving back into formation, Naruto headed the pack and led the team on. Though things had calmed down for the lot of them, the instructor remained incredibly apprehensive towards their strangely cryptic client. The bridge builder looked as though he was dragging his feet in a way, like he wasn't looking forward to seeing home.

Sure he was a drunk, but a journey this short shouldn't have someone as worried as he was.

OOO

After walking for another half an hour with nothing remotely interesting to report, the team and their mission soon found themselves clearing the thick of the forests. The valleys further inland had been dominated by swaths of oak, maple, cherry blossom, evergreen, pine and all manner of exotic plant life. The fact that the canopy was thinning out above the convoy the further they ventured down the road told them that they were nearing the coast.

They appeared to be home free.

The smell of the sea drawing ever closer and evident on the wind gently ruffling the patches of wood that remained told them that they were in the final stages of their journey across the country. However, upon exiting the light shade provided by the forests and into clearer airspace, all those who were wearing a jacket or an extra layer of clothing on their person noticed that it became a little bit hotter. At this time of the day with the sun just past its highest point, it was easy to see the heat rising off of the ground up ahead.

You know… those mirage things that looked like puddles of water?

Well, the kids paid them little mind.

Although, there was the one moment where Naruto swore he could see a huge pond of water up ahead, when it actually turned out to be a small patch of water. The group merely gave it a single glance before circling passed it. Shikamaru and the others made sure to step around, with the former finding the sight of the reflective surface quite puzzling.

Asuma on the other hand ignored it completely.

Instead, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the half-empty carton of cigarettes he had on hand. He fumbled about for his lighter and a piece, unwittingly dropping one of his cigarettes while treading on the puddle, where it then rolled to a stop directly next to it.

Marching on, Asuma flipped open his lighter and, holding his hand over the stick to shield it from the wind, tried to get a flame going. The flint sparked uselessly, drawing a curse from the Jonin as he proceeded to shake some more juice into it.

While the group trudged on and Asuma lagged, the team failed to notice the puddle behind them suddenly rise into the air and materialize into the top half of a sinister figure. Wearing a gas mask of sorts and adorned in rags, a shady, grimy looking man with a _Kirigakure_ headband appeared from out of the pool, and glared at the backs of his targets.

Just as the apparition began to take on its complete form in preparation for its attack, Asuma shook his lighter a second time before bringing it up for one last try, "Heads down."

Naruto, Shikamaru and Hinata's eyes narrowed and locked onto the shadow they could see over their shoulders…

Asuma sparked his lighter.

'Click'

_**BANG!**_ The cigarette he had dropped next to the disguised assassin detonated with an ear-splitting crack, blasting a hole in the earth and choking up the air with a thick cloud of black smoke. Debris was chucked in all directions as a gust of hot wind rammed into the backs of the still moving travelers, startling Tazuna. Asuma however, remained perfectly calm.

The flame of the Jonin's stubborn flint ignited his small roll, and he breathed a sigh with a smirk, "Bingo."

The black cloud from the explosion parted sharply when suddenly, a man in a ragged black cape and camo suit leapt into the air, trailing a length of chain behind him before a second, similarly dressed individual came flying out after him, attached to the other end. The moment they appeared, Naruto, Shikamaru and Hinata surrounded Tazuna and took up defensive stances using their recognized styles, eyes fixed on the airborne nemesis.

Performing a variety of acrobatic flips, the two assassins spun through the air above their targets and fed the chain linking them together even more slack. With lightning speed, the chain coiled in several different directions, at the same time dropping low to the ground and encircling the still calm looking Asuma. The man followed the chain and watched the numerous bands snap around him, not even bothering to put up a fight when the shuriken blades dug into him the moment he was marked.

The dynamic duo landed and tightened the lengths of chain the very instant they hit ground. In the blink of an eye, Asuma was diced up like a length of salami, only to disappear in a puff of white smoke and be replaced by a log, which took the killing blow in his stead. The twin assassins growled audibly when they saw their first target vanish, before locking their death glares on the old man and his entourage.

"Ignore him!" the one with the long brown hair and tattered black poncho shouted.

"Get the old man! He's our target!" the other followed up, leading the charge.

The pair crisscrossed as they dashed at breakneck speed toward the team of Genin, all of whom immediately took up posts directly in front of Tazuna. Naruto and Hinata stood side by side and glared at the approaching attackers, providing cover for their rearguard, who dropped to the ground and formed his trademark hand seal. The assassins were only feet away.

"_**Kagemane no Jutsu!"**_ Shikamaru shouted, the shadow at his feet shooting out like a spear and splitting, charging in a 'V' from their starting point towards the two shinobi.

It was the old 'divide and conquer' strategy.

The elder brother skidded to a stop when he saw the attack coming towards him along the ground, "SHIT!" Digging his feet in, Gozu yanked his brother to a screeching halt before swinging his body around and giving the retracting chain a hard pull. "Fall back!" His sudden, undulating movement did the trick, resulting in his young brother being flung backwards.

The toss was swift, so swift in fact that just seconds from being hit by the Nara's shadow, the younger brother managed to yank back on the chain used to fling him across the field and pulled his brother out of the attack's reach as well. The jutsu ended up hitting nothing, with Gozu and Meizu pulling their shadows further out of reach of the technique.

"Damn… that was way too cl-" Meizu began to mutter, before unexpectedly finding himself confronted by the blue haired kunoichi of the group.

In the blink of an eye, Hinata managed to execute a mind-blowing dash across the clearing from her spot two meters in front of Tazuna to just three feet away from one of their retreating foes. From the brothers' point of view, the girl covered the spread of twenty meters between them almost instantly, as if she was teleported.

Either she performed a perfect body flicker maneuver in the midst of the fray or she had used Shikamaru's response to the attackers as a distraction to cover ground and move in while the enemy was concentrated elsewhere was a mystery. But the fact was she already had her right palm cocked back and Byakugan fired up. The sight of her hands emanating blue, fiery chakra told everyone in range that she was ready to deliver her coup-de-grace.

"Son of a bitch," Meizu blurted out in astonishment before the girl suddenly slammed her open palm directly into his stomach. A loud whooshing sound filled their ears, followed shortly by the big one. The shockwave that rippled off of the stunned assassin's chest accompanied by a blinding flare of visible chakra, cut into his body like a knife through butter. It was smooth, swift, and piercing!

"_Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm!"_

The ground cracked and the next thing Meizu knew before blacking out was his body being blasted off of its feet and sent flying back like he was an arrow shot from a crossbow. Hinata followed-through and watched the man spiral several times, seconds before slamming into one of the trees on the tree line. The impact cracked it, all momentum ceasing and allowing the unconscious man to fall to the ground with a loud, heavy thud.

The chain linking the pair of would-be killers remained and had extended automatically in the chaos, saving one from a hazardous flight yet also hampering Gozu's movements as he glared in shock down at the unconscious form of his brother. His gaze tightened in rage after witnessing what had happened, moments before he himself dropped onto the lower branches of the same tree and reset his position.

Thrusting his massive gauntlet back, with the claw blades flashing under the light of the sun, the rogue then detached the chain keeping him bound before dashing straight down to ground zero. An instant later, he was sprinting across the clearing towards the main group, where Shikamaru and Naruto remained at defense.

"Damn you, you brats! You've gone too far!" Gozu roared, completely bypassing Hinata who was left glaring after him in astonishment at his speed. "I'm ending this now!" His melee arm was held up behind him and ready to deliver the finishing blow.

Not needing any words of direction to lead him, Naruto took to the stage.

The blonde quickly zigzagged forward in response to the assassin's actions, his left foot up front in an orthodox stance, fists held up, left extended and right cocked back to around the left's elbow in an offensive guard. With every step he took, Naruto timed his opponent's approach and calculated the distance. He'd been doing so ever since seeing the pair of assassins emerge from the smog of the resulting explosion, giving him the immediate advantage in direct confrontation.

He could keep up with this speed.

Smirking, the jinchuriki stepped forward just as his opponent hooked upwards at him with the blades of his gauntlet, coming in wide from a low angle. It was a wild, swinging motion with an easily traceable path, one which Naruto exploited to its fullest.

Stepping in deeply the jinchuriki dove straight for Gozu's face in an immediate retaliation. As a result of his sudden increase in speed, the Chunin's eyes widened. Naruto's movements were staggering, a thought which shot through the startled attacker like lightning.

Did he mess up?

No, his opponent was just stepping in. He just didn't know it himself.

"_Shit! I moved in too much! I'll just jump back and…"_ Gozu began, but was unable to finish when the blonde suddenly vanished right before his eyes. Just like that. Gone. It was almost like someone wiped him out of shot. He was there one millisecond and gone the next! Gozu blinked as he finished swinging with his right, skidding to a halt to stop his attack yet was still in motion. _"No way!"_

As perplexing as the scenario was, Naruto didn't disappear. Oh no.

In fact, he never even left his opponent's reach.

Instead of leaping or maneuvering for distance, the jinchuriki instead stepped in close, real close, and screwed up his foe's timing by appearing just inches from his face. The moment he was in, Naruto ducked faster than his opponent could track and weaved under the still swinging arm. The blonde maneuvered under the deadly weapon till he was underneath the enemy's shadow before coming up on the outside. The assassin's extended limb, as well as having his eyes transfixed on the area directly in front of him, meant that he lost sight of his target completely.

Before Gozu even had a chance to bring his gauntlet arm back to begin tracking his illusive target, Naruto had already struck.

With his left pressed against his chest, cocked and loaded, the boy unleashed it. In an instant, Naruto fired of a single swift jab with bullet like speed and timing, striking the man at the chin.

There was a loud 'clap' that echoed throughout the area when his fist made contact…

…

…

…and that was it.

Gozu blinked. It took him a moment, but he was able to relocate his target. He looked to his right, where he could see the blonde haired Genin standing with his hands up in a guard. Shaking his head the rogue Chunin smirked under his mask and swiveled about, bringing his gauntlet over and corking it back for retaliation.

"_Found you! You're not getting away this time! I'll gut you with my talons!"_ the brother thought excitedly as his poison-tipped blades were leveled to strike.

However, just before he could swing out Naruto dropped his guard, turned to his right, and began walking back towards his group. Gozu stared after him in utter shock at his boldness, which naturally resulted in pissing him off a second later. He lunged in with his gauntlet.

"_Where are you going? Why are you turning away? Don't fuck with me you little shit!"_ Gozu roared in outrage, throwing a right straight. His claws descended upon the jinchuriki strolling away at high speed, aiming to carve a piece out of the boy's shoulders and back in one feral swoop. The attack was right on its mark.

There was no stopping it as the nails cut the air with lightning precision!

It was over.

But not in the way Gozu thought it was going to turn out.

His opponent through his field of vision, for some strange reason, was getting further and further away from him at a ridiculously fast pace. Though in reality he was only walking in a comfortable stride, through the assassin's eye it almost seemed like Naruto was running.

The world around Gozu started to go black, the light in the center shrinking away bit by bit just like the boy in orange, now looking like he was standing fifty meters away. Gozu's immediate thoughts were that he was tripping, like he was caught in some sort of genjutsu.

"Get back here, y-you b-bas-" he began to say, but his words came out slurred before his tongue abruptly gave up on him. The rest of his body followed suit when a dull numbness shot through his nervous system from the neck down like electricity, killing all feeling in his limbs. Before he knew it, his entire world went completely dark and his eyes rolled.

You see, it was the funniest thing. While his left eye rolled up into the back of his head, his right eye rolled downwards. Then, about seven seconds after getting hit by that first and final punch in the chin, the gas mask on his face literally exploded. It shattered into hundreds of pieces, scattering across the ground before his body simply buckled, starting from the knees.

He hit the ground head first when he keeled over, a dull thud echoing all around.

Naruto returned to his previous position in front of Tazuna at the exact same moment his opponent toppled over. The blonde didn't even acknowledge the fall or the thud, choosing to ignore the downed Chunin and breathing out a sigh once the dust had settled. He brought his left hand up and began massaging his knuckles, all the while waiting for Hinata to return from her engagement.

The fight was quick and intense.

The bridge builder being flanked by the kids stood rooted in his place, his jaw hanging open in disbelief. He wasn't just shocked at the fact that two of the 'brats' he'd previously had his doubts about had been able to dispatch their attackers in a span of a few seconds, but that the only attacks to be thrown by them were one-hit wonders.

It was mind blowing. Tazuna swore he'd never seen anything like it before. His young, seemingly inexperienced bodyguards executed a perfect counterattack even when they were ambushed and didn't even trip. In response to the shocking display the bridge builder didn't say a single word, not even out of praise. He first needed to work consciousness back into his expression before he could do or say anything else. _"Unbelievable…"_

"A-Are you okay, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked in concern once she regrouped with her team, seeing the boy rubbing his knuckles uneasily.

"You didn't twist it the wrong way, did you?" Shikamaru also asked, leaning over to check on his friend's condition.

The jinchuriki shook his head before grinning up at his companions, "Nah. It's fine. It just needs a little more work. I wasn't able to completely disappear from sight and my punch wasn't sharp enough either. There's still room for improvement."

"I see," Shikamaru smirked, patting him on the shoulder, "Well, as long as you're okay. It was still an incredible counter. That was a great hit."

"Y-Your new technique may not be there yet, but it was still amazing," Hinata said eagerly, walking up the blonde with her hands cupped and brought up to convey her excitement. The blonde smiled at the kunoichi when he saw her bobbing and trembling where she was, not just out of nervousness but out of delight, "Your hard work is paying off, N-Naruto-kun."

"Thanks guys," Naruto laughed, smiling around at the two of them, "Really. I would never have been able to get this far with my technique without your help." Receiving their nods of acknowledgement he then grinned at Hinata and looked down at her hands. "Your new juken is looking great as well. You were able to get in close to him and pull off a direct attack so flawlessly, Hinata-chan."

Blushing at the boy's compliment, the Hyuuga withdrew a little while twiddling her fingers. "I-It wasn't that hard. I saw an opening… a-and I just went for it. They were so focused on getting away from Shikamaru-kun's shadow that I was able surprise them while they were throwing e-each other through the air."

"But that was still great! I mean, did you see how fast the guy flew after you hit him? Man! It was like watching a bag of flour being fired out of a cannon! SPLAT!"

While Hinata shied away from Naruto making huge exaggerations out of her amazing attack and was complimenting her endlessly on it, Shikamaru stood off to the side and looked across at the last assassin to be taken down. He shrugged to himself as he took stock of the results of their encounter with the enemy.

"_Even though he'd only just started practicing it Naruto was able to use his incomplete finisher with pin-point accuracy and spot-on timing,"_ Shikamaru thought to himself with a smile, seeing the clear product of its work sprawled out nearby. _"That's scary. The guy didn't even know how serious the damage was until he lost consciousness."_

He then looked in the direction of the assistant tree, where he saw the back mark made in its side and splinters from the impact sprinkled all over the other assassin slumped unconscious against its trunk. Shikamaru winced at the potential he saw behind Hinata's new attack as well, which was so pronounced he started massaging his stomach at the memory of its execution.

"_She's come a long way since fighting Vincent. Not only has she gotten faster, but the application of force in her attacks has improved as well. Amazing,"_ Shikamaru thought, his attention turning towards the woods when the snapping of twigs reached his ears.

Gathering casually around the still stunned Tazuna, the team looked on as Asuma decided to make his 'grand' reappearance to the scene. Emerging from the woods with a cigarette in his mouth, the man picked up the two unconscious Chunin on his way, slinging them over his shoulders before coming to a dead stop right in front of the group. He gazed down at his three students proudly, an expression which they gladly returned.

"Great going you guys. All of you," Asuma said, turning to Hinata first to see the girl with her hands cupped together. "Are your legs feeling okay?"

"M-Much lighter, Asuma-sensei," the girl exclaimed brightly while bobbing on the spot. "It's all thanks to those exercises you gave to me to use."

"Good. Then it's safe to say we can continue working on them when we get back home." He then directed his gaze towards the jinchuriki, where he saw the boy with his hands behind his head and looking incredible pleased. "So… how was the test drive?"

"Still a little blunt," the jinchuriki said with an affirmative nod, bringing his right fist out in front. "Don't worry. I'll have it down flat in no time."

Asuma laughed. "There's no need to rush it. If you're not careful you might end up straining yourself. Take as long as you need." He then looked towards Shikamaru, where he saw the boy looking back at him with his stoic and unmovable look. The Jonin scoffed, "You seem pleased."

"Ecstatic would be my choice of words, Asuma," the boy replied flatly. He was beyond amused, yet he was equally beyond any form of upset as well. "Where exactly did you run off to?"

"I was doing reconnaissance."

"Well? Are there any enemy ninja nearby?"

"Ha-ha. Very funny you smart ass," Asuma replied, patting the youngster on the head and earning a tired groan from him. "But good job all the same. The three of you all played your parts splendidly and without fault. I expected nothing less from the finest bunch of brats I've ever had the pleasure of teaching."

It had clearly been a test. There was no denying that. Even someone as dense as Naruto knew that their teacher had left this whole thing up to them to see just how far along they'd come since their last mission outside of the village. Asuma had taken cover the moment he performed his replacement technique and watched the fight from a safe reactionary distance away. By the look on his face he had clearly gotten what he had wanted out of them and that was to see exactly how each of his students responded to a textbook shinobi attack. Their cooperative training over the many weeks had culminated into something remarkable between them.

Shikamaru, Naruto and Hinata's teamwork, as of right now, was razor sharp.

The teenagers took their teacher's words to heart and congratulated each other with smiles and shoulder pats. It was a warm and brief reception. Their celebrations were cut short when the team leader suddenly turned to face the still bewildered bridge builder, the apparent and now obvious cause of the sudden fiasco. The instant Asuma's glare landed on their client Tazuna's expression hardened and became that much more anxious.

Face to face, the seriousness of the situation was made clearer to everyone there when all focus landed on their now sweating company. Shikamaru spotted it before his friends followed suit.

"I think you and I need to have a little talk, Tazuna-san," Asuma said with a stern note in his voice.

The old man sighed and nodded compliantly. "I figured as much…"

XXX

**Three hours later…**

_**Land of Waves…**_

Concealed in a thick growth of forest on one of the many islands making up the _Land of Waves_, unknown to a majority of the population in that region, there sat a large tree house. It was a towering, cone like structure made out of bamboo and wood, and sat suspended above the ground in a large conifer tree. It was an ideal hiding spot for anyone trying to stay under the radar of the law as it was isolated and positioned far outside of civilization, in a place where the sun rarely shone. People seldom ventured into these woods, even to do work…

Since any fools curious about the area rarely came out.

In the main room of the building, sprawled out on a large couch positioned in the center like a throne, there sat a tall shirtless man with short brown hair, wearing light grey pants, camouflage arm and leg warmers, a gauze mask covering the lower part of his face and nose, and a _Kirigakure_ headband secured crookedly on his head. Judging from his posture and slouched frame he was currently in full lounge mode, yet at the same time was acting attentively as he had to contend with a few annoying guests.

The large individual scowled across the room at his 'boss', a short man in a tailored suit with a very rat like appearance, main like hair and wearing round sunglasses. Gato was his name, and along with a couple of soldiers had come to this end of the island to gather before the assassin they had hired to take care of their bridge-builder problem. It had been the dominant subject of all their discussions for quite some time now and had just recently reached a new high.

Of course, while Colonel Corbett and Lieutenant Fairclough maintained their objections about the whole 'hiring-an-assassin' thing to deal with the issue, they didn't want to dispute the man signing their paychecks. Not to mention he was looking incredibly pissed off and was seething at the hair follicles, so they wisely remained silent and at attention, protecting his flanks.

"I just received a report from the authorities that two _criminals_ were apprehended in the vicinity of the incomplete bridge on the other side of the channel," Gato informed the swordsman in front of him while tapping his foot impatiently. "They say they were missing ninja from _your_ village."

"So?" Zabuza asked, tilting his head like he gave a flying crap, "What does that have to do with me?"

"IT HAS _**EVERYTHING**_ TO DO WITH YOU!" Gato snapped, shouting at the good-for-nothing fiend and pointing in his direction, "The men you sent to take care of Tazuna FAILED! Consider yourself lucky that this fiasco of an assassination attempt wasn't traced back to me!"

"You're accusing me… of _failure_?" the man asked, his brow furrowing at the mouth cursing at him.

"I sure as hell am! I spent a fuck ton of money hiring you because I heard you were the best at what you did!" Gato shouted, stomping forward and balling his hand into a fist. "But you're nothing more than a lazy, backbiting, pathetic, good for nothing, cowardly…"

The tycoon stopped short of his not so formal complaint and let out a terrified yelp when the shinobi sitting on the couch several meters in front of him suddenly brought out his version of the cane. A loud 'whooshing' sound echoed throughout the entire room when the massive sword owned by one Zabuza Momochi came swinging in from over his shoulder and descended towards the little industrialist.

It was a sure kill.

But then, just as it seemed like the rogue was about to strike down Gato like a bolt of lightning chucked down by God himself, there appeared a shadow followed by a loud, ear-splitting clang. Much to the mogul's shock and utter relief, Corbett had managed to step in just in time to intercept the huge clever and stop it from carving his client in two.

The boxer wore brawling gloves with thick, fortified plates and knuckles on them, which enabled him to take heavy hits like those from a sword the size of a surfboard. His left arm steeled against the weapon pressing down on him, yet in spite of the overbearing force and weight being administered by the would-be killer, the Colonel held it back with little to no effort, and sent a tight scowl towards the Jonin still lying back in his seat.

"Get out of my face, westerner," Zabuza hissed dangerously.

Corbett smirked, sparks flying when the pressure against his brace was increased, "Make me."

"Hmph," the swordsman grunted before glaring around the opposing officer towards his client, who looked as though he was about to wet his pants, "Quit your bitching, you weasel. The expendable assets may have failed in their mission, but the party is only just getting started. This time, I'll track down the old man myself and kill him with my dear friend Kubikiribōchō here." His eyes narrowed dangerously and the gauze around his mouth moved upwards into a sinister smile, concealed by the cloth, "That… I can promise you."

Gato gulped and readjusted his tie, backing away while Zabuza removed the sword from on top of Corbett and both sides backed down, "See to it that you do." When he saw the huge weapon prop against the user's shoulder, the magnate frowned, "My sources also tell me that the bridge builder has hired some skilled ninja for protection. With the failure of the _Demon Brothers_ they're bound to be more cautious. I recommend you cut them off before they arrive at their destination."

Zabuza grunted, "Save your breath. Consider your bridge-builder problem solved."

XXX

**Meanwhile…**

It appeared that the southern coastal area of the land of fire had traffic issues, and not the kind that shinobi were used to. This one was a little bit more bothersome then the ones Asuma had to deal with in the past.

After tying up the two rogues from _Kirigakure_ that had attacked them and leaving them to be collected by the proper authorities, the entirety of Team 10 made all haste for the southern coast. They cut down on good time, but upon arriving at the nearest ferry bank that would have normally provided them transportation to the islands it was soon discovered that getting to and from their intended destination was going to be a lot harder than the group originally planned.

At least Naruto, Shikamaru and Hinata could all agree that their sensei was right on the money about the region surrounding the _Land of Waves_ being a prime spot for shipping and trade. Unfortunately, the boats that they could see currently out on the waters from their position on the dock were not the fishing trawlers, sail boats, freighters and ferries they were anticipating when they were first told about the islands that was Tazuna's homeland.

No. What they got instead was a whopping big shock.

Since the air was so clear right now the entire team was able to see the massive bridge Tazuna was building stretching across the channel. Since it was yet to be finished it stopped just short of reaching the mainland. This was some ways down the coast, so the view of it was grand. However, further out and down the strait, the team also spotted a massive battleship sitting at the mouth to the conduit, its large hull gleaming in the sun.

It wasn't one of their continent's battleships, it was a western warship.

If that weren't enough there were also a couple of patrol boats running up and down the waterway, presumably belonging to the same flag as that behemoth of a vessel.

The entire scope of their mission increased substantially upon seeing the boats, making their completing of their task all the more problematic.

"I thought we took care of those Britannians back in _Dusk_," Naruto groaned in dismay, crouching down at the end of the dock while his teammates stood vigilantly behind him. The concerned boy glanced up at his sensei, "Why are they still here?"

"I don't think those are Britannians," Shikamaru informed, his gaze narrowing on the setting.

Hinata, studying the patrol craft at a distance, activated her Byakugan and zoomed in on the smaller vessels moving about the area. Her telescopic sights allowed her a more up-close but not so personal view of the men aboard as she went about inquiring into the identity of their opposition. The kunoichi furrowed her brow when she took stock of their numbers, "Th-Their uniforms are different… and so is their flag. They're not Britannians."

"But they're still westerners. They've also set up one hell of a blockade to discourage any ships or forces intending to make land there. Nobody can get in or out of that place without setting off some sort of an alarm. It's like the island has been turned into a floating fortress," Asuma grumbled, arms folded as they all glared out at the massive obstacles laid out before them. "That's only part of the problem though. The question that I want answered right now is _what_ the hell are they doing all the way out here?"

They'd dealt with these people before. The whole team remembered how troublesome the situation had become when shit started to fall. The last time they tried to handle these guys by show of force; it nearly started a war of nations. The team looked towards Tazuna for answers, hoping to get some sort of panadol for their headaches.

Their client unfortunately was looking even more concerned now more than ever.

The wall that was their enemy appeared much larger to him than he remembered.

"They're a small mercenary task force that the head honcho of this region hired to improve security and to completely block off all unwanted traffic to and from the island. Their presence here has already managed to turn away several curious groups of shinobi, all of which have been from Kiri and Suna," Tazuna informed, looking back at the concerned Jonin and his team. "It's also a scare tactic. That massive battleship at the front gates has frightened off a lot of my workers and main suppliers, so progress on the bridge has been slower than ever. If the boss's own thugs bullying and taxing the locals weren't enough, he also has these hired guns stationed on the island breathing down our necks. With them blocking the roadways, he's pretty much cut our already small chain of supplies for the project in half."

"So that's the case, huh?" Asuma inquired, now starting to sweat a little. He turned back to the island, now looking even further away compared to before. "This is crazy. Why go to such lengths for such a small community?"

"The man in charge of this whole operation is a greedy scumbag who would do anything to get what he wants. Even more to hold onto the wealth and power he has already obtained, even resorting to this," Tazuna replied, placing his hands on his hips. "I'm sure you've all heard of Gato, right?"

"Gato?" Shikamaru blinked, looking up at the elder in surprise, "The billionaire shipping magnate and head of _Gato Company_? That guy?"

"The one and only," Tazuna replied, his scowl tightening in anger at the name. "But don't be fooled. On the surface he looks like an ordinary businessman who runs a large shipping company; one of the biggest in the world. But underneath it all he secretly trades drugs, contraband, slaves, weapons, and a whole assortment of other illegal items, using shinobi, mercenaries and gangs to take over companies and whole countries. He's a cruel man; a malicious trader and merciless towards his enemies."

"And this is the main guy who's running the whole show?" Naruto asked, rising back to his feet and looking even more annoyed. "Damn it. It's really starting to piss me off." His fists clenched tightly, showing everyone that he was ready to vent at a moment's notice.

"He's irritated many people. It was almost a year ago when he set his sights on our country. Through money and violence he quickly took control of Wave's shipping industries, buying out, killing, or scaring off every independent firm in the area. He now has a monopoly on all trade in the country, and the only thing he has to fear now is the completion of the bridge," Tazuna informed, lowering his gaze and shaking his head. He rubbed the bridge of his nose in an attempt to compose himself. "It was only recently he brought in these new goons to help try and stop us completely. Ever since that ship pulled into port everything went from bad to worse. We're totally cut off now."

"S-So… since you're building the bridge, you're standing in his way," Hinata murmured, looking up at the elder to see him nod at her every response, "A-And those ninja that attacked us… they were hired by this Gato."

"Yes."

"They mean to kill you; the head of the bridge building project and the only shining ray of hope left for your people, correct?" Shikamaru also inquired.

"That's right."

The man went silent, breathing out a sigh at finally being able to relieve his conscious of this burden of information. However, once the moment of divulgence had passed, Asuma decided to throw his own voice back into the conversation, still curious about one other detail.

"The only thing I don't understand is… if you knew that Gato would be sending ninja after you, why did you hide that fact when you hired us?" Asuma asked, raising an eyebrow when the man glanced away. "You could have warned us at the gates, or better yet, spent the money on a B-Rank or even an A-Rank mission, and hired shinobi with more experience in this type of work. It was only fortunate that the first assassins sent after you were only Chunin."

Tazuna shook his head, "I'm sorry… but… the situation in the _Land of Waves_ has really gone downhill in the past few months. Ever since Gato came in, the country has been poor, the people are starving… and even the feudal lord has no money to spare us. All the funds that we were able to scrounge up were put towards the construction of the bridge, and even still I've resorted to begging. I was only able to gather up enough money for C-Ranked mission protection. It was our only option."

Asuma looked towards the ground in despondency, suddenly starting to feel more melancholic. Even the moods of Naruto and Hinata plummeted. His words probably killed their enthusiasm towards the mission, which said quite a bit since they were normally if not always pumped to get into these sorts of things. In contrast to _their_ lives, things seemed so terrible over here. They could scarcely imagine what things were really like over on that island.

Wanting to take the edge off, Shikamaru looked towards their instructor, "What should we do?"

"We can't just leave things here like they are," Naruto spoke up, turning his back to the waters and glaring with renewed determination up at his teacher. It was then he made a startling riposte, "I won't allow it! I want to help them!"

"M-Me too," Hinata voted. She joined her friends in favor of the mission. Tazuna looked astonished at the sudden development, "The people on that island are in trouble. We have to help them, A-Asuma-sensei."

"And I agree with all of you wholeheartedly," Asuma replied, glaring up towards the large battleship further out in the channel. "Putting Gato and the village's situation aside, having that ship remain in these waters can lead to serious problems for us in the future. The state of affairs between the Five Great Nations is delicate enough as it is. We can't have these guys running around and doing whatever they want." He looked towards their client with a serious glare, "We need transport. How were you able to get off of the island the first time?"

Tazuna looked between the teacher and the kids in surprise.

It came as quite a shock to him to see them step up and offer to help him so willingly, even when their lives were put at risk because of him and they were pushed outside the boundaries of their mission. Normally shinobi were more inclined to follow protocol and, if faced with a situation like this, would call it quits on general principle. However, this group…

This group was different. Whether it was the kids' naivety, their diplomatic way of running things in their squad, their teacher being a push over or that they possessed something that no other ninja had, it didn't matter. They could see the village's plight and wanted to continue the mission, to help him… to help _them_, the people on the island.

Upon taking in their expressions and their words, the bridge builder smiled happily and brought his hands together in gratitude, "Th-Thank you so much. All of you." He was at the end of his rope.

Perhaps things were going to get better. Who knows?

After sending them his thanks, the elder's expression then did a sudden and complete about-face. Smirking, Tazuna stepped off of the dock back onto the bank and, popping fingers in his mouth, whistled loudly.

Hearing a commotion, the team glanced towards the nearby brush and mangroves growing next to the rundown ferry station. A few seconds later a fisherman adorned in a straw hat and poncho came out of hiding on a small boat, its engine cut and an oar in hand. He steered towards the wharf and parked himself at the end, making sure to tie himself down so that he didn't drift away.

Tazuna chuckled and looked across at the befuddled faces of the young team, "I may be an old man, but I've still got a few good tricks up my sleeve. No amount of military power can stop me from doing my job."

Smiles came to the group, all of whom looked around at each other before all eyes flew back up to Asuma.

The Jonin standing behind them chuckled and gave them an OK grin. "Well, you heard him. Hop aboard everyone."

OOO

It was rather providential for the traveling youngsters that the weather conditions in this region happened to be so unpredictable… or was that a bad thing?

In any case, after waiting it out for a little while on the other end of the channel for a chance to get across, just as Asuma, Tazuna and the boat driver predicted, the temperature over the water's surface suddenly changed and in a matter of minutes a thick haze fell across the ocean. Had they been further back inland up on higher ground the team would have seen a wall of mist come in from the east and blanket the entire region in a veil of white.

It was so thick you could almost draw in it.

They used this exact change to the environment to their advantage. With the miasma enveloping both the battleship and the patrol vessels, the group was able to set a straight and steady course towards the island. Since the mists in this area tended to hang around for a good while this allowed Team 10 and their client plenty of time to cross. Nevertheless, the fisherman was still weary of danger, and proceeded with extreme caution. He warned his passengers not to make a sound.

"I'm not worried about being caught by the soldiers," the fisherman whispered, "Those Americans have a good sense of honor and decency. All they do is turn you back or detain you for questioning, unless you're doing something illegal. It's actually Gato's hired goons I'm more worried about. They'll beat, rob and kill you if you're not careful."

"Well… that's comforting to know," Shikamaru groaned, leaning over the side of the boat almost like he was going to be sick.

"We'd better make sure that we don't get spotted then," Naruto grinned, patting his friend on the back reassuringly. Hinata remained quiet and huddled up on her side of the small craft, looking more worried at the information and shivering from head to toe.

Seeing his companion in some sort of distress, the jinchuriki shuffled over and wrapped his arms around her. Hinata's response to being so close to the boy had her blushing to the roots of her hair, stopping her trembling in an instant and making her teammate smile. Even with the positive change in the kunoichi's state, he had no idea what the real reason was for her sudden sense of calmness.

Nevertheless, his comfort made the rest of the trip for Hinata more relaxing. In fact, the excursion across the pond went on without a hitch, it was almost pleasant. With stealth firmly engraved in the mind of the rower, in order to avoid any suspicion from the dogs guarding Gato's front gate the fisherman took Team 10 and Tazuna underneath the main causeway. The tunnel under the port led them out into the fishing village, where a series of stilt houses and mangroves stood in a lush milieu.

The fisherman dropped them off on one of the walkways where they disembarked and formed up on the jetty.

"This is as far as I go. Good bye and good luck," the boat driver said, tipping his hat to the team.

"Much appreciated, friend," Tazuna replied with a nod.

With that said and done, the fisherman started the engine on his craft and took off. Now that he was back on home turf _and_ no longer carrying precious cargo, he was able to move freely once again. He disappeared around the next bend further down the quay, leaving Tazuna in the hands of the kids.

After seeing their transporter off, Team 10 fell back into formation and began their escort of Tazuna once more, who was relieved to be in familiar territory. "Okay you guys, get me home safely."

"Alright, alright," Asuma murmured, feeling a little bit worn out. It wasn't because of all the traveling and jumping ship, oh no. His concerns were purely within reason. _"Those Chunin from before were no joke. They were out for blood. Though we were able to fend them off for now, the next foe we're likely to come across will not be Chunin level, but Jonin level."_ The man pulled out another cigarette and popped it into his mouth, lighting it with a crinkle in his normally cool expression._ "This is going to be a rough ride."_

That could be left to be dealt with later, should they make it to their final stop. For now the team hiked on.

They spent the next few minutes weaving through the lower parts of the village and dodging traffic. It wasn't like there were many people walking around at this time of the day to work up a fuss; they just didn't want to get spotted by any of Gato's henchmen. In any case, it was sort of a prerequisite for them as ninja to move undetected. Their headbands weren't just for decoration.

After clearing the village and arriving on the outskirts, they began plowing through a lightly forested area towards Tazuna's home, which was in a small cottage near a lake. They wondered why the man's home was so far out of town and not in the confines of the village, but after hearing about the shit he had to go through to get this far, it made sense that the man wanted to take what was left of his family into hiding.

As much as it was a pain on the soles of Shikamaru's feet, it was sort of a necessity for all parties involved. Naruto stuck a wet finger in the teen's ear to stop him from complaining too much. Aside from that little side of conversation and preventative measure, nothing else major really happened. It was just as they were moving along quietly and enjoying the fresh sea breeze drifting in over the land when something unexpected caught their attention.

Naruto froze in mid-step when what felt like an electric shock suddenly ran through his head from one side to the other. The hands he previously had slipped into his pockets shot out and flexed, his eyes widening and gaze locking firmly onto the path ahead. His friends stopped just as he did and looked at him in confusion.

"W-What's wrong, Naruto?" Hinata asked.

"Did you step in some dog shit?" Shikamaru asked, pointing at his raised foot, "If you did just run it through the grass. That should clear it right up."

"No…" Naruto replied, his shocked expression transforming into a serious scowl as he glanced toward the tree line.

This feeling he had, it was cold, chilling, and above all, terrifying. He hadn't felt killing intent this potent since his fight with Nai some weeks ago, and that boy had both a serious glare and a deadly bite. Right now, something very similar was facing him down from the shadows; the only problem was that the jinchuriki didn't know what it was.

It wasn't like he didn't have an idea though.

"There's a tiger nearby… a _big_ one…" Naruto informed.

It didn't take the sweat running down his head for Asuma to determine that something had his student spooked. In response the Jonin's own expression darkened in preparation for conflict, but he made no moves to defend, lest he alert the enemy to a problem.

"_Naruto's battle with Nai sharpened his ability to detect killing intent from a distance. That's a really useful skill to possess, but also troublesome,"_ Asuma thought while glancing around nervously, _"It means that they're already here."_

The man turned his back to the woods, keeping his eyes open for the enemy. In the meantime, Naruto moved forward while Shikamaru and Hinata wearily spread themselves out.

In their attempts to feign ignorance to the danger that they became aware of thanks to their jinchuriki comrade's far sight-like capability, they inadvertently told whoever it was hiding in the shadows that they knew of their presence. As a result, there was a rustle in the bushes…

Shikamaru immediately responded by tossing three kunai towards the source of the noise. The blades pierced the shrub, causing a light 'poof' to ring out when whatever was hiding dispelled. A split second later, a white rabbit came bounding out and dashed across the clearing. Paying it little mind, the team came to the defense of Tazuna and surrounded him, Hinata's Byakugan activating and immediately beginning to scan the area, doing a full three hundred and sixty degree pan.

Her eyes spotted a silhouette… no… wait…

Two?!

The Hyuuga gritted her teeth, "T-Twelve and Nine o'clock! Fifty meters, forty-five degree elevation! Two enemies!"

"Got it!" Asuma replied, tossing kunai laced with explosive tags towards the locations of the targets.

The blades cut through the air and through the canopy, the weapons making their mark before detonating one after the other.

The forest filled with fire and smoke as the areas intended to be targeted were turned to ash in an instant. It was then, from out of the thick of the choked up atmosphere, two shadows leapt into the open, driven from their hiding places by the explosives. The sound of something loud and heavy spinning through the air towards them from behind also alerted Naruto to another danger, and the boy leapt at Hinata, knocking her to the floor when she failed to pick-up the incoming threat, as the team was so focused on the silhouettes.

"EVERYONE! DOWN!" the jinchuriki shouted.

Shikamaru tackled Tazuna while Asuma hit the deck, all of them kissing the grass just in time to dodge the large metal plate flying right over them, spinning like a propeller blade. A second later and they all would have gotten haircuts.

The object revealed itself to be a massive sword boomeranged by one of the two assailants, which slammed into the side of a tree nearest to the lake just a few yards out from the clearing, and stuck itself to the trunk. At the exact same time, one of the shadows that emerged from the forest dropped down onto the handle of the weapon and perched himself there. The attacker stood upright with his back turned to the team down below and glared over his shoulder towards them.

At first distracted by the massive enemy up in the branches, the group then glanced further down to see another person emerge from the other side of the trunk. Sticking to its side with chakra, a second, shorter enemy revealed themselves to the troop, dressed in a green sweater, shorts, a blue kimono, and wearing a mask with the _Kirigakure_ symbol on it. Asuma identified the stranger as a Hunter Nin, but upon recognizing the man with the massive sword and remembering that Hinata spotted two enemy in the woods and not one, his confusion was quickly put to rest.

Tazuna backed up under guard from Naruto, Hinata and Shikamaru sticking to his flanks, while Asuma took his place at the front of the pack.

"Well, well… isn't this a surprise," the Jonin exclaimed, a smirk forming on his face, "Zabuza Momochi; rogue ninja from the _Village Hidden in the Mist_…"

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Alright, now we're getting on track!


	27. Wave Arc: The Demons of the Mist

**NARUTO**

**The Art of Appropriation**

_The Demons of the Mist_

"Damn that's a _big-ass_ sword!" Naruto exclaimed while tugging on Hinata's sleeve. He was absolutely overwhelmed by the sheer enormity of the weapon, "Hey! Hey! I know what I want for my birthday now!"

"Naruto, is this really the time?" Shikamaru asked.

The blonde shook his head and returned to his regular fighting stance, "You're right. Sorry. We should focus. But still, can you imagine me with a badass weapon like that?"

Hinata raised a hand with a smile, "I could."

"Hinata!"

"S-Sorry, Shikamaru-kun…"

Asuma groaned and shook his head, feeling the unfortunate stab from behind mess up his epic standoff. "Way to kill the mood, guys. Facing off against a dangerous rogue ninja here," he called back to them.

After getting his team to cool off on their exclamations, the man in the beard returned to glaring back up at the enemy shinobi that they had managed to force out of hiding.

One and two. Though he should have shown equal concern to both, it was the big guy with the sword he was currently sweating bullets about. As they stood in their respective spots glaring back at each other, Asuma couldn't help but crack a smile at his luck for today.

Just a few weeks ago he had been fighting for his life against a swordsman with his own dangerous fighting style, who nearly killed him about five times during their engagement. Now, after several weeks of recuperation and a lot of trips to the training fields, the man began to wonder how he would fair against this one.

If anything else he was spot on about the next enemy being Jonin level. That was for sure.

"Did I get the name right?" Asuma asked, raising an eyebrow at the man a story or so above them, "Former member of the _Seven Ninja Swordsman of the Mist_, also known as the _Demon of the Mist_; Zabuza Momochi."

"Of course," the shinobi in question replied in a gruff tone, tilting his head as he stared down at the individual glaring back up at him with his hands in his pockets, "And if I'm not mistaken, you're Asuma Sarutobi of the Village Hidden in the Leaves; son of the Third Hokage and former member of the _Twelve Guardian Ninja_. Am I wrong?"

"Not at all," Asuma replied with a smirk. "In fact, I'm flattered that you know me so well. It shows that our titles actually carry merit."

Zabuza chuckled, "Indeed." He then locked his gaze onto Tazuna and the three kids surrounding him in the swastika formation. Disregarding the brats, he instead focused his complete and utter attention on his primary target while a dark shadow drifted over his eyes, "I apologize for the rude welcoming, but I'm afraid you're going to have to hand over the old man now…"

"No can do, pal," Asuma replied firmly with an unwavering stance. "As it so happens, it's currently my team's responsibility to protect Tazuna-san until construction on the bridge across the channel is completed. To simply 'hand him over' to you would be extremely detrimental to our mission and it would be awfully crass of me to just give him up when we're not even half way through finishing our assignment."

The swordsman grunted, turning around so that he was facing them properly, "Well that's a real shame, because as it turns out, it is my job to _**kill**_ the old man and his entourage." The extra spit in his words had the three Genin tighten their formation, blades flashing when kunai were brought out in front of them. "Hmph, but it looks like I'm going to have to kill you and the brats first before I can get to him."

"You can try if you like," Asuma replied, his eyes momentarily glancing towards the Hunter Nin a branch down before looking back up at the rogue. Though it appeared he was completely cool about this whole thing, he was actually really on edge. A wrong move against this particular foe would mean instant death for all of them. Zabuza wasn't known for his use of the 'silent killing' technique for nothing. That massive clever he had was only a bonus. "But… you will fail; _that_ I can promise you."

"I beg to differ. Unlike the _Demon Brothers_, you won't find me to be quite so lenient with my quarry," Zabuza replied calmly before glancing down at his masked subordinate hanging from the trunk below him. He nodded his head towards the kids, "I leave the tagalongs to you, Haku."

"Yes," the boy replied with a stiff nod, jumping down from the tree and landing just several meters out from Asuma and his troop. Absorbing the force of the landing in spectacular fashion, he then rose from the ground like a spawn from hell, which was kind of the impression Shikamaru and Hinata immediately got before Naruto shimmied forward a little.

"Don't let him through," the blonde said with an increasingly harsh glare.

"I wasn't planning to," Shikamaru replied tensely, forming his trademark hand seal. Tazuna backed up a little in response to their actions, the scent of an upcoming conflict growing thicker by the moment and choking up the atmosphere.

It wouldn't be the only thing choking the air for long.

Just as the kids and Asuma were preparing themselves for a showdown with the swordsman as his crony, a thick mist suddenly drifted onto the scene and began blanketing over the entire area. The forest around them began to fade away into white, just like the tree Zabuza was on and the lake far behind him. This gave the group little comfort as their range was reduced from fifty to about ten meters. That distance was slowly, but surely, shaved away by the second.

Hinata's Byakugan activated. Even with her perfect three-hundred and sixty degree eyesight in play, the mist proved to be quite the troublesome element for her to break. She squinted as she nervously glared through the shroud, "Th-This is bad…"

"Stay on your toes, guys," Asuma called back to them, pulling his hands out of his pockets and reaching behind him for his pouch. His trench knives flashed into view when he brought them into an offensive guard, his left hand extending out with his right cocked to the elbow. "We'll be fighting blind. Naruto, Shikamaru, keep your ears trained on your six. Hinata, I'm counting on you."

"Y-Yes!" the Hyuuga replied fretfully, glancing behind her, "S-Stay behind us, Tazuna-san."

"Oh, I'm not moving. Don't you worry about that," the old man chuckled, sweat dripping down his forehead.

Zabuza, still up in his tree and facing down the hard glare being thrown by Asuma, chuckled at his good fortune. "That's fine by me. It only makes my job easier." He crouched low and gripped the long handle of his clever. He kept his gaze trained on the team's leader, whom was facing down both him and Haku still standing in the clearing just out of effective dashing reach. "Relying on a bunch of snot-nosed brats for support? You're getting soft, Asuma Sarutobi."

"I wouldn't be so quick on the trigger, friend," the Jonin replied with a smug grin, despite the nervous perspiration he was giving off. "My kids are tough."

"So is mine," Zabuza countered, forming a one-handed hand seal from his perch. The moment he did so, an even thicker mist drifted in from off screen and within seconds, the entire tree sank into white, as did the swordsman. "I will make this quick. _**Kirigakure no Jutsu**_." And just like a phantom, he was gone.

Asuma gritted his teeth and dropped his glare onto the Hunter Nin, identified by his master as Haku. If there was an element he was going to have to remove from the equation first, it would have to be the kid. Whether or not Naruto and the others would be able to handle him was uncertain, but as long as he was able the Jonin was not going to take any chances. If he could get rid of the apparent subordinate now, he would then be able to concentrate on the big guy.

Unfortunately, just as he was lowering his fighting stance to make a move against the fake Hunter Nin, a loud whooshing sound in the background caught Asuma's attention. It was a strangely eerie sound; one that sent a cold chill shooting down your spine. It was just like when the group first had to duck when Zabuza threw his massive sword at the-

"Oh SHIT!" Asuma leapt forward just in time to have the back of his vest trimmed by the Executioner's Blade slashing through the wall of white from behind.

Spiraling through the air in mid-jump, barely managing to avoid having his body cleaved in two, the young Sarutobi looked back briefly to see the ghostly apparition of a nightmarish demon with horns burning through the thick of the fog. The fiend grinned at him cockily, just as the shinobi it was emanating from did.

Landing on one foot while continuing his retreat, Asuma chucked a barrage of shuriken in response to the attack. The wielder of the massive blade twirled his sword above his head, putting full momentum behind his swing which Zabuza then used to bat away the return effortlessly, scattering the projectiles and dissolving back into the mist from whence he'd come from.

"_**Your fight is with me. This is my game and you're going to be playing by MY rules."**_

The Jonin instructor of Team 10 chuckled when he heard the voice of his foe echo out all around him, taking a stand a safe distance away before reassuming a fighting stance. "I figured that this was how this was going to go down. You just love picking at your food, don't you Zabuza-kun?"

"_**Haha. Guilty. Unfortunately for you though, I don't have time to be playing around. Once I'm done with you, I'll take care of the bridge builder and collect the rest of my pay. That is… unless my boy doesn't dispose of them first."**_

Asuma circled on the spot a couple of times, hearing a twig snap behind him and forcing him to lock onto the source. It was a false relay, which had him sweating bullets and biting his teeth.

The man cursed to himself when he was unable to trace Zabuza's voice back to him, since it was being projected evenly throughout the area from where he was hiding. It was like the guy was everywhere, like he was part of the jutsu itself.

_Demon of the _Mist was a really fitting title.

Feeling the edge growing at basically searching blind from where he was, the Jonin kept his blades held up in a high guard. He vowed that the moment Zabuza poked his face into view, he was going to take him, no questions asked. Asuma wasn't going to let an opportunity to make good slip through.

He smirked uneasily, "First to the finish then?" Asuma asked while widening his stance, chakra suddenly starting to course through him at an accelerated rate as he filled the air with killing intent. The invisible blast that exploded off of his body reached out to the group on the defensive several meters out, telling them that their team leader had taken it up a gear.

It bewildered and terrified them.

Zabuza matched his opponent's ki with his own and let a chuckle ring out throughout the area, _**"As you wish."**_

A loud whoosh came around from behind, forcing Asuma to spin and intercept the massive clever when it came down right on top of him. His blades were thrown up just in time to stop the double-handed blow from the swordsman, sparks flying and a loud clang ringing out when their weapons met. Asuma grunted under the force when he struggled to halt the mammoth blade, which pinged against his headband at how close it came to breaking through.

"_Well, fuck me,"_ the man thought, a bead of sweat running down his nose. _"What am I fighting, an elephant? This guy's strength is insane!"_

Zabuza growled as he attempted to put his weight behind the hit, slamming his hand against the back of his blade to try and force it down. _"Damn, he's a tough one. Not to mention sharp. He's the first shinobi to ever stop one of my full power swings from an ambush attack." _Points needed to be given to this guy. Those tiny trench knives he was wielding were really high quality.

Asuma gritted his teeth as his eyes locked onto the equally intense glare of his opponent, seconds before pushing the massive sword away and squaring off with the cold killer. Upon seeing his attack stopped and feeling it effectively repelled, Zabuza grunted indignantly and backed away, his body starting to mold back into the mist.

Realizing his foe was running out on him again, the Team 10 leader dashed forward and took a swing at the dematerializing assassin, only to cut right through thin air.

"_Damn it. I hate it when my opponents do that. It really pisses you off."_ Asuma could see this fight becoming less amusing the longer it was drawn out, which would be quite a long while by his watch. He nervously looked in the direction his team was currently holed up. _"I'm sure Hinata will be able to see Zabuza coming at them should he suddenly decide to switch objectives and is decisive enough to take action. I'm also positive that Naruto can sense his movements too."_

"_I just hope they can handle things on their end."_

OOO

Naruto, Shikamaru and Hinata glared across at their masked opponent, who hadn't even so much as moved a finger since dropping out of the tree to engage them. As confident as they had previously been facing off against that Zabuza guy and his mysterious crony in broad daylight, as soon as the mist fell around them and Asuma was chased off by his adversary, all confidence in their ability to handle the situation here started to drain away.

They had pretty much been left standing out in the open and staring back at an awfully creepy antagonist. Not only that, but the silence was also starting to make them all nervous.

"Okay, what the hell man?" Naruto finally snapped, lowering the kunai he was holding to glare across at the teen in the kimono. "Are you going to do something or not? You're starting to freak me out."

The masked individual said nothing and just glared back at them.

Shikamaru elbowed his teammate in the side, "Calm down. He's trying to psyche us out."

"Yeah… well, it's working," Naruto hissed, keeping one eye constantly trained on the enemy. "That mask is super creepy and he's just staring at us. How can anyone see out of those tiny eye holes anyway?" His curiosity was within reason. Nevertheless, before the group could begin answering any questions regarding their options or their opponent, the entire squad jumped when they unexpectedly saw the teen's arm move, silencing them from further discussion.

Together, they had no idea what he was planning. The guy was obviously working with Zabuza and that automatically labeled him as dangerous. What's more, he appeared to be quite close to their ages, maybe a couple of years older. The mask on his face also hid his real identity from view as well as his expressions, making it incredibly difficult for the three Genin to tell what he was thinking or what his intentions were.

His slow gesture of raising a hand towards them however was put to an end when he threw his arm out to his side and, all of a sudden, a cluster of senbon appeared between his fingers. The tiny blades flashed in whatever rays of light was able to break through the mist, alerting the trio and their client to the danger.

Tazuna backed up at the sight of the acupuncture weapons.

"Uhh… I should tell you guys. I really don't like injections," the old man chuckled nervously when he saw the boy start walking towards them at an excruciatingly slow pace. "I always hated them… even when I was a kid."

"Yeah. Well… I hate them too," Naruto replied straight out, nodding towards the piercing weapons in the boy's hand. "Those look like they hurt." He then leaned towards Shikamaru, who was looking as equally nervous as the rest of them, "Got any ideas?"

Shikamaru furrowed his brow, glancing behind him at the mist covering their backs before beginning to look around the obscured field. Though he vaguely remembered what the area looked like before the shroud fell upon it, the haunting whiteness of their surroundings still made his breakdown of the situation that much more difficult. In spite of the obstacles hampering his progress however, his mind powered on.

The Nara began making judgments on the effectiveness of their sight, and took their range, numbers, abilities, and their opponents into consideration. After which he then focused back on their approaching enemy and evaluated just how well they could make him out at this distance.

All the pieces seemed to fit into place and after thinking it over, he believed now was the perfect time to test his theory. Without a single word spoken, Shikamaru shimmied back, urging his companions to do so as well in time with their opponent's steps so that the distance between them remained the same.

"I have one," Shikamaru informed, smiling across at the blonde in order to convey the amount of confidence he had, "Let's just hope it works."

The jinchuriki and the Hyuuga next to him smirked, both of them immediately feeling reinvigorated by their friend's words and expressions. If there was anyone they could count on in an unfamiliar and mind numbing situation that called for a well thought-out plan, it was their resident strategist.

"We trust you, Shikamaru-kun," Hinata whispered, putting her faith in her teammate's hands.

"Alright then," the boy exclaimed under his breath before reaching over and tapping Naruto on the shoulder several times, using an obscured pattern so that their enemy didn't pick up on any notable details. Upon receiving the message in Morse code, Naruto did the same with Hinata, transmitting the exact same message while the three of them continued to move away from their target. It took the same amount of time for each of the two links to be made and once the chain was complete, the Nara spoke up again, "So… are we clear on the plan?"

"_**Yes!"**_ the jinchuriki and kunoichi replied in unison, leaving Tazuna wallowing in the dark and wondering what the hell was going on.

Haku flicked several more senbon into his free hand when he saw their moods change and their resolve strengthen.

Whatever they were planning, he intended to stop them.

"Okay then. On my mark…" Shikamaru whispered, the three of them widening their stances for a springing start. It was upon setting themselves for an apparent dash forward that their opponent brought his senbon around to counter, which was all the signal the general of the squad needed to make his move.

The whistle was blown. "Fall back… NOW!" Shikamaru shouted, both he and Hinata spinning around and grabbing Tazuna by either arm. The old man let out a startled yelp as he was picked up off of his feet and pulled into the mist, the three of them disappearing in the blink of an eye.

The Hunter Nin in front of them abruptly stopped and jerked up in shock, having not expected them to just turn and vanish. Naruto on the other hand, remained behind in order to see their enemy's reaction. It was all part of the play.

Understandably, once he was satisfied at the reception, the blonde smirked at their startled opponent before waving and leaping back into the mist to rejoin his friends. Just as he was jumping backwards and vanishing into the fog however, the assassin reacted and leapt forward; chucking the senbon he was holding after them. The result was the needles puncturing the mist and hitting nothing but air.

They were gone.

"Drat," Haku cursed, his expression underneath his mask clearly reflecting his surprise. He lowered himself into a fighting stance with all intent to pursue, making double sure that the way ahead was clear. _"Trying to lose me in the haze? Big mistake. This environment is as much my field as it is Zabuza-sama's. You can't escape me."_ He charged in, cutting through the wall of white like a knife as he gave chase to the targets he had now lost, but were soon to be found if he had anything to say about it.

He didn't follow a linear path in his chase either.

That would be too straightforward.

For his opponents to jump back the way they did so unexpectedly, Haku knew that they wouldn't be stupid enough to simply backpedal in a straight line. No. They were planning on losing him completely by keeping him at a distance, stalling, escaping, or ambushing him. Whatever it was they had concocted in those precious few minutes given to them, the masked assassin was confident he would be able to incise himself into their midst so as to disrupt their movements. If he could cut them off before they had a chance to regroup or arrange themselves accordingly, he could beat them.

They were not going to evade him forever.

Senbon flew into his hands as Haku took to the tree line. Instinctively, he positioned himself up in the branches and glared down at the field, using the higher ground to his advantage and his sharp eyesight to try and locate his prey.

No longer in the thick of it, the environment of the battlefield became that much clearer to him. Disregarding the sounds of battle taking place between Zabuza and his opponent closer to the lakeside, Haku instead focused all of his attention in searching out his own quarry. Though he could use his ears to track the team on ground level, he figured it was wiser to first get a bead on the situation before moving in.

It would all be over shortly either way.

Every shadow carried its own characteristics, but that was only a small bump in the road. The mist rolling across the landscape like a carpet thinned out with every breeze, making visibility either clearer or more obscured than before. It was these fluctuating patterns that allowed Haku the perfect windows for observation while also hiding his own presence from plain sight. If he couldn't see his enemy, then he was positive they couldn't see him either.

However, they did have that Hyuuga with them.

He'd learnt about them through his master. They had terrifying optic capabilities. That meant he had to be extra careful when tracking them.

Hell, there was a possibility that she was watching him right now and he didn't know it. But that was not going to stop him from fulfilling his task.

Suddenly, after several minutes of careful surveillance, Haku spotted them! Shadows clustered together in the middle of the clearing and shuffling slowly across the field. He knew it was them because he was able to recognize their individual silhouettes through the shroud, as well as hear their feet dragging along the grass.

Not to mention he could hear them breathing. Nervous breaths, dry, ragged, panicky; the distinct sounds of anxiety. The heat they were generating and the noise emanating from their throats was all Haku needed to confirm them as his intended targets.

"_Good try… but it was all for naught,"_ the young assassin thought to himself before flipping through a series of single-handed hand seals. Once the sequence was completed, a thick cloud of fog formed in the air behind him, which shortly thereafter transformed into a large ice mirror.

Playing this out as he normally would, the teen slowly backed into the glass and sank into his own reflection. The pane dissipated once the user was gone, carrying him through the air with the mist.

The entirety of Team 10 meanwhile slowly maneuvered themselves through the fog on rotation, Hinata's Byakugan leading them and providing them extra warning to anyone or anything wanting to get the drop on them.

Their intentions were simple.

If they could just get over to the woods on the other side of the field, then the team had a chance to make a stand against Zabuza's illusive colleague. There was plenty of cover in that setting, easy enough to mount a defense with trees at their backs. It was what Shikamaru intended to do. They just needed to be careful.

However, just as the group and Tazuna were coming to within sight of the forest poking through the white on the edge of the field, something in the air stopped them in their tracks. The entire group halted when a cold shift blew in from out of nowhere and choked up the area in front of them. The mist thickened and took shape, clouds forming and blocking their view before materializing into a large, rectangular mirror.

Just as the group began backing away from the strange object, Haku's image suddenly flickered into view, scaring the daylights out of them.

The masked shinobi flipped through single-handed hand seals, baffling the Genin at his speed and his ability to do so. The display stunned them to forget their position long enough for the assassin to make his move.

Haku finished in a single, specific seal, the expression on his face darkening instantly. "Forgive me," he murmured, his chakra spiking and enveloping the group in an icy cold sensation, _**"Sensatsu Suishō!"**_

In the blink of an eye, the moisture hanging in the air suddenly gathered, thickened, and formed into a tangible wall of water droplets. These droplets then mutated into long, solid ice needles, which came together to form a dome of inescapable death surrounding the four members of the group, perfectly arranged in the one spot. Before either of them could mount some sort of an effective response against their attacker, the dome of a thousand needles rained down upon them.

It was quick and painless.

The moment it was executed the attack was over, leaving the Genin of Team 10 and their client Tazuna standing in shock and resembling pincushions. With the damage being too much to overcome, their knees buckled before all of them fell flat over, leaving nothing but an empty clearing and a solemn Hunter Nin standing in his mirror. Once assured that they were down and out, Haku stepped out to confirm his kills.

"I'm sure you would have made fine shinobi one day," the boy murmured to himself while looking down at the four bodies. "But I'm afraid… that day will never come."

Even though he hated killing, it had to be done. Haku did everything he could while following his master's commands. He had no choice.

Of course, just as he was about to move on to inform Zabuza of his success, Haku got the shock of his life when all of a sudden all four of the collapsed individuals exploded into clouds of white smoke. One after the other they dispelled, revealing to the teen that he had hit nothing but doppelgangers. Decoys!

In his surprise the assassin backed away, seeing the hundreds of needles he had impaled the four without fail fall wastefully to the ground. This immediately put him on high alert and he began looking around him wildly.

"_Impossible? They were copies?"_ Haku thought, spinning on his axis. _"They weren't ordinary clones either. They were solid bodies of chakra, not something a single Genin should be able to perform to this degree. Did they each create one? Or was it just one person's clones' henged to look like the whole team?_"

They had been indivisible from each other; perfect replicas of the originals.

In the midst of his searching of the battlefield, the teen quickly had to face a grim truth.

He'd messed up.

Haku had indeed considered the possibility that the group would have separated in the mist to try and throw him off their trail. But that tactic would have left the bridge builder defenseless or under-guarded, so that option was quickly crossed out. He had also considered the likelihood that they would have left one team member behind to confront him or to perhaps lure him away from the main objective. He had indeed been lured in, but not in the way he was expecting.

They tricked him into attacking fakes. That meant the real ones had to be hiding out in the mists. The only questions plaguing Haku's thoughts now though were when did they create the clones and who was the conjurer? It couldn't have been one of them. Clones like that were created through the splitting of one's own chakra into halves or quarters, depending on the number you wanted to produce.

The user would be effectively endangering themselves performing that technique.

Each of them had to have created one, otherwise that would have left only one of them with only a fifth of his or her chakra left.

"_Or… maybe it's a signature technique,"_ Haku considered wisely, his eyes coming around again in his search, _"The user may have created many copies in order to force an attack and learn of my abilities. That means the real ones must still be nearby."_ He didn't have to look for very long when his eyes locked onto another collection of shadows poking through the mists. The sounds of their footsteps also drew him in.

Haku's eyes narrowed as senbon slipped in between his finger once again. _"There!"_

Whether they were copies or not, it didn't matter to him right now. They knew he was attacking, so if they were using clones to stall for time because they knew he was stronger than them, then all he had to do was wipe them out one group at a time until he found the real ones. If he shaved away at their defenses economically, then this farce of a hunt would let up soon enough. That's when he'll strike…

The next opportunity will present itself!

Using the mists to his advantage, Haku dashed around till he was certain he was out of sight of the Hyuuga, who was probably looking out for him. If this was the real group, he would have to be extra cautious and extra speedy to catch them off guard. Flipping through hand seals at a distance, the assassin produced the same jutsu again, a cloud of needles forming around the group of four before falling upon them in yet another deadly rain. Not expecting another attack so quickly the squad and the target was quickly felled before effectively dispelling.

Haku nodded. _"Good. That's two."_

He dashed through the mists again, using his highly trained eyes and ears to lead him to his next collection of targets without pause. His fleet-footedness also helped him in this area, allowing him to make his approaches silent and give him little to fear of a counter attack.

Upon dispelling one fake team, he would quickly break off and immediately move on to hunt down the next. The entire act to follow soon transformed into an incredibly repetitive string of engagements, where Haku continued to use an in-and-out pattern of advancing on the fake teams from blind spots, after which he would engage them, defeat them, and then move out once he was certain he had felled the imposters.

Oh sure, some of them put up a fight once they became weary of his intentions, but they were swiftly dealt with all the same.

Spinning around after another successful attack, Haku prepared to head towards the woods to rescan the area. He needed to narrow his enemies down lest they decide to get the drop on him.

However, before he could run off to a safe distance, he suddenly spotted a black shape of some sorts come shooting towards him across the ground. The length of shadow appeared to him like a spear, jutting out of the mists directly in front of him and charging him down like a wild animal. The ice user quickly responded to the attack by backpedalling as fast as he could from it. He flipped away when his footwork couldn't cut it, rapidly putting distance between him and the phantom hand on the floor intending to make a grab.

After several more flips, Haku slid to a stop, watching the length of shadow shudder to a halt just feet from him. Narrowing his gaze, the assassin looked up to see where this strange attack had come from.

"_They weren't just keeping me at bay to study my movements, but they were also intending to capture me once they'd tired me out. What a clever bunch," _Haku concluded with a smile, despite the amount of sweat he was shedding.

As irritating as this was supposed to be making him, the boy couldn't help but praise the team for how coordinated and functioning they were as a squad. It made him feel a little bit out of place where he was standing, seeing as that he was all on his own and it was three of them against him.

Still, he had Zabuza close by as his guiding hand and inspiration. He was the man's most desired weapon after all. That had to count for something, right?

Haku brought up a set of senbon, watching the shadow suddenly recede back into the fog. Taking his chance, he chased after it, making sure to hook around so as to not follow a direct line of attack. A predictable pattern was a death sentence for a shinobi. He wasn't going to conform to traditional movements. He needed to be more elusive in order to outwit these particular foes.

They were proving to be quite the troublesome game.

"_This shadow must be emanating from one of the three. If I find this one and take him out, he will lead me to the rest,"_ Haku concluded, dashing in once he was certain he'd closed the distance.

Sure enough, there he was. The user! A figure crouched on the ground in the middle of the clearing, with his teammates and the bridge builder behind them. The shadow retreated to him and formed at his feet, indicating that he had deactivated it.

This was his opening!

"_Got you!"_ Haku thought loudly, ducking low and charging with senbon drawn. _"Your first mistake."_

He went for the caster of the shadow first. If there was one person he needed to defeat, it was the one orchestrating this entire circus. From the way he had been whispering instructions to his team from before, placing himself as the authoritative figure in the absence of their teacher, Haku knew that this was the one he had to take down first.

Seconds into his charge, the assassin burst from the mist like a shade, coming in low with his senbon held firm. The air in proximity cleared up enough for him to catch the shocked expression from Shikamaru, a split second before he chucked a barrage of senbon into him at extreme close range, peppering the boy's shoulders and neck with precise, piercing attacks.

"Ahh! Damn it!" Shikamaru cried out before all consciousness suddenly left him.

The Nara toppled just as Haku swiftly changed directions and spiraled towards the rest of the team. His movements were blinding and swift, almost like wind. They didn't stand a chance.

This fact became apparent when he forced his way into their ranks, cutting his way through their formation with clusters of needles.

"_This fight is over,"_ Haku thought confidently, driving his senbon into the chests of the two Genin, knocking them over and out of his way. _"I wi-"_

The blunder in his actions didn't make itself known until a split second later when all four members of the team he had initiated the 'final attack' against suddenly vanished, dispelling into puffs of white smoke. However, instead of disappearing completely like the clones had the many times before, they were instead replaced by tree logs, including a fourth from the Shikamaru double he had supposedly dispatched. The replaced bodies were each branded with a familiar paper and seal.

It only took Haku a moment's glance to realize his fatal error, his eyes widening in horror when he saw the telltale burns flickering off of the ends of the tags slapped across the falling stumps.

"NO!"

**BOOM!** The explosions that followed from the paper bombs going off at once shook the field and rattled the attacker. The Hunter Nin was battered around like a ragdoll by the fiery blasts of wind before being sent spinning out of the black cloud like a top. He bounced across the ground bonelessly a couple of times before inevitably rolling to a painful stop several meters away. With his clothes torn, mask cracked and skin burnt, Haku lay smoldering after stepping blindly into the well constructed trap, which effectively left him winded and wounded.

Shaking his head, the Hunter Nin pushed himself off of the ground with a groan. He struggled to his feet and, just as he was straightening up, the attack came.

The shadow!

The same one from before!

Kicking himself awake with a gasp, Haku jumped off of the ground from a bad angle, spinning across the clearing before landing on the toes of his left foot, striking a full arabesque. The attack came within inches of him, but there was still plenty of time to make an escape.

Not that it was easy though. He was still trying to regain his bearings and sense of balance from that collection of explosives going off.

His right hand flipping through hand seals, Haku pushed off of the ground and into the air. Moments before the spear of a shadow could snag his, Haku's body sunk into the pane of ice that suddenly formed in the mist above him. The shade he created with his body disappeared, as if his very presence was wiped off of the face of the earth.

He remained hovering above the ground entombed in his technique, panting from the sudden exertions of energy and maneuvers he had to perform to avoid the sneak attack.

"_That was too close,"_ Haku thought, looking up to see the shadow shudder to a halt before retracting as it had before.

The distance it was able to cover with the speed it possessed was extraordinary. Every time it appeared he was only able to avoid it by a hair. The man he was chasing after was definitely a dangerous customer.

"_They're a lot sharper than I originally thought. My approach must be more indirect if I intend to trade blows with this team," _Haku thought. He meditated on the matter, trying to figure out the best way out of this dead lock. All the while he kept his eyes trained on the fog ahead of him, where he had seen the attacks originate from and then retreat back into it.

He was dancing to their fiddle, which was something Haku intended to put a stop to. The longer this carried on, the more stamina he had shaved away.

OOO

"Shit!"

"Did you get him?" Naruto asked, nudging Shikamaru in the shoulder after seeing his friend's shadow return. The answer to that question however was obvious.

The Nara lowered his head as a bead of sweat ran down his temple, "My kagemane wasn't fast enough. That guy is seriously quick." Their opponent was able to jump through the air from a bad position. If that wasn't elusive than Shikamaru had no idea what to think, "He's got a lot of room to move. It will be extremely difficult to run him down at this distance, especially if he's out in the open." This guy was as agile as he was perceptive, and aside from having a crazy ability to be able to perform ice release techniques like they were second nature, it made battling him even more treacherous.

"Can you corner him?"

"With that footwork? Not for a while," Shikamaru replied, keeping his hands locked in his trademark hand seal. "As long as he's got space and fuel to burn, he'll be able to dodge me all day. Damn… it's like trying to catch a fly with a chopstick." He looked up at his companion, whom he could see was also focusing strongly on the issues at hand. "You know this dance, what do you think?"

"His fighting style is really strange," Naruto pointed, his eyes glaring through the fog towards the panel of ice they could see hovering above the ground. "He's an out fighter for sure, but when he attacked my clones he approached them from their peripherals using high speed rotations to mask his hand movements. It's almost like he's dancing on air currents. The way he dodged your shadows too was also impressive. He's incredibly graceful when evading."

Shikamaru could agree on that observation. With the taijutsu aspect down, he moved on to the next point of concern. "On top of his agility he also knows how to move through this mist without hitting anything. He travels on the air by evaporating with the ice and reforming almost instantly wherever he wills himself. I'm telling you, this guy is something else," Shikamaru replied, the shadow at his feet starting to fluctuate in preparation for another shot. "We'll keep him running around for as long as we can. In that time I'll try and think of another way of trapping him."

"Can you reach him from where you are now? He's not moving," Naruto asked while pointing towards the light reflecting off of the frozen block.

The ice mirror was still suspended above the ground where it had been produced and hadn't moved since. It was clear Haku hadn't spotted them yet, so the most logical explanation here was that he was still looking for them from an advantageous position.

He was keeping himself elevated several meters off of the ground in order to survey the battlefield from all sides. The fact that he was keeping himself exposed was also perhaps an attempt to lure them out so he could engage them on his terms. This was what Shikamaru was trying to do with him but under _his_ conditions. The problem being was that he was having a lot more trouble than he was expecting.

"No, I can't," Shikamaru replied while shaking his head in a clear response. "The sun is being blocked by the mist and the structure of that ice mirror he's using redirects the light and doesn't cast a shadow. I can't trap him if there's no shadow. As long as he remains elevated there's no way I can get to him." This had the Nara cursing over his inability to make his shadow tangible like his father could. If he could only just raise it off of the ground just a few meters, he might just be able to grab this guy. But he couldn't. _"I bet he's figuring this out for himself right now."_

"We haven't completely captured him in our rhythm yet. He's clearly played these kinds of games before. He keeps moving, makes calculated decisions and uses the open field like a weapon. So long as he has the advantage of instantaneous reaction and movement on open ground, we won't be able to get him," Shikamaru informed, furrowing his brow. "We need to slow him down."

"Or get your shadow to move fast enough to latch onto him," Naruto murmured.

They needed to take this guy alive. If there was anything Asuma had taught them, or the team had managed to learn for themselves from experience, was that information was the most important thing for a shinobi. If they could capture their opponent then there was a good chance that they would be able to learn more about the enemy, their numbers, and their hideouts. Naruto and Shikamaru knew this well and together began thinking up some way of taking out their target without killing him.

After watching him fight so far, Naruto was sure he would be able to fight him toe-to-toe. However, there were a couple of problems he had to contend with. One of them was the fact that the Genin wished he had a quick and easy way to immobilize his opponents like Shikamaru. Sure, he could duke it out with the guy, cut off his escape with clones, and try and pin him down, but that would only bring chaos to the field, much like his fight with Nai in the castle square which nearly leveled the entire area. Secondly, his knock-out wonder counters only worked against in-fighters or those who overshot their attacks. This Haku guy was a composed fighter and preferred fighting at long-range using low-risk, high reward tactics, and again, fighting to stop him using _his_ abilities would take too long.

Shikamaru was also banging his head and trying to come up with a solution.

He could string his shadow across the field to make moving for their opponent more hazardous, but that stunt was pointless and would only end up wasting a lot of his energy. The guy was fast and had a keen eye too. He'd also be able to see through that trick easily.

The Nara then thought about using flash bombs to create more shadows and to strengthen the light to extend his range. It seemed like a solid idea, but if he was to ignite flares to increase his jutsu prowess it would only give away their positions, mainly _his_. He needed to fire off flashes above or behind him to direct his jutsu the way he wanted to and if their opponent was as sharp as he was he would be able to get around it. There was also the problem of vantage points, and their opponent was a full story above the ground.

He could take the option of confronting him head-on, but the possibility of getting slaughtered should he try to butt heads with a dude possessing Naruto's fighting talent was as high as it could possibly be. Their opponent was strong and well-versed in the art of close-combat; not exactly his area of expertise.

However, Shikamaru wasn't alone in this. He was working with Naruto and Hinata. They each contributed to the group and worked well as a unit to bring down obstacles that a single individual couldn't on their own. All they had to do was use what they already knew and, like against Asuma, bring this guy to a standstill.

The question was though, how were they going to be able to do that? Hinata had hidden and was protecting Tazuna from their enemies, leaving only Shikamaru and Naruto to deal with the Hunter Nin.

After a full minute of careful thinking, Shikamaru eventually clicked on an idea and looked over at his teammate. The boy clad in orange also turned to face him when he sensed something pop up on the Nara radar.

"How good is your chi control right now?" the boy asked curiously.

"Still tiring, but better," Naruto replied while raising an eyebrow, "Why?"

"Do you think you can deliver a package for me?"

OOO

**Meanwhile…**

If there was one thing Asuma hated the most it was being hunted.

Rule of thumb in shinobi combat was that if you were the first to make a quick getaway from your opponent in a stand-off, the one that was able to take to the shadows first and manage to keep their target in their sights had the immediate advantage. It was pretty damn difficult to hide from an opponent when you had no idea where their eyes were and how well they were able to see you.

Unless you had some sort of secret, instantaneous space-time ninjutsu, invisibility jutsu, or a particular type of shunshin that could get you from A to B along an untraceable path, then escape from this scenario was impossible. This was exactly the kind of situation Asuma found himself in as he circled repeatedly on the spot, keeping his eyes peeled for the slightest trace of movement through the fog surrounding him, as well as listening out for any sounds that could give away his ever illusive opponent's position.

The likelihood of that occurring with this adversary though was slim to none.

Feeling a chill on the back of his neck, Asuma leapt forward and spun around, looking just in time to see a massive gash appear in the ground where he had previously stood. He stumbled when he landed, a reaction which was quickly followed up by a cruel laugh echoing all around him.

"_**You're getting jumpy. Good. Don't trip yourself."**_

"_No shit. If I lose track of his movements for even a second..." _Asuma thought to himself while more sweat started to roll down his face. _"I can't make any guesses against this guy. If I go after the wrong shadow, I might just end up having my head lopped off."_

This was exactly the kind of spine tingling thought that gave him the much needed adrenaline boost to keep his senses alive when he suddenly heard the telltale sounds of metal whizzing through the air. Startled, the Jonin spun around once again, bringing his trench knives in front and barely managing to deflect the barrage of shuriken thrown at him by his opponent.

The projectiles scattered when they were battered away. The moment he did so, Asuma heard another heavy swing coming from behind and whirled around, taking the massive hit to the side with both blades blocking it. The loud clang rang out throughout the field, the impact causing the Jonin to skid several feet across before coming to a dead stop.

"You've got a mean swing," Asuma commented with a strained voice and a grin. "I don't see how you're able to lug that massive clever around wherever you go. It seems more like a hindrance than the perfect assassination tool. The noise it makes is _way_ too noticeable."

Zabuza growled, digging his feet further in to try and force his opponent back. However, as much as he hated to admit it, the opponent he was currently crossing blades with was just as strong as he was. Asuma's size and build definitely spoke rugged toughness above everything else, which explained why he was able to tackle him head to head so easily.

The swordsman chuckled as sparks flew between them, "It's served me well these many years. Countless lives have been claimed by it in my hands alone, here… let me show you what I mean!" Zabuza exclaimed while disengaging from the grapple.

Asuma stumbled forward in shock before his opponent's blade suddenly slammed into his loosened guard a second time and sent him flying backwards.

While in midflight, the team leader holstered both of his trusted melee tools before flipping through hand seals. He was done in an instant. _**"Katon: Haisekishō!"**_ Inhaling sharply, Asuma spewed a hot cloud of black ash from his mouth, which hit the ground and expanded outwards like a bomb.

It clogged the mist in darkness. Zabuza sliced out at the approaching wall of ash with his sword. He cut into it so that it parted around him instead of swallowing him up, but even with his best efforts the man was unable to fan away the smoke forever and within moments, was soon engulfed in fumes from all sides.

The swordsman's eyes shut tight as he tugged on the gauze wrappings around his mouth, stopping any of the particles from getting into his air passages.

He was gone in a flash.

"_You think you can lose me in a smoke screen? Simpleton. I've been fighting blind this entire time and this is the best you can do? I'll gut you the instant your guard is down."_

Asuma smirked when the trail of ash leaving his mouth ended, _"Got you! Now it's time for __**you**__ to duck and run!"_ With that, his teeth snapped together, the flints he had molded into them sparking.

The flash ignited the ash, a trail of fire following the smoke before detonating violently and filling the air with a massive explosion. The shockwave hit Asuma even at the distance he had managed to put between himself and the center of the cataclysm. The grass and ground was ripped to shreds, sending debris flying everywhere, whereas the mist was only partially separated thanks to the force of the blast. The natural element remained regardless of how devastating the jutsu was.

The Jonin shielded himself after watching his opponent disappear into the fire and dust. Once it cleared several seconds later though, revealing a scorched and ravaged earth, Asuma's immediate thought was that his job was done. Victory was his!

However, the absence of charred human remains had all hopes of a quick conquest over his enemy dissipate from his mind.

Approaching the crater formed by his attack, Asuma looked in and saw bits of shredded fabric lying around; most likely from the gauze and clothing the swordsman had been wearing. It was after collecting up one of the strips and feeling it between his fingers the Jonin quickly rounded on the mist still surrounding him.

"That was a neat trick; replacing yourself with a water clone."

Though he didn't receive an instantaneous reply it eventually came to him, much to Asuma's dismay.

"_**You don't sound surprised. Were you expecting a switch?"**_

"Sort of. You _are_ a ninja formerly of _Kirigakure_ and there's a high volume of water nearby. To be frank, it's not that surprising."

"_**Heh. So you can read your opponents after all,"**_ the phantom voice chuckled, moments before leveling out and becoming its usual, sinister self once again._** "I have to admit… you're quite the impressive shinobi. You're physically strong, have keen insight, your senses are sharper than most, and you can move well despite your massive build. Even so, your constant dodging of my attacks is starting to piss me off."**_

"Well, it just lets me know that I'm doing my job right," Asuma replied with an amused ring in his voice.

This didn't strike a chord with the swordsman, but at least the banter was good. _**"Rest assured though, Sarutobi, your headless corpse will be lying dead at my feet soon enough."**_

"Duly noted," Asuma replied, twirling his trench knives in his hands before rotating on the spot. _"He didn't escape the blast completely unscathed. He definitely caught some of it… which explains why he didn't come after me the instant I smoked him."_ The charred pieces of clothing were a dead giveaway.

Nevertheless, there was still the issue of him being alive.

As long as he was breathing, Zabuza Momochi was a problem for him.

_Kirigakure_ shinobi were stubborn like that. They had this world-wide reputation of doggedly pursuing their targets until the job was either done or they were killed trying. The _Demon Brothers_ from before were a perfect example.

But despite this quality found in a lot of Kiri ninja continuing to follow the old traditions of the former _Bloody Mist_, Zabuza's hit and run tactics were starting to become more predictable. Asuma's confidence grew with every miss his opponent had, which allowed him to get more and more used to the timing of the fight. There was definitely a significant gap between each of the assassin's attacks, which told the leader of team ten that his opponent had to exercise a hell of a lot of caution and concentration before advancing on a target.

Apparently Asuma wasn't the only one hampered by this element. Even its user was struggling. The fact that Zabuza had been able to use this technique successfully numerous times in the past to kill Jonin level ninja told the former guardian ninja that he was a more formidable prey item then most. He was still alive, a fact that Asuma could definitely feel proud of.

Perhaps, if he was lucky, he'd be able to mark this down in his journal of accomplishments once he got back home.

Unfortunately though, it would be a difficult march getting there. Zabuza was not only physically one of the strongest opponents he'd ever faced, he was also one of the most stubborn and difficult.

While backing down, Asuma heard a metallic clack behind him, causing him to spin around and strike out with his blades. He ducked at the same time, dodging the wide swing thrown by his noticeably burnt enemy. The massive blade flew right over the Konoha Jonin's head, a miss with a noticeably huge gap in it that allowed the leader of team ten the opportunity to counter. He dove straight at Zabuza from below after getting under the sword, ramming his trench knife into his stomach.

The Kiri ninja let out a strangled shout as he keeled over from the low blow, his innards spilling over his opponent's weapon driving like a stake into his torso.

Asuma grinned, "Stop attacking people from behind, you one-trick-pony. That shit's getting old."

The groaning Zabuza twitched as he hunched over the man's arms, gritting his teeth to bite against the pain. However, when it appeared his legs were about to give out, a smirk spread over his face and he looked up at the one he had attempted to behead, "One-trick-pony, am I?"

A chuckle filled his ears, alerting Asuma to instant and certain danger.

The Konoha Jonin's eyes widened and he looked up into the mist, where he saw the real Zabuza dematerialize out of the fog directly in front of him. There was a loud whooshing noise of a heavy object cutting through the air, followed shortly by a flash of light. The leader of team ten only had a split second to get out of the way, crouching low and pushing off of the ground with all the strength he could muster, but was hampered by the water clone he had still had his knife buried in holding him down.

In an instant, the massive clever the swordsman wielded cut through the copy and sliced straight across Asuma's chest. A combination of both water and blood was sprayed across the field, as the end of the mammoth weapon carved a nice scar right through the intended target's body.

Asuma choked in shock, stumbling back when his arm was finally relinquished by the dispelling clone before hitting the ground several feet behind him. Gasping in panic, he looked up to see his attacker drop his heavy blade to the floor and glare back at him, his chuckles filling the air in a haunting melody.

"You fell into my pattern. That was your mistake," Zabuza growled, straightening up with his sword held in a two-handed grip.

Grabbing the wound across his chest, Asuma quickly took score of the situation. Looking his opponent up and down, he could see that the rogue shinobi had his entire left side of his body burnt, but nothing that was too serious. His pant legging was shredded, his mask was a little bit dirtied, and he looked pretty much intact save for some bruises. As for him, the Konoha Jonin looked down at his vest to see it stained red with blood, obviously caused by the clever carving a nice path over his pectorals.

His breathing slowing, Asuma double-checked the damage and sighed in relief when he saw that no vital organs had been cut. It was a hell of a scratch though. It went much deeper than he would have preferred.

"_This is definitely going to ruin my day."_

Struggling back to his feet, Asuma took up his blades once again and dropped into his signature brawling stance. His knives clicked when they were held in position, his opponent also taking a stance and bringing his sword around. Just like before, the swordsman sunk into the mist.

"_**I'm going to pay you back for the flash burns,"**_ Zabuza stated, his eyes disappearing into the white of their environment. _**"I'm getting a little bit fed up with you evading me constantly. This stops right here, right now."**_

"Suit yourself," Asuma grunted.

It would take a little bit longer to find a good opening in his rhythm. But once he did, Asuma was certain he could take the pace. Even though he took a big hit right above the heart, he was still good. He could keep on going.

This was a waiting game, just like shogi. All he needed to do was position his pieces in the right spots and be patient…

OOO

Haku looked up from his mirror when he suddenly saw a shadow come strolling out of the mist. At first he thought it was his hidden attacker trying for another shot at him, but after the next few seconds as the figure drew ever closer, the boy was eventually able to get a good view of the one stepping out to confront him. Though he wasn't surprised by the person he saw, the assassin was still a little taken aback by the kid's boldness.

Clad in orange with a mop of bright, spiky yellow hair on top of his head, Naruto Uzumaki came out to meet the ice user face to face. He stopped when he was about ten meters away from him, a position that allowed him a comfortable spot to look up at the assassin still confined in ice.

Haku raised an eyebrow underneath his damage masked, "You orchestrated this?" he questioned flatly, figuring this boy to be the one responsible for all his troubles.

Naruto shook his head. "Not me. My friends did. I was just the shogi pieces."

"Ah. So _you_ are the clone user."

The blonde grinned brightly, "Bingo."

"I have to say you're really something else; able to conjure up so many shadow clones and henge each of them to resemble your traveling companions so perfectly. I couldn't tell which ones were real and which ones were the fakes. You had me thrown."

"Thanks," Naruto chirped.

"You're also really fortunate to have such intuitive companions by your side to back you up. It appears, from my point of view, that I have been drawn into a fight being dictated by you three and on my own turf no less," Haku exclaimed, widening his stance and bringing his senbon into view. Naruto however didn't even flinch as he remained where he was with his hands in his pockets. "You plan on fighting me one on one? If that's the case, then please let me tell you that that is a _very_ bad idea."

"I'm not worried."

"No?"

"If there's one thing I'm confident in it's my ability to fight guys like you one on one," Naruto replied, bringing his hands up and putting them behind his head. He beamed up at his opponent. "You're _really_ strong. I always love fighting guys who can give me a real challenge."

"So… you're breaking off from the strategy you and your friends had so carefully devised, just to duel with me?" Haku asked, lowering his throwing arm a little when he saw the Genin below nod his head enthusiastically. Raising an eyebrow, he gripped his senbon tightly once more, "Why? You've seen my speed. How can you be so confident?"

"Maybe it's because I'm cocky, or it's my nature… or I'm just a little strange that way," Naruto said with a shrug, removing his hands from his head and widening his feet a little. He began jumping on his toes, moving back and forth on the spot with his fists at his sides, preparing to run this guy through with his _Blocking Fist_.

For this kind of fight against an opponent as strong as him, he needed to take him on at his best.

"In any case, I just _love_ fighting. I love it because it allows me to push myself to my limits and learn a lot more about the people I'm fighting against. When your life, your dreams and the things most important to you are hanging by a thread, that's when you are at your best! When you're at your strongest!"

Haku blinked, pausing for a moment as he watched the boy move about from side to side. While intrigued by his strange movements, he was more perplexed by his character and the words he spoke. Looking him in the eyes, the masked teen could see something else through the burning passion in his opponent's irises. It was something he was all too familiar with, something that allowed him to connect with the jinchuriki, even when few words had been expressed between them.

It was all in his expression.

A smile tugged on Haku's lips, "You're a very strange boy." He lowered his head with a keen air in his gestures. "You and I… may not be so different."

"Really?" Naruto grinned, finding a relaxed skipping rhythm with his footwork. "Why do you say that?"

"You don't just fight for the thrill of fighting, you fight because you have purpose," Haku said, putting his opponent in the spotlight. "It's fixed like the stars. You move forward not out of some selfish ambition or intent to cause harm; you fight because you have something to live for, something worth fighting for."

"You know it!" Naruto exclaimed, happy to be sharing this conversation with the Hunter Nin.

"Let me ask you something then; do you have people in your life important to you? People you would do anything for, even give your life to protect?"

"Of course," the jinchuriki replied without hesitation, moving his left hand out front and right to his chest while continuing to skip on the spot. A familiar glint appeared in his eyes, "I fight for my friends, the most important people in the world to me. They were the first people to acknowledge my existence, the first to acknowledge me for who I am as a person and not for what others saw me as. I'm able to keep on going because I know that they're waiting for me."

Haku nodded in understanding. "So it is true, you and I _are_ the same…"

Not even missing a beat in that response, Naruto tilted his head at the assassin. "The same? Then…"

"I'm afraid that's a story for another time," Haku said evenly, keeping his eyes locked onto his target. "Though we are enemies, I am glad I was able to speak with you. But now it's time for me to complete my mission." He raised his free hand to form a hand seal, making the jinchuriki hop back a little. "Zabuza-sama gave me a task to do and I intend to see it through to the end. _**Makyō Hyōshō!**_"

Almost instantly, just as Naruto was putting up a guard to defend against what he assumed was an attack, ice mirrors began forming in the air all around him. Within seconds, the panes created out of the moisture in the air formed into a dome, comprising of about twenty-one floating mirrors. The jinchuriki's eyes darted around, looking from one block to the next, before locking onto his opponent still suspended in the one in front of him.

Haku's stance lowered, "I apologize in advance."

Blinking, Naruto let out a laugh and continued moving back and forth, balancing himself on his toes, "That's a good one. I didn't know you had a sense of humor."

"You are unconcerned?"

"I'm terrified," Naruto stated sincerely, shrugging at the masked Nin with a grin. "Why do you think I'm out here?"

Haku smiled, "Oh, sorry." They'd just been sharing a religious discussion on values only minutes ago. How could he forget? "You are a good man. Though I have no quarrel with you or any personal vendettas against your teammates, I will still defeat you. This is purely business."

"Well, if this is work, then you may as well do everything you can to make it enjoyable," the blonde exclaimed while cracking his neck to the side. His dancing was then taken to a whole new level. "Besides, this wouldn't be any fun if only one of us was serious." In an incredible twist, Naruto began moon-walking back and forth along the grass, getting a feel for his rhythm while baffling his opponent fixed in the reflective surface of his mirror. After moon-walking followed by a quick bit of shuffling, Naruto took his _Blocking Fist_ stance, relaxing his muscles for a competition he was sure was going to be _glorious_.

Throwing several warm up punches, Naruto then dropped back into a wide orthodox stance and waved a hand towards the boy up above, "Come on!"

Haku nodded. Complying with the boy's request, in the blink of an eye the assassin's masked face flickered into all twenty-one of the ice mirrors, surrounding the grinning youngster on all sides.

"Very well."

OOO

**Meanwhile…**

**Elsewhere in the _Land of Wave_…**

While the whole shinobi routine was going down between Team 10 and the rogue ninjas out for Tazuna's life on their part of the island, unknown to the warring groups, beyond the mists concealing them from the prying eyes of the world, something else just as interesting was taking place further inland. Far outside of the fog where the sun was able to touch the forest canopy and floor, there was a strange disturbance in the air. The animals seemed to sense it and, in response to the electric sensation, scattered the moment they detected the danger as if it were the stench from a hunter.

Like a ripple on a pond's surface the atmosphere in the center of the peaceful clearing was suddenly racked by an otherworldly force. This force was so great in fact that it tore a hole in the fabric of reality, right in the middle of that very space. Time, matter and light suddenly converged around a single point like a whirlpool. Seconds later, the center of the calamity opened up in a rip, revealing a dark storm like world behind the canvas of this one.

It was a river of raw energy, from which it spewed out two unlikely travelers.

Kicking and screaming, a pair of young women was unexpectedly flung out of the vortex, as if the whirlwind of energy that was their conduit found them distasteful. They bounced across the hard ground before coming to a complete stop, one on their face and the other on top of that one's back.

The smaller of the two was lying beneath the more rambunctious looking one; a most hilarious sight.

Groaning, a young girl around 15 years of age with long brown hair, wearing a headband, a red and yellow traveling uniform, boots, pauldrons, a dark cape, and a satchel and short blade at her side, tried to push herself off of the damp grass. Her efforts were hampered however by the mistress laying on top of her, a tall, curvaceous and busty young woman with flowing dark hair, also wearing a black cape, pauldrons, a long sword, boots, and an incredibly revealing black leather outfit that didn't leave much to the imagination. It was an odd couple, and apparently the shorter of the two agreed as she was swatted on the back of the head by her drowsy companion and seethed angrily.

Growling out in anger, the girl being pressed under foot slammed a fist into the ground before digging her nails into it, taking chunks of earth with her, "God damn it, I _**hate**_ time travel! That is the last time I'm ever listening to you, stupid Naga!"

The woman on top of the frustrated girl burst out into fits of obnoxious laughter in response to her outburst. It was a laugh so distinct that anyone would be able to pick it out from a crowd, as well as being startling enough to scare the shit out of several birds hiding in a nearby tree.

"Well, you shouldn't have provoked me my dear Lina! Now look where we are! Distraught, possibly traumatized, flushed, and lying in the mud in some desolate wasteland!" the woman laughed, sitting up and pulling herself off of her companion.

"Ugh, where are we anyway? This doesn't look like Turmoil."

"Perhaps we were flung further down the vortex then we thought. I mean, jumping in half-cock like that… something was bound to happen," Naga exclaimed, rising to her feet and dusting her legs down at the same time as her partner. They placed their hands on their hips and looked around them, absolutely bewildered by everything. "Hmm, these aren't any kinds of plants I've seen before," the buxom woman pointed while crinkling her nose. "The smell is different too."

"Great, so not only did we get lost in time but we were transported to a whole other country!" Lina fumed, slamming a fist into her open palm.

"Now don't you worry, Lina Inverse. It can't be all that bad," Naga giggled and gestured grandly to her person and then toward their surroundings, "We are still alive, aren't we?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right," the brown haired girl murmured while rubbing the back of her head. "But man… it still sucks." Kicking at the ground, Lina then turned towards her friend with a casual stare. "Anyway, so long as we have the amulet we have nothing to worry about. We should be able to get back to our own time as long as it's still got some juice left in it. Come on Naga, fork it over." She extended her hand expectantly.

The raven haired mistress she was addressing sighed in resignation and reached for her neck. Feeling around a bit, Naga's eyes widened when she was unable to grasp the telltale bronze of the chest piece. She then looked down and began searching her pouches and cape.

The sight of the sorceress now frantically feeling about her person had Lina's brow furrow. "Is there a problem?" the girl asked, teeth pressed together tightly.

Jolting back into reality, Naga let loose a nervous laugh before grinning down at the younger sorceress. "I uhh… I must have dropped it."

"Dropped it?"

"Y-Yes… further umm… further back inside the vortex. Now you can't blame me for that, I couldn't help it! The whole thing was just undulating violently. I was barely able to keep myself composed. Who knows where it might have wound up," the woman exclaimed while folding her arms and looking away, as if the matter wasn't that concerning. That or, she was trying to abruptly change the subject and was failing miserably. "Anyway, there's no need to worry-"

"NO NEED TO WORRY!" Lina roared, lashing out at the woman with a punch whom quickly scampered away just in time to dodge. She then began running circles around the clearing, Naga's obnoxious laughter filling the air as the angry brunette pursued her. "YOU IDIOT! YOU MORON! YOU FOOL! NOW THANKS TO YOU, WE'RE BOTH STUCK HERE! What are we gonna do now? Huh? Tell me! WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO?!"

"AH-HAHAHAHAHA! Calm down, Lina Inverse!" Naga laughed, sprinting a figure-eight as Lina chased her down, brandishing her fangs and claws like a tiger, "It's not like it's the end of the world!"

"It will be for _you_ when I'm done beating you into a bloody pulp!"

"You don't mean that! Come now, all you're doing is burning up precious calories you need to build up your incredibly flat chest!"

"THAT'S IT! YOU'RE DEAD!"

While it wasn't as dramatic or life-threatening as the Zabuza and Team 10 fight, it was still just as entertaining.

As the pair screamed and laughed each other out, one desiring nothing more than the pleasure of killing the older individual staying just out of arm's reach, the pair failed to notice a second rip in the world open up in the sky high above them. It appeared as a tear, revealing the same twisting vortex beyond the wall dividing this world from that, moments before a small jewel came flying out.

The amulet the pair were bickering over shot across the sky like a meteor, trailing fire before crashing far over the horizon, somewhere over the mountains on the mainland of the _Shinobi Nations_.

This eventuality, of all the twists in time to have taken place thus far, promised one more adventure for the pair and, unbeknownst to them, the group fighting a good fight not too far from where they'd made landfall…

OOO

**Back at the lake…**

**Haku fight…**

Performing a jumping inside kick in an effort to dodge, Naruto barely avoided a cluster of senbon that came raining down at him from above. They impaled the ground, just like the hundreds of others that had missed their targets, while the jinchuriki landed safely in a crouching stance away from the center. He glared up from all fours, like a cat keeping low to avoid the eyes of its prey, as he glared up towards his opponent whom he could see flickering between mirrors.

Sweating a bit, the boy gritted his teeth when Haku once again multiplied and spread throughout all twenty one mirrors.

Naruto got back into a crouching stance and brought his hands around defenselessly, his eyes darting from panel to panel.

"_I figured out the trick to this technique of his, but it's still a major pain in the ass,"_ the jinchuriki thought, meaning it both figuratively and literally as he had taken more than his fair share of senbon to his backside. Top that off with several more piercing his shoulders, hide and arms, the boy was slowly transforming into a human porcupine right before everyone's eyes. _"Those images of him in the mirrors aren't clones, they're his reflections. He's made it look like he's in several different places at once, but he's really just moving between the mirrors at high speed. Looks like I was right about him being an out fighter. He's fucking quick."_

The truth was that this Haku guy was only in one mirror at any one time. Though this gave Naruto some comfort knowing that he wasn't battling an entire army of Hunter Nins, it wasn't like this thought gave him a solution to his problem. From his point of view, it was like he WAS taking on an army of Hunter Nins, even though it was just one on one. He couldn't see him, he couldn't get to any corner of the dome without being attacked, and the needles coming down at him came down in a storm. Not to mention the reflections all looked the same, so there was no way he could tell which one was which, even when his target shifted. They constantly changed yet remained indivisible depending on the user's current condition.

Growling in frustration, the boy yanked out the needles in his forearms and took a stance once again. When his vision went momentarily blurry, he shook himself back into focus, _"His fighting style is very much like Hinata's. He's using pinpoint precision to bring down my body from the inside with these acupuncture needles. Forget exterior damage, he's targeting my vitals in a very specific order. That's seriously annoying…"_

Had he ever fought against someone this tough before? Yes, but while Haku wasn't as physically strong as his last opponent, he was hundreds of times faster.

Clenching his fists, Naruto decided to do something about his situation. The course of the battle needed to be shifted now, lest he end up a bloated corpse covered in needles at the end of the day.

He'd been dancing around this circle and following his opponent's rhythm for all this time now. Naturally, he was fed up with it and decided right then and there to change his approach.

"_Alright Naruto,"_ the blonde exclaimed to himself, a smile appearing on his face as he shrugged away the pain of senbon in his back and shoulders, _"You've been training all this time to catch up to speed like this. If you can follow him with your eyes then your body should be able to keep pace as well. Let's see how well you can rev your engine."_

His toes were feeling good and his legs were in perfect condition.

Without warning, he changed up.

Cranking the metaphorical gear box in his body Naruto suddenly exploded into life, dashing straight towards the Haku in the mirror directly in front of him. He covered ground almost instantly, his right fist cocking back as he locked the enemy teenager in his sights. However, just as he was close to covering the empty space between them, the reflections once again came to life and chucked a barrage of senbon straight at him.

The jinchuriki backpedaled sharply and dodged left, avoiding the hail of needles. He sprinted at full speed, following the circumference of the ring and tossing shuriken at the Haku in the mirrors he could see running alongside him, jumping the gaps between panes one after the other.

The boy in the mask returned his shots with his acupuncture weapons blow for blow, with both opponents knocking each other's projectiles out of the air.

Ducking to avoid a senbon aimed for his head, Naruto returned with a kunai. The explosive tag wrapped around the handle unraveled and sparked, burying itself in the mirror he'd aimed for and detonating on impact. It blasted into the ice pane like TNT in a mineshaft. But just as it seemed like Naruto was able to land a good hit on his opponent's defenses, when the smoke cleared it soon revealed that the explosion didn't even scratch the surface.

It was unreal. What the hell was this ice made of? Condensed steel?

Furrowing his brow, Naruto then switched up and leapt back, throwing another hail of shuriken.

As if they were moving in slow motion, Haku knocked them all out of the air before his opponent had even landed, leaving the jinchuriki wide open for another wave. But Naruto wasn't going to make himself that easy a target to hit and immediately dashed off the moment he acquired a good enough foothold, avoiding a wall of senbon that peppered the ground around his previous position.

"_Alright. Come on! Come on! Come out of that mirror! Attack me!"_ Naruto thought, watching carefully through his sharp eyes as he saw Haku leap across the dome above him in a blur and arrive in another mirror. The jinchuriki threw a kunai after him, but that was knocked out of the air and his opponent changed locations.

Though he was able to catch sight of the real one every once in a while, Haku was still projecting his reflection all over the place. It was irritating, like playing 'Where's Wally' and every single person in the crowd was Wally. _"Even though I'm moving as fast as I can, I'm still only one target. No matter where I go he'll be able to see me and attack me."_

Grinning, the blonde then formed his trademark hand seal and moved back to avoid another deadly shower from above.

"_Let's see how you handle more of me. __**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**_" the blonde thought, bursts of white smoke exploding all around him.

His doppelgangers immediately leapt out in all directions from the smoke along with him in an effort to confuse the attacker. It seemed like a good idea.

But almost instantly after scattering to the four winds, the platoon of shadow clones was cut down by Haku's blurred form moving between the mirrors at his ridiculous speed. The original saw him make his move through his peripherals as he rushed for the edge of the dome, watching the boy cut down his copies one after another before he himself was confronted by his ever elusive foe.

Naruto's eyes widened, _"There you are!"_ His fist cocked to land a blow, but he was kicked in the chest and sent straight back down to the ground by the even faster moving boy, who once again disappeared into his mirrors.

When the blonde haired jinchuriki slammed into the ground, he looked up just in time to see his platoon of doppelgangers dispel into puffs of smoke. Some of them had been beaten into submission almost instantly, others slashed in the neck or the head, and others had been mercilessly peppered by needles. Panting for breath, Naruto thanked his lucky stars that all he got was a kick before gritting his teeth. He leapt to his feet and barreled out of the way at the last second when another shower of needles was sent flying at him from all directions.

Getting clipped in the shoulder in his dive, the boy yelped and tumbled across the ground, before coming to a crouching stop.

He hissed and glared over his wounded shoulder, _"I saw him! Fuck! He was right there in front of me!" _Naruto thought angrily before grinning. _"Alright! Now we're getting somewhere! He stays in his mirrors and attacks me from a distance when there's only a single target, but when I create clones and provide a greater number of targets he can't concentrate enough to take them all out using senbon en masse or risk one of them getting out. You have to have a lot of concentration to land that many senbon to take out a live target. If this dome is stuffed to the brim with opponents, then he needs to attack them directly to take them out."_ This would be the key to his turnaround.

His shadow clones were quite durable when they were made to be and could take a punch just like the original. The only times they were actually dispelled were if they were hit with enough force to knock them out or kill them, were given instruction to dispel prematurely by the user as part of a greater strategy, or if their chakra lifespan came to an end. These were the most common ways Naruto's clones were dispatched.

The way Haku was able to beat them was what Naruto was able to pick up through his clones' collective memories. The boy struck at the vital organs and punctured them with dozens of needles to points all over the body that would immediately render a person immobile. He also had untraceable speed on his side. While speed like this would have normally meant that his attacks lacked power to deliver fast attacks, built up enough Haku was able to deliver a blow that felt like it had a lot of power behind it, when in actuality it was his speed giving him momentum and mass. It was simple physics.

Haku played to his strengths well.

But that was all about to change.

"_His mirrors can't be destroyed through blunt force, so explosive tags and conventional attacks are out of the question,"_ Naruto thought, leaping to the center of the dome when another hail of needles threatened to pin him down. Skidding to a stop in the middle, the instant he was in position he flipped through hand seals and dropped low, placing his right hand on the earth's surface. _"Just follow the plan; lure him out of the mirrors!__** Iwa Bunshin no Jutsu!**__"_

In an instant, the earth in front of him jutted out of the ground on all four sides, the head of one of the pillars being pulled up directly by his right hand. Bringing it over in a flowing motion, the jinchuriki shielded his form with four solid rock clones, all of them with their backs turned towards the fiend in the mirrors glaring down at them and arms hanging off of each other's shoulders. Soon enough, the doppelgangers were fully formed and Naruto was now crouching inside a shield formed by his friends.

"_Not done yet!"_ the blonde thought, forming his cross-fingered hand seal again. _**"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"**_ The dome's floor filled with a collection of shadow clones. They took up positions and stared up at the Hunter Nin looking down at them from his various windows. Haku watched on curiously to see what his opponent was planning, and didn't have to wait long when the original hiding in the heart of his entourage eventually barked out his order, "Porcupine formation! NOW!"

"_**YOSH!"**_

With that, the entire platoon leapt back and piled up on the four earth clones. Back to back from top to bottom, the small force formed a dome of their own, kunai drawn and pointed in all directions. From the way it looked from a distance it was definitely a spiny animal of sorts, one that carried a lethal bite should a predator find interest in it.

This startled Haku at the sudden stroke of brilliance behind his opponent's tactic, which had the masked assassin scratching his head while bringing up another set of senbon to chuck down at his well-defended enemy.

"_Are you sure it was your teammates who came up with the strategy from before?"_ the fake Hunter Nin asked, wondering if his question could reach him telepathically. When he received no response, he lowered himself into a stance. _"In either case, you are also a really intelligent shinobi. I never would have thought you'd come up with something like this."_

If neither one of them were using jutsu, head to head, Naruto clearly had the advantage in speed, decisiveness and raw physical power. It was only with this jutsu Haku felt he could fight evenly with this boy if not hold the advantage of overwhelming speed against him completely. As long as he kept fighting the way he was, he would be able to win.

But every second he stayed in this technique, holding up these mirrors, he was bleeding valuable chakra. He had to end this now or risk his jutsu failing him and leaving him at the mercy of either this boy, or his teammates still hiding in the mists.

Improved defense or not, a majority of his shield was comprised of bodies. Like all bodies, they all had weak points, no matter how hard you tried to cover them up.

"_Once I've put you to sleep, I will go after your companions and complete my mission,"_ Haku thought, a solemn shadow falling over him as his expression became one of disheartenment. _"I'm sorry, but with this final barrage, this fight ends with my victory!"_

In a flash, he began to move. His body zipped between the mirrors above the ball of clones from one reflection to the next. In the blink of an eye, senbon rained down upon the mass of copies from all sides, threatening to blanket them in a shower of death.

However, with so many opponents to hit, even with his speed, accuracy and timing, Haku knew he wouldn't be able to dismiss these adversaries with just a single wave. This point was proven as the clones shielded themselves and battered away the barrages of senbon with their kunai. When the first bombardment failed, Haku unleashed a second, zipping between mirrors and unleashing wave upon endless waves of needles. The attacks showered the field and the barrier of shadow clones, chipping away at their clothes, scarring them, scratching them, and soon enough, puncturing them.

It felt like an eternity later, but just as Haku was preparing a twenty-fifth rain of senbon, a couple of the clones finally gave up, collapsing from the formation with needles in their necks before dispelling entirely. This was the chink in the armor the assassin was looking for and, after one last shower of needles, Haku dropped down to ground level and began ramming into the formation directly with otherworldly precision. Crisscrossing the field at light speed, he moved in and out of his mirrors in a blur, forming a visible web from a bird's eye view as he cut into the defenders one after the other.

It was then, just as the clones were beginning to collapse and dispel from the insurmountable damage being inflicted upon them by their lightning fast opponent, the original Naruto decided to fire off his new technique.

Crouched low, his eyes peaking through the gaps of his remaining defenders, Naruto slid his hands along the ground, before rising up. Just as Yim showed him, he steadied his breathing, focused, and allowed the flow of his chi to circulate through his form with slow and calm hand movements. He got a feel for his center of gravity, slid around on his feet before eventually bringing his hands to his side, left hand hovering over the right.

Tai Chi.

Naruto glared ahead of him where, as if time seemed to slow down for him, he saw through the gap in his defense his opponent sink into a mirror, before flying out at what the blonde presumed to be his top speed. But, now that he was calm, relaxed, and focused without any distractions whatsoever, Naruto was literally able to crawl into Haku's realm of speed.

His hands began to vibrate. Immediately upon pumping chi into his hands, a steam-like formation began to manifest between Naruto's palms. The invisible energy he was able to grasp control of compressed itself in his grip. A grin appeared on his face once he was certain he'd gathered the right amount of power and, without missing a beat, released it all at once.

The boy let loose what everyone in range first thought was something equivalent to a shockwave of some sorts. But the blast, which traveled straight through his clones and stopped Haku dead in his tracks when he ran head-long into it, was immediately followed by a violent gust of wind that whipped at the ground and expanded outwards, taking out all intended targets and leaving everything else intact. It was a magnificent display of accuracy and control.

Haku was stunned.

The clones previously surrounding Naruto were dismissed at the advent of the technique, either crumbling or dispelling as smoke. The Hunter Nin on the other hand was sent spiraling backwards at the force of the winds.

He bounced across the ground like a ball many times before coming to a shuddering halt, his clothes ripped and his mask shattered. While lying on his front, the boy groaned and trembled as he pushed himself back up, his hair whipping in whatever breeze remained before his eyes locked onto his opponent now standing in the heart of the dissipating storm.

His counter landing successfully, Naruto smirked and glared across at his fallen foe, who struggled to get back to his feet.

Despite his efforts, Haku could not stop the blood running out of his mouth, shortly followed by him puking his guts out when he couldn't shake the dizziness also racking his consciousness. On top of having every fiber of his being screaming at him in utter agony, he was also discombobulated and nauseous.

"W-What was that jutsu?" Haku choked out, looking across at his standing foe through a hazy vision. _"That was no wind release technique. Something else stopped me. It was like a typhoon just erupted from his very core with enough power to rip me to shreds. I was spared… but…"_

Unfortunately, he wasn't left to dawn on the details of the technique for long. Realizing he was out in the open and no longer in the safety of his mirrors, Haku's eyes widened and he sprang to his feet. Ignoring the damage, he made an immediate B-line towards the nearest mirror in an attempt to fall back into his jutsu. However, just as he was coming up to one of the windows, an orange blur skidded to a stop directly in front of him.

Arms dangling down in front of him and feet shoulder-width apart, Naruto Uzumaki placed himself between his opponent and his only chance of salvation. This was where his leg training fully came into play.

The speed he used almost made it look like he teleported.

Haku freaked out and backpedaled, changing directions hastily and dashing towards another mirror. _"NO!"_

It was clear he was fast. Haku's own movements were almost instantaneous. But Naruto quickly made it known to all that, without any factors contributing to his strength, he was the faster. Once again the Hunter Nin's path was cut off by a grinning blonde haired jinchuriki; his arms dangling in front of him provocatively with his shoulders slouched and back hunched over. Although this lowered his posture significantly, in the terrified Haku's eyes it made him look gigantic.

The ice user fully realized in that moment that this was no ordinary shinobi he was fighting against. This one was moving like a demon!

"_Can't run away!"_ Haku thought desperately, disappearing in a flash and sprinting right. If he couldn't escape by retreating, then he figured he could go around. He refused to admit defeat. His speed was unmatched. No opponent could beat him in his specialty. _"I'll take your flanks and get back into-"_ In the midst of forming his strategy, a shadow fell over him once more when he found himself confronted by Naruto a third time.

The jinchuriki appeared directly in front of him, a deep scowl on his face and a piercing glare locked onto the frantic Hunter Nin.

Haku's eyes widened, _"Y-You?!"_ Almost instantly, the teen found his gaze sinking into the blonde's glare, which cut him right to the bone. It was almost like he was being swallowed up by a monstrous beast; a creature from the blackest abyss that feared nothing and consumed everything in its path. Though Haku knew it in his heart and head that he'd fought against foes more gruesome in appearance and monstrous in power than this boy, he didn't know what to make of this strange sensation now overcoming him.

It was like his body was losing all will to continue fighting.

Feeling himself sinking and beginning to freeze up, Haku bit down hard and slapped himself awake. _"Don't give up! Run! Keep running! FASTER!"_ He exploded into action, swiftly changing directions and going the other way at an even greater speed. _"GET AWAY!"_

But the chase continued. No matter which way he went, no matter where he turned or how hard he tried, Naruto kept either popping up in front of him or kept cutting him off. This happened not once, not twice, not three times, it happened repeatedly. To the left, to the right, backwards, forwards, over, under, the blonde haired boy kept getting in his way. Though Haku didn't know why, he felt that his opponent had gotten even faster than the speed he had been using before he decided to change tactics and curled up in that porcupine formation.

It appeared as though that when Naruto used that arrangement, he didn't just use it as a means to wait for an opportunity to pounce, he also used it to get a feel for his timing.

That had to be it!

He used his mirrors too many times to take out his clones, and now he was paying the price for his repetitive strategy.

Naruto had turned the tables on him.

Letting out a shout, Haku evaded right, dashing across at close to light speed in an effort to break off engagement with his pursuer. But just as he was moving to get around, Naruto appeared directly in front of him again at an even greater speed with a calmer expression in play. A horrified look came over the young assassin when he got a good look at Naruto's eyes for the twentieth time this round.

Those weren't the eyes of passion or whispers of a lonely past reflected in his gaze anymore. It was the eyes of a predator, a wolf, a tiger… a killer!

It was exactly the kind of effect Naruto was aiming for, all in order to demoralize his enemy and throw him off his game. It was no surprise that it was working, since this was the exact same technique of projecting killing intent that Nai used against him during _their_ battle.

Senbon flying into his hand, Haku slid to a stop and responded to the blonde appearing in front of him with a stabbing right. _"Enough running!" _His attack came in swiftly, as fast as his dash. _"I must strike now, while I have a chance!"_ His hand and senbon cut through the air like a blade, threatening to smite the boy down in one go.

The blonde side stepped and began falling back, dodging a series of slashes and stabbing motions being desperately mounted by his adversary. As impressive as his ferocity and display was, Naruto was able to see each of the attacks coming his way, and sure enough, he got a feel for his timing.

Naruto smirked, _"Counter chance! NOW!"_ He stepped forward, reaching out and catching the boy's arm in a slipping grip. He twisted while he moved forward, his opponent unwittingly stepping towards him and ending up with his arm locked behind his back. In the same motion, the blonde tossed Haku over his shoulder, slamming him against the ground behind him face first with his arm locked up. Naruto then flipped and landed on the boy's back with his knee close to the neck, putting unwanted pressure on him.

"_Jujitsu. You gotta love the stuff your teachers give you,"_ Naruto grinned, keeping his opponent pinned beneath him. "Got yah!"

The instant he had him, Shikamaru's kagemane, which had been attached to his body the entire time, suddenly shot out and wrapped itself around Haku. The ice user froze up instantly, his body submitting to the paralysis technique and his expression becoming one of utter bewilderment.

It was over.

Naruto hopped off of his opponent and staggered back, watching as Haku was willed into a kneeling position with his hands locked behind him. It was with his decisive capture the 'fun-house-of-mirrors' technique faltered and melted away into the mist, moments before the pair was joined by the conjurer of the paralysis technique. Shikamaru marched out of the fog with a smile on his face and shadow still linking him to his opponent, with all intent on keeping him rooted where he was.

"_Shadow Possession Jutsu_ successful," the Nara exclaimed, looking over at his friend. "Thanks a ton for stopping him."

"No problem," Naruto grinned, giving him a thumbs up.

Looking him over once, the previously pleased Shikamaru than appeared taken aback when he saw the state his teammate was really in. Forget the scuffs, bruises and the bleeding from the mouth; he was covered in acupuncture needles. "Damn, man. Are you gonna be alright? You look like hell."

"Huh?" The jinchuriki followed his companion's line of sight to his shoulders, to which he then jumped when he finally noticed the problem. "Oh, shit. I forgot about these." He then began the methodical and painstaking process of removing each individual senbon from his flesh, which earned a few yelps and curses from the normally invincible blonde.

While Naruto fussed over his injuries and Shikamaru kept his side tied down, Haku took his time looking between the two boys. Eyes darting from one individual to the next, he then looked over at the Nara to see him glaring down at him intently. "So this was all _your_ doing? This plan?"

The Nara smirked at him, "That's right. You gave me quite a headache trying to catch you, mate. Thankfully I had my pal here to back me up." He heard another yelp from Naruto yanking the needles out of his ass, which were probably the most painful out of all the ones precariously placed all over his body. Nobody liked having injections in that spot. "It was tough going, but in the end all the pieces fell into place."

"So you were confident that your friend would be able to take me on directly without killing me? It seemed like a rather risky venture."

"He didn't do all the work," Shikamaru exclaimed, pointing at the shadow binding them together. "I fight better from a distance. Since I could see the whole thing from where I was, I was able to pull Naruto out of harm's way whenever things got too dangerous for him or couldn't see where he was going. I needed to keep tabs on his positions anyway till he had a hold over you. So in a way, I never left his side."

Haku smiled, "You are a most loyal friend and comrade. Each of you is always looking out for the other." He then glanced over at Naruto, brought near to tears from having to pull out so many barbs. "Is this one of the precious people you were talking about, Naruto?"

The jinchuriki looked at him with a blink. Processing the question quickly, he then nodded.

That was all the answer Haku needed before he turned his gaze towards the ground. "Then I have lost; both in this battle and in my conviction."

"Man, you have a really weird habit of attracting strange opponents, Naruto," Shikamaru chuckled while looking over at his teammate. "Are you sure you're not doing this on purpose?"

The boy in orange shrugged while shaking his head, "I swear, I have no idea what's going on."

"Well, in any case," Shikamaru began again before glaring off in the other direction, where he could hear Asuma and Zabuza's fight still going on. The sparks they could see in the mist, as well as the occasional blasts of fire, explosions, clangs and what not, told them that their duel was reaching its climax. Not wanting to concern their teacher, Shikamaru got Haku to stand up, turning him so that his teammate could bind his hands with rope. "We still have a report to make."

"And Hinata?"

"Long gone, along with Tazuna," Shikamaru smiled, seeing Haku's gaze focused on the ground with a somber expression in play. Knowing full well that he was still listening, even in defeat and frozen in place by his shadow, the Nara addressed this next piece to him. "Don't even bother looking for them. You won't find your target here."

"I know that," Haku said, lightly smiling once more as his ears perked to those words. "You wouldn't have left him unattended or unguarded. A wise shinobi like you is truly a force to be reckoned with out on the battlefield, if not the most unlikely."

"Funny. Though I appreciate the compliments, aren't you supposed to be, like, our enemy?" Shikamaru asked, sounding a little bit amused. Honestly, this guy was way too friendly to be working with someone like Zabuza. What was his deal?

"I am. But consider me the better of the many you are likely to face in your future," Haku replied. His once happy gleam suddenly became downcast as a serious one took over, his eyes landing on the pair flanking him. The light in his cheeks was wiped away and quickly overcome by a look of dread and foreboding. "This is especially the case with your mission to this country. I'm afraid that we are not the only ones you should be concerned about."

This announcement did not sit too well with Naruto or Shikamaru. The two ragged teens looked across at one another, silently contemplating the meaning behind those words.

"Not the only ones?" the jinchuriki queried.

"There are more?" Shikamaru asked, looking across at their captive. "Who?

Haku frowned, "Devils from across the seas…"

OOO

Asuma was currently on his knees, glaring furiously at his foe also standing in place and spilling blood all over the grass.

The fight that had transpired between Asuma and Zabuza following the pair trading two of their best hits against each other became as violent as it was gory. Who knew that a battle between ninja using stealth and timing as their main elements could turn so ugly?

In the engagements to follow, Zabuza kept trading shots with his target, coming at him from every possible angle, swinging his massive clever. While he had managed to score some punishing blows, including two more across his opponent's chest, his shoulder, a massive gash across his back and legs, it didn't stop Asuma from moving. Oh no.

The guy fought back tooth and nail. Using _**Hien**_, the guardian ninja wound up slicing Zabuza's blade in two when he didn't expect the man to mold his element with his knives. From then on Zabuza started being extra careful with his attacks, but ended up getting cut up on his passes before eventually being set on fire by two Katon Jutsu his opponent was able to chuck on two separate occasions.

The battlefield they were currently using had become muddy and almost impossible to move in. This was all due to Zabuza becoming fed up with his foe continuously evading him, and after performing the dozens of hand seals required, dropped a _**Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu**_ right on top of his head. The attack had ripped apart the nearby trees and soaked the ground, but it was cut to ribbons when Asuma used an enlarged version of the _**Fūton: Kazekiri no Jutsu**_, and repelled it. This made moving for them on the terrain ridiculously tiresome and the whole battle turned into a brawl.

Asuma panted, his blades dropped in front of him. Spitting out blood from the last kick his foe managed to land on his ribs, he looked up to see Zabuza shaking where he was standing.

Aside from having part of his body burnt, the swordsman also had cuts crisscrossing his chest, back, two kunai lodged in his left arm and stopping him from using his clever to its full effectiveness, and a couple of kunai stuck in his left leg. It had been a real mess for both opponents.

"You really are a tough one," Zabuza chuckled painfully, staggering forward but instantly stopping on the first step, his knees nearly buckling under the strain. The rogue then realized that if he moved forward anymore and his limbs gave way, he wasn't getting up again. He was effectively grounded. "Fuck, I hate you so much right now."

"The feeling is mutual," Asuma grumbled back, reaching over and grabbing his trench knives. He groaned as he pulled them up, but couldn't find the strength to hold them. After blocking so many swings from that massive sword, his muscles just couldn't cut it anymore. "Dammit… come on, body! MOVE!"

Zabuza laughed out loud, "Can't get up huh? Perfect. I'll finish you off right here, right now!" He then cursed to himself when his legs failed to respond on his initial forward motion. _"Just as soon as these damn things start working again!"_

Asuma braced himself for the worst…

However, while the two of them stayed where they were, desperate to get some strength back into them, Zabuza suddenly became aware of a shadow on the ground shooting towards him from behind the wall of mist to his far left. The startled men leapt to their feet and moved away, the Kiri rogue slashing at the ground with his clever to help push him and jumped towards the lake. Asuma kept his distance as well, forming a triangle with his enemy on a separate point and the shadow taking the space on the far third.

Looking up, the team leader and his equally damaged foe saw Shikamaru, Naruto and Haku emerge from the shroud. The moment visibility of the trio became clear, Zabuza's eyes widened when he saw that his most valuable subordinate had been captured. The defeated expression on his face and the rope wrapped around him told the man everything he needed to know.

"Impossible," the swordsman blinked in shock. _"Haku was beaten?"_ His legs jittered when his body threatened to give way from his sudden evasive maneuvers. The amount of chakra he'd spent holding up the hidden mist jutsu as well as throwing all those other attacks from before was starting to wear on him.

His stamina was running dry.

The teen saw his master's shocked gaze and closed his eyes, "I'm sorry… Zabuza-sama."

Asuma grinned, "You got him? Great job guys." He then blinked in puzzlement when he recounted their numbers. The picture they were presenting to him right now wasn't exactly complete. "Wait, where is Tazuna and Hinata? Are they alright?"

"They're safe, sensei," Naruto replied affirmatively, his eyes not leaving the wounded Zabuza, whom they could see standing on the edge of the lake with his only good arm holding his sword. "Hinata took Tazuna into the mist to hide. They won't come out until we give them the signal."

"Good," Asuma replied, turning back to face the now pissed off looking swordsman. "You guys hang onto that one. I'll finish things here with him." He saw the former _Kirigakure_ shinobi glance in his direction, to which he returned his hostile stare with a serious one of his own. He gave him all the tells that he was going to end the man's life should he resist. "Surrender now, Zabuza Momochi. You've lost." It was sort of a bluff, since the former guardian ninja was also struggling to stay up after expending energy so heedlessly.

Zabuza growled, looking between his opponent and the kids standing further away. He saw Shikamaru move behind Haku, a hand on the now captive boy's shoulder and a kunai drawn. The sight irritated him beyond imagining, "Why should I?!"

"Please. I'd rather not have to kill you," Asuma replied, bringing his arms up into an offensive guard, just like before. He readied himself a charge.

"Heh, that's rich coming from a Konoha shinobi. I thought you guys were tougher than this," Zabuza spat, his feet dragging along the grass as he moved forward. "You value my life. Contemptible mercy at its finest…"

"Not really. It's just that you're a lot more valuable to us alive… and have you ever tried cleaning blood out of your shirt? It's fucking impossible," Asuma said with an amused chuckle, whereas Shikamaru and Naruto shook their heads at how cheesy that sounded.

Zabuza glared at his annoying target, "Don't sugarcoat this, you whelp. I am the Hidden Mist's finest and most merciless assassin, the _Demon of the Mist_ Zabuza Momochi." He brought his blade up and spun it in a single-handed grip, before bringing it behind him as his free hand was formed into a hand-seal. "Don't test me. I will never surrender my sword to the likes of you."

"Don't!" Asuma shouted, stopping the man from acting irrationally. The former guardian's _**Hien**_ activated as wind chakra was pumped into his trench knives. The energy blades extended to their fullest and hummed dangerously. "You're outnumbered and exhausted. You can't expect to fight all of us at once and win." He then nodded towards his team, "And don't forget… we have your student."

At their teacher's indirect order, Shikamaru brought his kunai up and held it at Haku's neck. Though Naruto intended to protest against this action, he felt it necessary if in order to sway their real enemy. This Zabuza guy was still dangerous even when injured. Surely he would throw in the towel in order to save his apprentice and companion.

The man chuckled when he saw Shikamaru bare a knife at Haku and shook his head at them. "Do you think I'm a weakling like you? Do you seriously believe that I will just give myself up to save the life of my subordinate; one who was trained to give up his own life to save mine?" He laughed loudly, surprising the two boys guarding their ever silent prisoner. "Haku is my weapon; a tool that I crafted from a young age to be used. I give him orders and he follows them. That is all."

"What?" Shikamaru growled.

Naruto's reaction was more unrestrained. The blonde haired boy marched forward and pointed at the smirking swordsman. "What the fuck are you talking about? Haku's not a tool! He's a human being!"

"Stupid brats. We are _shinobi_," Zabuza snapped back, glaring across at the team staring him down. The assassin made sure to keep both his eyes trained on the enemy standing on either flank. "It's what we shinobi do. We obey orders and execute instructions without hesitation. We are cold, calculating, and merciless assassins, meant to do the jobs that others can't or can't be seen doing. We are warriors, shadows, demons, dogs, tools… weapons. That is the road we shinobi walk."

"No!" Naruto shouted back, balling his hand into a fist, "That is the road YOU chose to walk! Not us!"

"What?"

"Yeah! You heard me! A shinobi doesn't have to be what you or anyone else says they have to be! Shinobi can live however they want and make their own choices, because they are human," Naruto then pointed towards Shikamaru, then to Haku, and then to Asuma. "He's human, so is he, Hinata and Asuma-sensei as well! _Yes_, we are shinobi, but we are people too. We're just more extraordinary."

Haku looked up at Naruto in astonishment, both before and after he was addressed. Though he didn't know why, the assemblage of words that were spoken in contest to his master's appeared quite vivid as well as impressive. Haku was simply amazed to hear what Naruto had to say about shinobi and people up close. He could tell just from his tone alone that he valued life and treated others fairly. He did not discriminate between villager and shinobi, and was adamant in this belief. Hell, not only was _he_ rocked by his statements but Zabuza was also stumped at his declarations.

Naruto's words were like a beautifully crafted katana. They were sublime.

"That's just boy talk," the swordsman snapped when he was finally able to rebound, his eyes narrowing, "Dreams and fantasy. What do you know? When I was your age, I'd already killed hundreds-!"

"What? Did you have a spas attack at a party or something? Or are you just counting the number of fish you caught at one time and gutted?" Naruto asked, placing his hands on his hips. "That's just petty. So what if you killed hundreds of people? That's what _you_ did when you were a kid, not us." He then scratched the back of his head thoughtfully, "Although, now that you've brought it up, killing a hundred people when you were just a kid… that's actually really impressive."

"No kidding," Shikamaru murmured, gazing up in thought as well. "But who's keeping score anyway?"

"Don't make light of my skills, you brat!" Zabuza shouted, getting a little bit irked from their casual back and forth.

"Geez, alright. Sorry," Naruto replied hastily while giving the man a sheepish gaze. "Point is: we are all free to make our own choices. It's what makes us more flexible as warriors, as shinobi and as people; otherwise we'd just be mindless drones walking blindly into a shit storm."

When Naruto's grin was sent straight towards Zabuza, the swordsman's eyes shifted to Asuma, then to the mist behind the three kids, and then back to the ground. In the time that they were standing around, jabbing at each other and catching their breaths, the rogue began making plans for an appropriate escape. Accounting for his damage, the ground he needed to cover, his subordinate and the enemy surrounding him, he had to be extremely cautious if he was going to make a break for it.

That or… drown the place.

He was not going to be captured by a bunch of brats. Not here.

Still, the things the kid in front of him said and how he said it, with such powerful conviction…

He was a strong one. There was no doubt about that. He definitely had a strong spirit and a big heart. That was rare for a shinobi.

Nevertheless, his words seemed to strike a chord with the swordsman as he glanced up at the jinchuriki with a bit more interest than before. He could also see the astonished response in Haku, who was looking across at Naruto with admiration and a sparkle in his eyes.

"Hmph, you're an odd kid," Zabuza smirked, giving the blond his full and undivided attention. "You've also got quite a pair on yah. What's your name?"

"Naruto Uzumaki," the Genin grinned with his hands behind his head, "Fulltime pain in the ass and future Hokage."

"Well, you're right on the pain in ass part," Zabuza chuckled in a surprisingly friendlier tone, bringing his sword up to be held at his side. "While your arguments pack a wallop, I'm afraid it won't be enough to force me to surrender." He turned his gaze back to his previous foe, with Asuma still glaring across at him wearily. "I will not be defeated by you guys. I've come too far to stop now… but that doesn't mean I have to stick around."

Asuma recoiled in shock, seeing his opponent's eyes narrow.

"I will also be taking back what is mine, thank you!"

A loud clang rang out when Zabuza drove his weapon into the ground. He then followed up on that action by slapping his hands together into a single hand seal before flying through a long string of them, awing the kids at his speed.

His combination was so quick that Naruto and Shikamaru were barely able to follow him, but their instructor was able to read all eighteen signs. Registering to the danger, Asuma immediately dashed straight for his team, where Haku could be seen taking a deep gulp of air.

"GUYS! RUN! NOW!"

"_**Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!"**_ Zabuza roared, the lake behind him suddenly coming to life.

A ring of water sprang up behind the swordsman, leaving a noticeable gap behind the user large enough for him to easily squeeze through. The spinning vortex undulated violently, startling Naruto and Shikamaru at the amount of power they could see in it a split second before absolute chaos fell upon them.

Just moments after reaching his team and coming to shield them with a cross-arm block, his _**Hien**_ glowing brightly, Asuma and his squad watched as a massive surge of water suddenly rose into the air several meters above the ground. It then streamed down towards the group in one big cascade, much like a gigantic waterfall but from the targets' points of view, it looked more like a massive wave than anything else.

Zabuza disappeared behind the wave as he unleashed the full power of his technique.

It crashed into the shore before scooping up all those in range. Asuma took the full power of the wall of water before all of them, Haku included, were inevitably swept away.

What felt like an eternity of torment passed as the whole of Team 10 was sent spiraling through the currents and whirlpools of the outrageous jutsu, which swallowed up the clearing and decimated everything in its path! The earth, grass, rocks and trees were ripped asunder as the wave tore across the field before slamming into the tree line at full power, where it eventually stopped as the trees broke it up.

Like that of a tsunami blasting into a beach, laying waste to everything in its path before sinking back into the ocean, the torrents of the jutsu eventually receded, leaving the three members of Team 10 coughing and retching on the ground beneath the shadow of the forest.

Gasping for air, Shikamaru crawled towards a nearby trunk as the shallow waves left them and he laid against it, coughing up water before groaning in agony. It felt like every muscle in his body had been hammered and minced. That was the sensation he was feeling right now, and it was constant.

"Dude! What… the… _FUCK?!_" the Nara yelled out, slamming a fist into the muddy ground before gesturing grandly to the absolute devastation of the plane in front of them. "What the fuck kind of jutsu was that? It was fucking massive!"

Asuma groaned out from where he was lying before looking weakly up at his student, "It was a _Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique_."

"Yeah? And?"

"Big-ass water jutsu, kid. Big-ass water jutsu," Asuma repeated several times before propping himself up on his elbows and panting raggedly. Thanks to his painstakingly long and bloody match with Zabuza, the Konoha Jonin had expended all of his chakra and strength, and as a result his body gave way. He hit the dirt face first, still coughing, still panting, and racked with damage.

All three of them were drenched, but thanks to the efforts of the team's leader taking the full force of the jutsu and cushioning the blow somewhat by cutting into it with his wind blades, not only was Asuma left in agonizing pain, but he had saved them all. So kudos to that.

At least the bath cleaned his clothes of the blood he'd shed from locking horns with the swordsman. That had to count for something, right?

"Fuck… that hurt like a son of a bitch," Asuma growled out while on the verge of crying. Man, you couldn't imagine the amount of pain he was in.

He learned an important lesson here today, one which he would take to heart.

Don't try to stop a fucking tsunami with a knife. That doesn't work.

"Great, now my uniform is soaked," the Jonin complained, picking at his vest and tattered shirt. "Look at me! I'm saturated!"

"Um. News flash," Naruto panted, using the trunk of another nearby tree to help pull his battered body back to its feet. He then glared down at his teacher and team leader, wanting to put an end to his bitching. "No shit!"

Taking in tremendous gulps of air after surviving a near drowning experience, the jinchuriki then surveyed the battlefield. The once colorful and peaceful area had, in one second flat, been reduced to a muddy swamp. It was a God damn wasteland now all thanks to their enemy, who they had believed to be on his last legs.

Once again however, Zabuza Momochi proved to the entire world and his enemies that he was indeed one stubborn bastard. The proof was in the pudding.

"Fuck me… that was the best water-ride _EVER_!" Naruto cheered weakly, pumping a fist into the air.

"Seriously?" Shikamaru threw his arms out before letting them flop to his sides limply, at the same time looking incredulously across at his teammate. "We nearly drowned and that is the best you can come up with?" The blonde stuck his tongue out and rubbed his head sheepishly.

"Hey!" Asuma said loudly, interrupting the pair's banter and grabbing his apprentices' attentions. He looked up at them respectively, now that they were finally on their feet. "Where's the prisoner?"

A good follow-up question too. That definitely got the dynamic duo jumpstarted.

Remembering that they'd had precious cargo with them, Naruto and Shikamaru began looking around the area for any signs of their defeated opponent. Following the primary trail left in the ground by the cascading waters tearing a direct path through the landscape, they tried to locate the body or the remains of the friendly Hunter Nin, who had also been caught in the rapids of the waterfall technique.

In their investigations, they were quickly presented with two possibilities as to what could have happened to him; one that he was dead and two that he had miraculously survived somehow. If he'd died then there was a good chance he was sleeping with the fishes now… _literally_. If he was alive, then… he had to be around here _somewhere_, probably choking on the same shit they were.

A guy who was bound in rope couldn't have gone far. Right?

That was their initial thought on the matter anyway…

Until the pair remembered that they didn't tie up his feet when they captured him.

Shikamaru's shadow possession jutsu saw to that filling.

Once they realized their blunder, the two Genin stood side by side and staring at the lake, no longer concealed by mist thanks to the absence of both Zabuza and Haku, with distraught and dejected expressions in full play. Now that the person they had captured was gone and that his students were left empty-handed and probably discouraged thanks to the lapse in attention toward an important aspect of their situation, Asuma couldn't help but laugh.

Naruto and Shikamaru ignored the man as he started bawling hysterically and just stood staring crushed at the ruined clearing. Amidst the hollers of their teacher and the silence of Death Valley, a fish flopped out of Naruto's jacket and landed in a pond at his feet with a muddy splash, causing his eyebrow to twitch.

While both he and his teammate stood slouched and miserable in front of their amused, badly wounded teacher, a squelching of feet off to the side drew their eyes to the woods, where they then saw Hinata and Tazuna come strolling out from their hiding place.

The old man and the kunoichi looked on in astonishment at the complete and utter destruction laid before them, before turning their attention towards the team slumped up against the trees.

"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata murmured, gulping when she saw the downcast expressions of her two teammates. "Why are you all wet?"

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Oh yeah! Another one cranked out. Hope you guys enjoyed it.

If any of you guys are curious as to the next two cameos, take a look on Google. I'm pretty sure you guys may have heard or seen that anime.

Until next time!


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